It’s going to be a tropical Thanksgiving for Auburn men’s hoops this week as it participates in the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Islands, Bahamas. The Tigers will kick off the tournament with a matinee match against No. 22 UConn on Wednesday.
UConn, like Auburn, is unbeaten this season and is looking to bolster its resume with a win over a Top 25 team.
The Huskies are 4-0 with wins over Central Connecticut, Coppin State, Long Island and Binghamton. There haven’t been any close games for UConn this season, out-scoring its opponents by an average 40 points over the four victories.
Auburn is coming off of a six-point road victory against South Florida. It was a hard-fought victory where the Tigers had to comeback from 15-down. Leading the comeback charge was transfer K.D. Johnson, who has been instrumental to Auburn’s success off the bench.
Despite not being a starter, Johnson has scored in double figures in each of Auburn’s victories. Johnson averages 15 points per game, which leads the team and is 45th-best in the nation.
Wendell Green Jr. is looking to bounce back from his worst outing this season while in Tampa. Against USF, the point guard went 0-for-8 from the field, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. It was an uncharacteristic performance from Green, who had recorded 19 and 15 points in the first two games, respectively.
Wednesday’s game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Auburn and UConn, the first since 2017. The Tigers lead the all-time series 2-1 after defeating the Huskies in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017.
Auburn is 72-217 all-time against ranked teams but 4-4 in the previous two seasons against them.
UConn is led by 6-foot-9 forward Adama Sanogo, who’s averaging 15.8 points per game. Sanogo has recorded two 20-point performances already this season, in the Huskies’ first two games. He's one of the taller players for the Huskies, but the Tigers still will have the tallest player on the court in Walker Kessler.
At 7-foot-1, Kessler leads both teams in blocks per game, averaging 3.7 each outing. It's going to be instrumental that Kessler brings his defense to the court if Auburn is to stop the high-powered UConn offense.
The Huskies’ are averaging 92 points per game and have five players averaging double figures on the scorecard. Meanwhile, Auburn's defense has limited its opponents to an average of 57 points per game.
Auburn and UConn will tip off at 1:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday, with the game being broadcast nationally on ESPN.
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Originally from Helena, Ala., Caleb Jones is a senior studying journalism at Auburn University. He has been on staff with The Plainsman since 2019.
You can follow him here on Twitter: @calebjsports
