Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl will make his return to the court on Saturday, following a two-game suspension.
No. 13 Auburn’s next contest is a road tilt against the Saint Louis Billikens. Auburn, winners of six straight, head into St. Louis to take on what head coach Bruce Pearl calls one of the team’s toughest opponents.
“They do a nice job of scouting and tailor-making the ways they like to play,” Pearl said. “This will be the third or fourth best team we have played is far. So it's a quad one opportunity for us."
Auburn last played Saint Louis in 2019, a neutral site game in Birmingham that saw Auburn as the victors.
This year, Saint Louis is third in the Atlantic 10 Division, winners of its last game after dropping two straight to UAB and Belmont.
The Billikens are led in scoring by Gibson Jimmerson, whose season stats are almost identical to that of Auburn’s Jabari Smith.
Jimmerson, a freshman like Smith, averages 16.7 points a game on almost 46% shooting.
Outside of Jimmerson, Saint Louis’ point guard Yuri Collins is second in the nation in assists per game, averaging 7.9 dishes per contest.
“(This is) a really good team. A great offensive team,” Pearl said. “Very physical team, great rebounding team. Great point guard in Collins.”
In the Billiken’s last win over Boston College, Collins set the school record for assists in a game with 19. In that same game, Jimmerson hit five 3-pointers. Over the last three games, Collins has been a part of 57% of Saint Louis’ offense.
Earlier in the year, Collins scored four go-ahead points in overtime to give the Billikens a four-point win over Boise State.
Generally, St. Louis scores a decent amount, at around 85 points a game. The Billikens did have a scoring outburst in the team’s second game of the year, hanging 127 on Harris Stowe State University.
In Saint Louis’ only game against a ranked opponent, then No. 11 Memphis, the Billikens lost 90-74.
Auburn’s main job on Saturday will be keeping the Billikens off the free throw line.
Saint Louis is currently 6-0 when it makes over 79% of its free throws and sixth in the entire country at free throws per game, shooting almost 24 shots from the free-throw line per contest.
Auburn will be getting help back off the bench, as Pearl said Jaylin Williams (turf toe) and Chris Moore (flu) are fully healthy and are expected to play on Saturday.
Pearl also said that star Allen Flanigan, who has been sidelined all year rehabbing Achilles surgery, is “doubtful” for Saturday’s contest, but said the junior is back to practicing.
Pearl said that Flanigan is “practicing with contact” and is “getting closer to returning” every day.
Auburn (9-1) will take on Saint Louis (8-3) at 8 p.m CST on the CBS Sports Network, Saturday, Dec.18.
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Henry Zimmer is from Jacksonville, Florida, and is currently in his fifth year with The Plainsman. He is currently the Assistant Sports Editor and can be followed on Twitter here: @henryzimmer
