On Tuesday, Jan. 4, Auburn travels to Columbia for a matchup with its second SEC opponent of the season, South Carolina.
Both teams hope to start 2022 with a conference win. It won’t be easy to come by in a conference that is loaded with talent this season.
The Gamecocks enter the game with a 9-3 record. South Carolina’s previous game against South Carolina State was postponed due to COVID-19 issues, so this will be its first contest since their 105-75 win over Army on Dec. 22.
The Tigers moved up two spots in the latest AP poll that was updated this morning. They jumped up the ladder to No. 9.
The Tigers are riding high right now, entering this affair on a nine-game win streak. They are coming off a 70-55 beating of rival LSU.
“It would be hard to complain with where we’re at right now. I just hope we can take advantage of it,” said head coach Bruce Pearl.
Auburn, which is 12-1, will be the first true test for the Gamecock team this season. The Tigers represent their first SEC opponent this season, and they are also the first ranked team South Carolina has seen this season.
Despite a win versus South Carolina last year, Pearl says Auburn cannot get comfortable against a “tough, physical” team led by head coach Frank Martin.
“Since I’ve been at Auburn, we’ve struggled at South Carolina. Not a great record against them. We won there last year, but we lost three prior,” said Pearl.
Auburn, however, is battle-tested. The team defeated its first SEC opponent of the season in previously undefeated LSU last Wednesday. The Tigers have matched up with two ranked teams this season: UConn, which was No. 22 when it played Auburn, and now-No. 21 LSU.
The No. 9 team also welcomed back star forward Allen Flanigan to the starting lineup against LSU. He proceeded to tally 10 points, six rebounds and an assist in 29 minutes on the court.
Coach Pearl said he felt Flanigan was not ready for the jump he made from 12 minutes in his first game to 29 minutes in the next.
“When Devan Cambridge wasn’t available to start at the position, and you’re playing LSU, it put [Flanigan] in a position where he could’ve played more," Pearl said. "It’s just that he probably got one rotation each half more than he should’ve.”
Pearl added that Flanigan “felt no negative effects” after the game and that his minutes “were probably good for him from a conditioning standpoint.”
Auburn big man Walker Kessler is coming off a career game in which he recorded the second triple-double in Auburn program history. Kessler, the 7-foot-1 center, lit up the stat sheet with 16 points, 11 blocks and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers will need another big game from Kessler against an offense that likes to get to the basket and score inside.
“They’re very physical on the inside. We have to be able to play through contact and make free throws at a higher percentage,” said Pearl.
The Gamecocks haul in an average of 14.5 offensive rebounds per game.
“They are one of the better offensive rebounding and defensive teams in our league… This will have to be a game in which we have our most physical game in order to take away what they’re good at,” said Pearl.
South Carolina’s physicality is most prevalent on the defensive side of the ball. They are 11th in the nation in field goal percentage defense. It is a team that likes to put pressure on the ball-handler and force turnovers with their big guards.
Pearl uses UCF as one comparison to South Carolina’s physicality and defensive aggressiveness. Both teams use full-court coverage to force accurate passes and make the opposing offense make smart decisions. Auburn beat UCF 85-68, but it struggled early and turned the ball over 15 times.
“South Carolina is going to guard us a completely different way than LSU did. The things that will be available to us will be different, and can we make that adjustment? … if we keep improving, we’ll keep winning," Pearl said.
The Tigers have come away with wins in both of their road games this season against South Florida and Saint Louis. They look to continue that trend as three of their next four conference battles are on the road, starting in Columbia on Tuesday.
However, the Tigers have been in tight contests in both of these away games.
“While we have had success on the road, being 2-0, we were down 15 at South Florida and down 13 at Saint Louis," Pearl said.
This is an obstacle the Tigers must overcome in their first SEC game on the road this season.
“It’s a good opportunity. It’s a good team,” Pearl said.
Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network. The game can also be heard on Auburn Sports Radio Network.
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