After a historic season for the Auburn men’s basketball team, the Tigers will take the floor as a 2-seed for the 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Their opponent will be in-state foe and 15th-seeded Jacksonville State.
The Tigers (27-5) have won nine first-round contests in a row, with their only loss being the first NCAA Tournament game in school history, against Richmond in 1984.
Despite that streak, those wins have not been easy for Auburn.
The Tigers’ last four first-round games have been decided by a combined 10 points, including a one-point win over New Mexico State to start the Tigers’ 2019 Final Four run.
This will be the 13th meeting between Auburn and Jacksonville State, but the first since Bruce Pearl took over as head coach. Auburn is 12-0 against the Gamecocks, with the last matchup coming in 2013, former head coach Tony Barbee’s final season.
Though the Gamecocks were the ASUN regular-season champions, its appearance in the Big Dance was left in doubt when they lost in the conference semifinals to Jacksonville University.
When Bellarmine, which was ineligible for March Madness, won the ASUN Tournament, Jacksonville State got in as a result of its regular-season championship.
The Gamecocks have only faced one team competing in this year’s NCAA Tournament. They were competitive but lost at Coleman Coliseum to Alabama, 65-59, in December.
Jacksonville State (21-10) is a very efficient shooting team, especially from behind the arc. The Gamecocks rank fifth nationally in 3-point percentage, making long shots at a rate of 38.84%.
Jacksonville State has made 29 more 3-pointers than Auburn this season, despite having 68 fewer attempts from behind the arc.
Jacksonville State is led by senior guard Darian Adams, who averages 15.6 points per game and has made 69 3-pointers this season.
Adams, who began his career at Troy and transferred to Jacksonville State last season, is in his fifth season of playing college basketball and his fourth season in a starting lineup.
It is not just Adams the Tigers have to worry about, however. Four Gamecocks shoot 3-pointers at a rate above 35%. In addition to Adams, Demaree King, Jalen Gibbs and Jalen Finch are all dangerous 3-point shooters.
The Tigers’ perimeter defense, which has allowed opponents to shoot just 31.2% from behind the arc, will have to hold the Gamecocks to a similar figure to avoid the upset.
The Gamecocks have only faced two 3-point defenses better than Auburn’s this season. In games against VCU and Jacksonville, Jacksonville State shot 3-pointers at a rate of just 29.41%.
The Tigers will also hope to take advantage of Jacksonville State’s turnover issues.
The Gamecocks have turned the ball over 411 times this season and their turnover margin ranks among the worst in the country. Auburn forces 15.03 turnovers per game, 38th most in the country.
A Sunday matchup with either the USC Trojans or Miami Hurricanes awaits the winner of this contest. The opening-round game of the tournament between the Tigers and Gamecocks will tip-off at 11:40 a.m. CST and will be nationally televised on TruTV.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
