Auburn will be back in Neville Arena with its last two non-conference games before SEC play when it takes on Samford and North Florida.
The Tigers are winners of five straight, including dominate wins over UCF, Louisiana and North Carolina A&T.
Auburn is currently riding the hot hand of Honesty Scott-Grayson. The redshirt senior guard scored a career-high 31 points against North Carolina A&T and is shooting a team best 48.8% from behind arc, which ranks No. 23 nationally.
The driving force behind Auburn’s recent success is its stifling defense, ranking fifth nationally with 6.3 blocks per game and forcing 20.8 turnovers per game, ranking third in the SEC.
Auburn’s first matchup is Sunday against Samford.
The Bulldog’s are 4-8 this season and are coming off two straight losses. Samford is off to a rocky start in the 2022-2023 season with only two of their wins coming against Division 1 opponents.
While the record is not how they would like it to be, the Bulldogs are efficient on offense, averaging 66.1 points per game off 44.7% shooting. Samford leads the SoCon in field goal percentage and ranks 56th nationally.
The main threat the Tiger’s will have to look out for is the Bulldog’s Andrea Cournoyer. The senior guard averages a team-high 18.5 points per game and ranks ninth nationally with 222 total points scored this season. Cournoyer also does it on the defensive end, recording 30 steals this season, which ranks No. 17 nationally.
Auburn and Samford have played two mutual opponents this season, UCF and Alabama State. The Tigers defeated both opponents by more than 39 points respectively, while the Bulldogs lost to both teams in closely contested finish.
After Auburn takes on Samford, they will face North Florida on Tuesday. The Ospreys come into the matchup 3-5, losing by 40 points against Miami and following it up with a dominant 112-38 win against Trinity Baptist College.
North Florida’s MVP is coming in the form of Lyric Swann. The junior guard out of Elkridge, Maryland is leading the Ospreys in points, assist and steals per game along with field goal percentage. Swann is averaging 15.9 points per game off of 39.3% shooting, coming off a season high 27 points and 53.3 shooting against Trinity Baptist.
Auburn is looking to win their eighth straight at home and finish non-conference play with a 10-2 record before starting SEC play against Ole Miss on Dec. 29.
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Donavan Weaver is a senior at Auburn, majoring in journalism. He is from Brewton, Ala. and started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @donavanweaver21
