After a preseason trip to Tel Aviv, Israel and a non-conference tournament trip to Cancun, Mexico, Auburn will once again take their show on the road, and this time to the West Coast.
The Tigers' first of two matchups in the Pacific time zone is against the USC Trojans in the Galen Center. The Tigers and Trojans almost met in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament but, 7-seed USC was upset by 10-seed Miami 68-66 in overtime in Greenville, S.C. The two programs have met twice prior to Sunday’s game with the Trojans taking both contests — 73-66 on Dec. 15, 1972 and 85-74 on Dec. 29, 1977.
The Tigers will travel to Los Angeles after a 72-64 victory over the Georgia State Panthers last Wednesday in Neville Arena. Despite a strong second half surge, Auburn struggled mightily to get anything going against Georgia State in the first half, shooting 7-of-22 from the field and 13-of-19 from the charity stripe.
“This team, in the last three games — against Colgate, Memphis and now Georgia State — is not playing well enough to beat the teams left on our schedule,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “We have got to improve in order to beat the teams that are left on our schedule. The last three games that we've played, we've not played well enough to be able to continue to win.”
After a rough last couple of games and first half against the Panthers, Auburn was able to bounce back to seal a victory in the second half, shooting 66.7% from the field and blocking six shots. Just a game removed from not seeing the floor in Atlanta, Tre Donaldson made the most of his opportunity with six points in 18 minutes of play at both the one and two positions with the west coast trip looming.
“I went crazy on the bench, if you saw me,” said Jaylin Williams. “It was really good. I'm proud of Tre. He works really hard. It's hard for him to playing when he's playing behind Wen and those guys, but like, Tre don't really trip about much. He's just here to learn and grow. He's only a freshman. He's gonna be so much better in the future.”
Williams' performance on Wednesday was crucial for the Tigers as well with team highs of 20 points and eight rebounds, along with three blocks.
“Jaylin Williams was the best player on the floor," Pearl said. “Jaylin Williams is capable of being the best player on the floor. (He) needs to act like it all the time, accept it, relish it and see if he can play better and do more."
The Trojans are coming off a Wednesday night win themselves defeating Long Beach State 88-78 at home to continue a four game winning streak. A part of those four wins are two against conference foes Cal and Oregon State. The 2-0 start for USC in Pac 12 play is only the third time since the 2011 season that the Trojans have won its first two conference games.
Defense will be the name of the game for both the Trojans and Tigers. USC has held seven of its eleven opponents this season to 37.5% shooting or less. For the season, Southern California is holding its opponents to a 37.4% shooting percent, ranking 14th overall in the country. Auburn has held opponents to a 38.3% shooting percentage this season, ranking 30th overall in the country.
Expect a block party in Hollywood, with USC ranking third in the country with 6.4 blocks per game and Auburn leading the country in the same statistic with 7.9. The Trojan’s Joshua Morgan has 37 blocks himself and is ranked third in the country in blocks per game with 3.36, just one spot ahead of the Tigers' Johni Broome with 3.11.
Drew Peterson leads the Trojans and is second among Pac-12 players with 67 assists, which ranks ninth in the country. Peterson is one of two players nationally averaging at least 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game this season. Peterson is averaging 13.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
Following recent struggles, Auburn will look to make a statement in their first true road game of the season with conference play on the horizon. Southern California could obtain their first SEC win of the season after a loss to Tennessee 73-66 in overtime on Nov. 24 in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. Tipoff in Los Angeles is set for Sunday at 4:30 p.m. CST on ESPN.
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Patrick is a sophomore from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
