As Auburn looks to keep up a great December in terms of results, the Tigers will face Alabama State as they look to extend their three-game winning streak.
After three dominant wins against Indiana, UNC Asheville and USC, the Auburn Tigers have gone 8-2 throughout the season while maintaining an unbeaten 4-0 record on their home court, Neville Arena. The Tigers will want to enjoy Christmas by improving their record with a win against the Hornets.
The Alabama State Hornets have struggled during their season with a 4-6 record with losses to the likes of USC, LSU and Ole Miss. Notably, Alabama State has an 0-4 record when playing away from home. The Hornets will be looking to change their winless away record at Auburn following a loss against USC on Tuesday, where they failed to lead at any point in the game.
Historically, the Tigers have dominated this series with a 5-0 record over the Hornets ever since their first meeting in December 1989. Four of Auburn’s wins in this matchup have been at home while only one has taken place in Montgomery. They last faced off on Dec. 22, 2009 when Auburn won 94-78 to stay unbeaten. Alabama State will have to turn things around quickly if it wants to get its first win in this series but most importantly, get another win to turn its record around.
Auburn will look to improve regardless of its winning streak as the SEC opener against Arkansas quickly approaches. Auburn has had no issues offensively with a scoring margin of 16.1 and a points per game average of 83.2, which rank in the top 25 and top 40 in the NCAA, respectively.
Leading Auburn’s high-scoring offense, junior center Johni Broome leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.7 points per game in 229 minutes. Trailing behind Broome is freshman guard Aden Holloway, who has scored an average of 12 points per game in 232 minutes.
Alabama State will be making the quick trip to Auburn in hopes of turning its recent struggles around and getting a statement win against Auburn. While not the focus of the night, the Hornets will be trying to get their first win against the Tigers as well.
The Hornets come into this game off the back of two disappointing showings in which they averaged 57.5 points between them. Their scoring margin has been affected by the previous two games with their point margin being -2.3 as they show up to Neville Arena. The Hornets will need to take advantage when they have the ball due to Auburn’s high-scoring games as of late.
Alabama State is led by junior guard TJ Madlock who has an average of 16.2 points per game in a total of 294 minutes. Madlock has scored 18 and 17 points in the last two games against LSU and USC, respectively. Second behind Madlock is sophomore forward D’Ante Bass who accounts for an average of 16 points per game but has only played in two games. With more games under his belt, senior guard Isaiah Range has a scoring average of 12.2 points per game.
The Tigers will face the Alabama State Hornets at Neville Arena on Friday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. on SECN+.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Hector Hernandez is a freshman from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in building science. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
