The Auburn Tigers will be taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide this Sunday in their second tipoff of the season as the Tigers look to continue their hot form.
Auburn will be traveling after a dominant 78-50 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats and another 70-59 win at Missouri, two games that helped improve its SEC record to 5-6. While the Tigers have struggled with consistency in the SEC, they have maintained a solid record of 16-8 overall with 12 of those wins coming at home, a stat that will be up against them when they travel to Tuscaloosa.
Alabama will be hosting Auburn as the Crimson Tide look to improve their record after an 85-66 loss away from home against LSU. Prior to that loss, the Crimson Tide were on a four-game winning streak, a run that started after a loss against Auburn in their first meeting of the season. Alabama enters this game at 19-7 overall with a 6-5 SEC record.
This historical matchup currently leans in Auburn’s favor as it has a 35-32 record against the Crimson Tide. Although Auburn leads historically, its away record is a lowly 12-18, something that it'll want to put to the side as it enters Sunday’s game.
The last time these teams faced off against each was less than a month ago, when Auburn came out on top, winning 78-65. Prior to that though, the Tigers hadn’t beat the Crimson Tide since March 2019, reaching a record losing streak of nine games.
The Tigers will want to keep their momentum rolling as they aim to sweep Alabama for the first time since the 2018-2019 season.
Auburn is averaging 67.2 points per game over the season, but in its last three games, it’s averaging around 73 points per game. On the other end, it’s holding its opponents to 57.3 points per game, a defense that puts them in the top 40 for lowest opposition points per game.
The Tigers’ main offensive outlet this season has far and away been graduate student guard Honesty Scott-Grayson, leading the offense with 17.9 points per game. This scoring average has her in the top five for points per game in the SEC.
With 8.8 points per game, graduate student guard and former Alabama player JaMya Mingo-Young is the second highest contributor in points.
As for Alabama, it has a top 50 offense in the NCAA with 74.5 points per game, and to add on top of that, its scoring margin is at 15.3, a stat that’s top 30 in the NCAA. Defensively, it still holds its opponents average to a low 59.3 points per game.
The Crimson Tide has a few contributors that make that offense as high scoring as it is. Senior guard Sarah Ashlee Barker leads the offense as she averages 16.7 points per game, putting her in the top 10 scorers in the SEC. The second highest contributor is senior guard/forward Aaliyah Nye with an average of 14.1 points per game. Continuing to put up double digits is junior guard Jessica Timmons who is averaging 11.2 points per game.
An Auburn win would put both teams at 6-6 in the SEC as Auburn continues to look for consistency towards the latter end of the season while an Alabama win would put it at 7-5, a record that could put the Tide over Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Alabama and Auburn will face off as Alabama looks to avoid the season sweep against its rival. The Iron Bowl of basketball will tip off on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. CST on SECN+.
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Hector Hernandez is a freshman from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in building science. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
