The Auburn Tigers make the trip to Columbia, South Carolina to face off against the Gamecocks Saturday afternoon in this conference matchup.
The Tigers, fresh off a nail-biting 87-82 victory against the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday, are on the road again to face another conference opponent. In Tuesday’s matchup, the Tigers seemed to have the game in their control, leading by as much as 21 points late in the second half. The Longhorns made a strong comeback, at one point making it a single possession game, but ultimately Auburn was able to hang on to earn Bruce Pearl his 214th win, making him the winningest coach in Auburn basketball history.
Coming into this game against South Carolina, the Tigers hope to replicate a similar offense they played against Texas, with Johni Broome, Miles Kelly, and Chad Baker-Mazara controlling the ball. Broome, who has jumped out as the heavy favorite to win the Wooden Award, given to college basketball’s most outstanding player, has been a force to be reckoned with, as he is averaging a double-double and shooting over 56% from the field. Broome’s domination in the paint allows for players like Kelly and Baker-Mazara to have countless opportunities behind the arc and in slashing rolls to score at will when defenders decide to overplay Broome.
Aside from those three players, Tahaad Pettiford, Denver Jones, and Chaney Johnson have solidified themselves as critical role players who take advantage of any opportunity they have when the ball is in their hands. Johnson and Pettiford, who come off the bench, provide Coach Pearl with the ability to give his starters rest without any drop in production as they continue to put up numbers comparable to the Tigers’ starters. Expect Auburn to be moving the ball throughout their lineup to create open opportunities and great looks for their shooters and post players to score. If Auburn continues to play selfless basketball, I expect the Tigers to jump out to an early lead that the Gamecocks will struggle to overcome.
While South Carolina has dropped their last two games, both being against conference opponents, they have a great opportunity for a statement win at home to get themselves back in the win column on Saturday. The Gamecocks like to run their offense through 6’7” forward Collin Murray-Boyles and guard Jamarii Thomas, who are two of South Carolina’s three players averaging over 10 points per game. Murray-Boyles can take control of any game, as his 245-pound frame allows him plenty of opportunity to back down his defenders to get to the rim. Thomas, who is second on the team in 3-point percentage, is a pure scorer who can get hot behind the arc quickly. If Murray-Boyles gets to the rim at will and Thomas can find his stroke behind the arc, the Gamecocks will have a chance of defeating one of the best teams in the country in the Auburn Tigers on Saturday.
Defensively, if the Gamecocks want to keep themselves in this game, they must shut off Broome. Expect Coach Lamont Paris to have early double teams on Broome to try and make him force shots and hopefully walk himself into turnovers. While Broome has the height advantage on South Carolina’s star forward, Murray-Boyles has Broome beat in weight and might be the x-factor that stops Broome’s effortless scoring.
This game tips off at 12:00pm CST and can be watched or streamed on ESPN and FuboTV.
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