Auburn vs South Carolina Preview

The Auburn basketball program (23-9, 11-7 SEC) will take the court again today in the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament versus the South Carolina Gamecocks (16-15, 11-7 SEC) at approximately 2:00-2:30 P.M. cst on ESPN inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. According to the bracket, AU-USC will tip-off approximately 25 minutes after the 12:00 Florida-LSU game ends, which should put the start of the game around 2:30.

Yesterday, 5-seed Auburn started its SEC Tourney successfully after defeating the No. 12 seed Missouri Tigers, 81-71. Bruce Pearl’s club got the W despite arguably its best player Jared Harper not making a field goal the entire game till the last three minutes when he knocked down a 3. Not to mention, another star player Chuma Okeke practically sat out the entire first half because of early foul trouble.

A welcome sight for many Tiger fans was the play of Danjel Purifoy, who finally appeared to have come into his own and played very well down the stretch as he added 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. He also made several hustle plays for Auburn that energized the fans and his teammates alike.

Bryce Brown led the team with 17 points despite not scoring in the first half. He finished the game 5-10 from beyond the three-point line and at one point made three in row from deep.

Bryce Brown with three straight 3-pointers pushes the Auburn lead to 10 #WarDamnEagle @Bwb_2 pic.twitter.com/AME6NoSFuE— Power of Dixieland (@PwrofDixieland) March 14, 2019

Horace Spencer deserves a huge shoutout after his MVP performance against Mizzou yesterday. The senior had quite possibly one of the best games of his career in an Auburn uniform with this remarkable stat line — 11 points, 10 rebounds (6 offensive), 4 steals, 4 blocks, and he shot 3-3 from the free-throw line. Spencer’s hustle invigorated the Tigers and was one of the main reasons Auburn was able to survive and advance.

The Tigers will need more of Spencer’s hustle and stout inside play when the Gamecocks led by their big man Chris Silva take the court today. Carolina beat Auburn earlier in the year, which is why they were awarded the 1st and 2nd round bye in the SEC Tournament over Auburn despite both finishing fourth in the SEC standings.

After the Mizzou game, Bruce Pearl was quoted as saying, “Frank Martin has my number, and not just my phone number.” Coach Pearl wasn’t being facetious as Carolina has beaten Auburn once each season for the last 4 years and also have won four out of the last five games versus the Tigers.

If Auburn wants to escape with victory today then Pearl must find an answer for Silva, who dominated the Tigers in their regular season matchup, finishing with 32 points and 14 rebounds (!).

Aside from early foul trouble, both teams shot almost the same amount of free-throws. Carolina had a +6 advantage on rebounds, and assisted on 7 more shots than Auburn, so they definitely played better team ball than the Tigers in their earlier head-to-head meeting in Columbia.

Just to add, the Tigers only had 7 steals and forced 12 turnovers in the first meeting versus the Gamecocks, which will be key to keeping Silva from controlling the paint. Auburn has to create more defensive pressure and force South Carolina into more mistakes and turnovers if they want to escape with a W.

Players to Watch

Jared Harper is rarely quiet in back-to-back games, so considering how little of an impact he had yesterday against Mizzou, I think he’s due a big game today. In the earlier meeting against the ‘Cocks, Harper poured in 17 points on 7-15 shooting, pulled down 4 rebounds, and also had 5 dimes, so look for Harper to be more assertive today.

Keys to the Game

This game is going to be an old-fashioned boxing match on the inside, so it’s imperative that Spencer and Anfernee McLemore hold their own against Silva, and most importantly stay out of foul trouble. Also keep in mind that Auburn will likely be without big man Austin Wiley today. He dressed out for the Mizzou game yesterday, but had a noticeable limp during warmups, so he’ll likely only be used in an emergency situation.

Fouls will be a major key to watch today, especially early, but if Auburn’s undersized big men are up to the task, the Tigers should be able to advance to the semifinals. But then again, Frank Martin is on the opposing sideline so hopefully Auburn can not only contain Silva, but Martin’s sorcery as well.