The Auburn Tigers (7-2) host the USC Trojans (5-4) at Neville Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Auburn will be looking to pick up its third-straight win, while USC is coming off back-to-back losses, including one to Long Beach State in overtime.
What are the biggest things to pay attention to during the game?
How much will Bronny James play?
Bronny James, the son of future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James, was one of the biggest pickups for the Trojans this offseason. He was their second-highest-rated prospect.
According to the 247Sports composite, James was a 5-star recruit with a 0.9912 rating. He was the No. 22 player nationally, the No. 5 combo guard and the No. 4 player in the state of California.
James suffered an incident of cardiac arrest in August that had sidelined him until recently. He made his USC debut in the Trojan's loss to Long Beach State last Sunday. He played 17 minutes in which he totaled four points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
James will likely see a limited amount of action, but he might see more against Auburn than he did against Long Beach State.
How will Auburn handle USC's backcourt?
USC has a talented pair of guards in Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis.
Collier, a 6-foot-5 freshman, averages 17 points, three rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Ellis, a 6-foot-3 senior, averages 21.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
"Isaiah was the No. 1 recruit in the country," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We were recruiting him to Auburn. Probably a consensus top-five pick in the draft next year. Just a great downhill, physical pro point guard. Boogie Ellis is probably the best scoring guard that we'll see. He lit us up for 28 last year. He's a tough cover."
Auburn's success in slowing these guards down will go a long way toward determining the result of the game.
How will Auburn do from 3-point range?
Auburn has produced a wide variety of results from beyond the arch so far this season.
The Tigers are shooting 32.5% from deep as a team so far this season. The loss to Appalachian State was their worst 3-point game of the season so far as they shot 3-27 or 11.1%. The blowout win over Indiana was Auburn's best 3-point game of the season as it shot 14-29 or 48.3%.
If Auburn can shoot well from 3-point range, its chances of winning increase drastically. If it struggles in that area, it becomes a considerably vulnerable team.
Will Johni Broome have a bounce-back game?
Johni Broome has been Auburn's leading scorer so far this season, averaging 15.1 points per game. Broome has not done a lot of scoring in Auburn's last couple of games, however.
After scoring 30 points against Virginia Tech and 21 points against Appalachian State, Broome only scored two points against Indiana and six points against UNC Asheville.
Auburn was able to win both of those games convincingly which speaks to the depth of the team, but Broome takes the team to another level when he is on.
Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. CT, and the broadcast can be found on ESPN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email daniel.locke@1819news.com.
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