AUBURN — Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl and his squad are fresh off a trip to Greenville, S.C., on Sunday in which they defeated the Furman Paladins, 83-62.
“We talk about getting exposed in some ways,” Pearl said. “I thought we played pretty hard defensively. We were able to create some offense from our defense. And it was the first time we kind of got in some rotations against another opponent.”
The Tigers will have one more tune-up opportunity before the regular season starts next week: Friday night in Neville Arena against FAU. FAU has been rather impressive in recent history, seeing its squad reach the Final Four two seasons ago and make another tournament appearance last year. Pearl noted that his team will need to play better on Friday than it did against Furman.
“We'll need to execute a lot better offensively against Florida Atlantic. Florida Atlantic is a really good team. And this was something that we've been working on for a while, in a sense that this is the first time that we've been able to play a division one team in the exhibition season. And Florida Atlantic back-to-back NCAA tournament team. Two years ago they went to the Final Four… So, they’re going to run again” Pearl said.
Pearl said this Florida Atlantic team will provide a different look than Auburn saw against Furman mostly due to the athleticism the Owls present.
“The difference between Furman and Florida Atlantic would be the athleticism," he outlined. "They've got SEC size on the front line, length. And veteran, older guards, good depth, multiple defensively. And a team in the American Conference, it's not a power four, but it's just right there. So, we will have to play better against Florida Atlantic than we did against Furman to win the game.”
Pearl noted that after not making the trip last week due to an illness, transfer guard Miles Kelly will be back in uniform on Friday with limited minutes.
“Miles had his first contact practice yesterday, and so he's available. He won't play a ton of minutes because of just getting back and getting in condition, but it'll be great to have him back after being out a couple weeks,” Pearl said.
The Tigers struggled shooting from the field against Furman and were led by All-American big man Johni Broome - who received multiple player of the year preseason mentions this week - but Pearl said he was pleased with how well the backcourt played, specifically how the point guards handled the game on Sunday.
“Played three point guards, played Tahhad, Denver and JP, and that's what I would anticipate doing again on Friday night. Typically, we've played two, but I think all three guys have warranted some time there at the position. And I thought overall, the point guard play was good and will continue to hopefully get better,” Pearl said.
“I don’t know the last time - maybe my first year - where 40 minutes of point guard play will be from a player that did not play for me a year ago or play the position a year ago,” he added.
Tipoff for Friday’s game will be at 7 p.m. CT. The game will not be televised, and the event’s proceeds will benefit the Melton Scholars Program.
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