In front of a packed house of Auburn fans in State Farm Arena on Friday night in the Tigers’ Sweet 16 matchup, it was expected to be a battle of the bigs, yet Auburn’s guards ultimately took over in the second half and stole the show.
Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford exploded onto the scene in the second half and accounted for 24 of the Tigers’ 28 points in their 28-6 run in the half.
“We have players on this team that – it can be anybody on any given night,” said Auburn forward Chris Moore after the Tigers’ game on Friday. “Man, you gotta really scout us, because you got at least six or seven players that can score in double figures on any given night. So, we’re a dangerous team in March. Man, when you’ve got guys like that as hot as Tahaad and Denver was tonight, it's special. It's a special thing.”
With the Tigers dancing into an Elite Eight showdown against No. 2 seed Michigan State it will be a matchup of two of the best backcourts remaining in the tournament.
Tom Izzo’s Spartans are led by their trio of guards: Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson and Tre Holloman. Akins averages 12.8 points per game, Richardson – projected to be a top-20 pick in this year’s NBA Draft – averages 12.2 and Holloman comes in with 9.3 points per game.
With Auburn’s backcourt defense disrupting the Wolverines all night long, forcing them into 15 turnovers and holding them to just 36% shooting, with the only guard, Nimari Burnett, scoring 10 points, the Tigers will look to carry that into Sunday’s matchup.
“That's just Auburn basketball. Pressure ball. We just try not to let our opponents run our offense. We try to take their best players out of the offense, and that's what I feel like we're going to try to do tomorrow. Just ball pressure, a lot of framing. That's probably about it,” said Denver Jones who leads the Tigers’ defensive charge.
On the flip side, though, Michigan State boasts one of the best defenses in the country. The Spartans enter the matchup as the No. 4 defense in the nation according to Kenpom and have the second-best 3-point defense in the nation, holding teams to just 28% from beyond the arc.
Auburn typically takes care of the ball at a high rate, ranking 12th in the nation with 9.4 turnovers per game, but the Tigers turned it over 15 times against the Wolverines, which could be a problem against a feisty Spartan defense.
“They're a good defensive team. They get out there a little bit. We've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and limit our turnovers,” said Johni Broome.
Auburn prides itself on its tenacious defense, and with Michigan State boasting one of the best defenses in the nation, it’s set to be an elite defensive showdown with a shot at the Final Four on the line.
"Just doing what we've been doing the whole season — just making other teams' guards uncomfortable," Kelly said. "We know they run off their guards, and they like to run in transition, so we've just got to make them uncomfortable and take them out of their looks and stick to that."
Tipoff is set for 4:05 p.m. on CBS.
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