AUBURN — After dropping its first game in conference play on its home floor to No. 6 Florida on Saturday, No. 1 Auburn is hanging on to its No. 1 spot and aiming to bounce back Tuesday night against Vanderbilt in Memorial Gymnasium.
“We’ve won seven of the last eight against Vanderbilt, and prior to that, we'd lost 13 in a row. It's been a tough place for us to play historically, and Mark (Byington) has done a tremendous job,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.
Eighth in the SEC with a 17-6 overall record and 5-5 in conference play, the Commodores are led by junior guard Jason Edwards with 17.6 points per game and three others in double digits, Devin McGlockton (11.3 pg), AJ Hoggard (10.6 ppg) and Tyler Nickel (10.3 ppg.)
“Edwards is an all-you-can-handle guard. Devin McGlockton is a tough kid,” Pearl said. “Hoggard, you know, he was one of the better guards in the Big 10 at Michigan State, one of the better guards in our league now.”
Auburn, which boasts the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the nation (1.86), will prioritize taking care of the ball against a Commodore squad that ranks No. 6 nationally in turnover margin with a 5.3.
“They're really, really good defensively, they turn you over. That's what they do. They turn you over, and they're nationally ranked in turnover percentage and turnover margin. And they do it by pressing. They do it by playing really hard. They do it by doing a great job with their scouting and disrupt what you like to do. So, we’ve got to take care of the ball against them,” Pearl said.
The Tigers hold an inside advantage over the Commodores, whose tallest player in their main rotation is 6-foot-8. Vanderbilt is in the bottom half of the league in rebounding, but it still features capable big men who can pose problems on both ends of the floor in the Auburn frontcourt.
“While their posts are a little undersized — again, they're built like our defensive tackles at Auburn. I mean, they're 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7, but they're powerful and explosive. Vanderbilt does not lack for size, They just lack for length,” Pearl said.
The Commodores present the Tigers with an opportunity to add a 13th Quad I win to their resume.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on SECN.
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