AUBURN — The top-ranked Auburn Tigers are looking to defend their No.1 spot for the third consecutive week beginning with a road trip to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to take on LSU Wednesday night.
Narrowly escaping a top-10 showdown in its last outing, Auburn saw Johni Broome return to action with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double, which earned him SEC Player of the Week honors for the fourth time this season. Auburn also extended its winning streak to a league-best 12 wins, making it the fourth time in the last eight seasons that the Tigers remain the last undefeated squad in SEC play.
LSU sits at 1-5 in the conference after back-to-back road losses to No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama, but has dropped just one game at home. Ranking No. 67 in the NET, the home Tigers present Auburn with a chance to secure another Quad I win.
“Nothing is going to be easy in this league,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “LSU is 10-1 at home. Their only loss was to Vanderbilt in a game where they lead 56-55 with six to go, which is a great win for Vanderbilt. They played at Alabama, the fourth-ranked team in the country, on Saturday and led at the half and really played well.”
The Bayou Bengals are led by a prolific backcourt tandem in Cam Carter and Jordan Sears, averaging 17.6 and 14.2 points per game, respectively. Carter is seventh in the SEC in scoring (first in league games only averaging 19.0 points per game) and has scored in double digits in every game but one this season, with Sears not far behind with all but four. Down low, Corey Chest has recently stepped up his production, posting a double-double in the loss to Alabama with 18 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass.
“Cam Carter can really score. He's got the ultimate green light. Sears has got great range. He's a great 3-point shooter, and yet he's got blow-by speed going either way. So he doesn't have a real tendency as far as his penetration is concerned. And their big guys get it. They had like 13 or 14 offensive rebounds in the first half against Alabama. LSU is one of the most, I think, athletic teams in our league. Their speed and quickness and jumping ability will bother anybody they play against,” Pearl said.
Life in the SEC this year isn’t easy — as of now, 10 SEC teams are ranked — and Auburn is getting everyone’s best shot. The Tigers are one of two teams defeated on the road in league play, with Alabama being the other. Pearl says the Tigers are just taking it one game at a time.
“Yeah. I mean, we just take it one at a time. Truly take it one at a time. We've always done that. I think you have to do it now. Road games are going to be precious and few, you know, for some. Hopefully, we're going to get our share,” Pearl said. “Our guys have done a good job so far this year where we've been excited about playing everybody. We have. Are we due for a letdown? I suppose. But I haven't seen it yet.”
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on SECN.
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