AUBURN – Having just won the Maui Invitational Championship over a three-day span in which it took down No. 5 Iowa State, No. 12 North Carolina and a red-hot Memphis squad, the No. 2 Auburn Tigers are turning the corner for another pre-conference showdown on Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge against No. 9 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“We get an opportunity to go play one of the best teams in the country, probably in one of the toughest environments,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “If you talk about Auburn and Duke, you know, both teams are really good this year. But one thing we have in common is we both play in very intimidating places. Cameron Indoor Stadium is probably the most famous home court advantage in college basketball, and Neville arena certainly has become that.
“Duke is a very talented team. They're very deep. Just looking at the guys, some of the guys that are on their bench were five-star McDonald all-Americans. They’re gonna be great players and just waiting their turn because the guys that get out there are terrific," he added.
The Blue Devils, always known for having one of the most talented rosters year after year, is led by sensational freshman forward Cooper Flagg, who leads the team in scoring (15.9 points per game), rebounds (8.3), assists (4.1), and blocks (1.3). He is widely projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA draft by numerous analysts.
“He's effective offensively, defensively, inside and out. He's got a high basketball IQ. Got a great love of the game,” Pearl said.
Flagg is accompanied by another prolific freshman in Kon Knueppal who averages 13.4 points per game and Tyrese Proctor at 12.3, chipping in a 46.9% clip from deep.
Auburn – namely Johni Broome who earned SEC Player of the week honors after his standout performance in Maui – has not had much trouble scoring in the painted area this year – or anywhere on the floor for that matter – as they boast the No.1 spot in the updated offensive efficiency rankings, according to KenPom. Conversely, Duke comes into the matchup holding the No.1 spot in defensive efficiency, limiting opponents to just 58.6 points per game.
“This is the number one defensive team in the country, I think, in part because they're so long,” Pearl said. “They're the tallest team in the country, and they’ve got great length at every position. They have active hands, and they get their arms and hands on a lot of balls. And when we get the ball to our bigs, they'll be poking away at it and reaching in and – they're real handsy and active. They do a really nice job.”
The Tigers – though Neville Arena has become quite the venue for college basketball – have not yet played in an environment they will endure on Wednesday night in the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium, known for its raucous crowd of 9,314.
“This will be a game that we will work with our crowd noise equipment here in Neville today. So, the guys won't be able to hear me, and that definitely will affect our play calling, Pearl said. “So, the guys are going to have to be really sharp leaving the huddle knowing what we like, knowing what the breakdowns are and even being effective with our hand signals and things like that to be able to communicate to the team. So, we will definitely work on that today in practice.”
Tipoff for Wednesday night’s showdown is set for 8:15 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPN.
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