The Tigers finish their New England travels this afternoon against the UConn Huskies.
One last out-of-conference game remains for our Tigers before they take on Georgia to open the SEC schedule December 29th. That game is against a tough UConn that is normally a contender on the college basketball season.
Like the Sooners, the Huskies aren't having a stellar non-conference schedule at the moment. They have losses against some known big teams like Oklahoma State, Ohio State, and #13 Oregon, but there are also losses to Northeastern and Wagner. Those two losses were the first two games of the season, though.
Of course, Auburn lost to Boston College, soooo...
I would say they have a good win against Syracuse, but did you see what happened to Syracuse the other night on their own floor? Woof.
If you haven't already checked out "This Week in Auburn Basketball,"The Tigers finish their New England travels this afternoon against the UConn Huskies. you should definitely do so. For a refresher, here is what Drew had to say about this game:
On Friday Auburn goes to UConn to play one of College Basketball’s blue-blood programs. If Auburn goes 1-1 against these two opponents, I think this team is pretty good, if they go 0-2 we know we are a year away, but if they go 2-0...
UConn has a 7 foot center named Amida Brimah who will give Austin Wiley his baptism by fire. The senior Ghanaian big man has 30 blocks on the season, as much as Spencer and Smith have for Auburn combined. Jalen Adams is another Huskie to watch. Hopefully Bryce Brown is able to contain him on defense, otherwise it could be a long, Purdue-like night for the Tigers.
The Huskies have four players averaging double-digit points per game, led by Jalen Adams with 17.4. The 6'3, 195 lbs sophomore guard is the leader of this Huskies team and is going to present a tough match-up for Auburn. Terry Larrier, Rodney Purvis, and Alterique Gilbert are behind him with 13.5, 12.1, and 10.3 respectively.
Size wise, the Huskies have a number of big men. Auburn has Austin Wiley at 6'11, but the Huskies have four players listed at 6'10 or better. The key player in that group is 7'0, 230 lbs senior center Amida Brimah. He may be enough for the Tigers to see more of Horace Spencer again in this game (if he's allowed to play at all; neither he nor Bryce Brown have played since their suspension ended), but it will definitely be Wiley's biggest test.
For the Tigers, the leader of the last few games has been senior TJ Dunans. With Danjel Purifoy limited in production or sitting on the bench in foul trouble, Dunans has stepped up and really had two of his best games in an Auburn uniform. Freshman Jared Harper is really improving with every game, as well. Of course, there's still Mustapha Heron who continues to be a huge part of this team in scoring, rebounds, and more without flashing too many major highlights that garner a lot of notice. Heron is just a machine of a basketball player who does nearly everything so well that it escapes notice.
A loss in this game - even with UConn's current record - isn't a bad thing for Auburn. The Tigers will enter conference play 9-3 and looking good. A win, though, and things will really start to get interesting and fun through the conference schedule. 9-2 to begin the conference season will make the road to the Tournament much easier if Auburn can put together a good conference record.
It's a nationally televised afternoon game in another marquee spot. Can the Tigers end the "big game jitters" they've had so far this season? Hopefully so. We'll find out, soon. War Eagle!
How to Watch, Stream, Listen:
Time: 2:30 Eastern / 1:30 Central
TV: ESPN2
Stream: Watch ESPN
Listen: Auburn Sports Network
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