GAME 04: The start of a great weekend.
GAME 04: Friday, November 18th, 2022
#13 Auburn Tigers vs Texas Southern Bobcats
Neville Arena - Auburn, AL
Time: 7:00 pm CST/8:00 pm EST
Network: SEC Network+/ESPN+, Auburn Radio Network
Betting Odds: Auburn -24.0, Over/Under 144.5 via Draft Kings Sportsbook
(Odds/lines subject to change. Visit DraftKings for more information.)
Well, well, well, it looks like the Tigers finally realized their offensive potential the other night against Winthrop!
Auburn finally started to hit some threes, and couldn’t be stopped offensively as they posted an 89-65 win that was never close even from the start. Auburn jumped out to a 10-2 lead and didn’t look back with Johni Broome dominating with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and a handful of blocks. Wendell Green continued a hot start to the season with another 16 points and the team hit 9-23 threes (39%), which is more than double the efficiency from the first two games.
The Tigers will finish this four-game homestand with Texas Southern, who are just 1-4 and led by a familiar face in former LSU coach Johnny Jones. However, this game will be about how much Auburn wants to put it on the Bobcats and what Bruce Pearl chooses to do with working his guys out.
K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper hit a couple of threes each, and Auburn blocked 11 shots, continuing their torrid pace from last season even without Walker Kessler on the floor. With shooting nearly 47% from the floor in that game, it seems like the Tigers finally got things settled with their offensive game, and we saw some more guys get comfortable. We also got to see the first action for Chance Westry as he came back from offseason surgery. He only had 5 points, but showed off some quickness, toughness, and a willingness to get right to the basket and become the guy who can get you a score when you need it.
THE OPPONENT
Man, if Auburn struggles with this one, it’s indicative of the Tigers being completely disinterested in anything else. Texas Southern has some alright height among its starters, but they have a bunch of guys who are likely going to get physically dominated by Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome in the middle.
They’re 343rd in the country in scoring, 350th in 2-point makes this season, and 336th in 3-point makes, 357th in free throw percentage, and 360th in assists per game. Point is, they don’t do anything well on offense. They are led by P.J. Henry at guard, a senior who averages nearly 16 points per game, and John Walker III, a Texas A&M transfer who’s averaging 12.4 ppg/5.8 rpg and will have to stand up to Auburn’s bigs in the middle.
However, this should be simple. Auburn has no business messing around in this game and winning by less than 25 points. The Tigers should be able to create turnover and turnover, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t have another early triple-double watch for Broome.
THE PREDICTION
Auburn gets up big early, and we see basically everyone in this game. Tigers by a ton.
Auburn 93, Texas Southern 60
from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2022/11/18/23466117/game-preview-and-open-thread-13-auburn-vs-texas-southern
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