Fly War Eagle
Fansided

Auburn Basketball: Tigers vs North Alabama Game Info and Preview

By Nicholas Ian Allen

facebooktwitterreddit

Auburn Tigers (7-5) vs North Alabama Lions (5-6)

  • Date: Saturday, January 3, 2014
  • Start Time: 12PM Central
  • Location: Auburn, AL
  • Arena: Auburn Arena
  • TV Info: SEC Network
  • Live Stream: WatchESPN

The Auburn basketball hosts Division II North Alabama today in the final game of the 2014-15 non-conference schedule.

Dec 29, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers guard

Antoine Mason

(14) shoots over Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders guard

Jaqawn Raymond

(10) during the second half at Auburn Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Following a tough early season stretch, including three straight losses that dropped the Tigers to 3-5, Auburn has an opportunity to win their fifth game in a row. Most of that good work has come at home, and with a healthy lineup – both of which should be a factor today.

Auburn is 6-1 at home, with the only loss coming to Coastal Carolina December 5. The Tigers are also 5-0 with senior guard Antoine Mason in the lineup. The nation’s leading returning scorer from the 2013-14 campaign, Mason transferred to Auburn and made an immediate impact with 19 points in an 83-73 season opening victory over Milwaukee.

However, Mason injured his ankle against the Panthers and missed the following six games – four of which the Tigers lost. He returned to the court against Clemson, but off the bench, and Auburn lost 72-61. They haven’t lost since, and Mason has provided a spark of energy as well as an ability to drive to the basket that was missing during the losing streak.

Another big reason for the turnaround in the second half of the non-conference slate has been the depth added to the roster with the additions of 7-foot-2 freshman center Trayvon Reed (who enrolled following the fall semester) and 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Alex Thompson (who returned from a leave of absence).

Both new Tigers are role players for the Tigers at this point, but they’ve added valuable height to a front court that had to rely only on starters Cinmeon Bowers and Jordon Granger. Allowing Bowers and Granger to take a breather when necessary without the worry that the Tigers will be severely undersized without them has been huge.

More from Auburn Basketball

It’s also kept Bowers fresh, and his play has improved over the season, which is the first on campus for the junior college transfer. Bowers leads the SEC in rebounding with 11.3 per game, defensive rebounding with 7.8 per contest and offensive rebounding with 3.5 per game. He’s also been a consistent scoring threat inside and ranks in the league’s top 20 with 13.2 points per game.

And of course, K.T. Harrell has continued to shine as the team’s leading scorer. With 17.3 points per game, Harrell currently sits in second place on the SEC leaderboard. He’s also second in three-point percentage (40.3%) and leads the league with 2.6 three-pointers per game.

Overall, the Auburn basketball team has played its best basketball across the last five games thanks to a healthy and deeper roster than new head coach Bruce Pearl had at his disposal in the first seven games. There is still a long way to go for the Tigers, but with conference play looming next week, picking up a fifth consecutive victory today over North Alabama will set them up well.

Projected Lineups:

Auburn

  • #5 Cinmeon Bowers, F, Jr., 6-foot-7, 278 pounds, 13.2 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 28.6 MPG
  • #25 Jordon Granger, F, Jr., 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, 5.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 23.3 MPG
  • #1 K.T. Harrell, G, Sr., 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, 17.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 33.1 MPG
  • #12 K.C. Ross-Miller, G, So., 6-foot, 178 pounds, 7.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 24.2 MPG
  • #14 Antoine Mason, G, Sr., 6-foot-1, 216 pounds, 15.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 30.3 MPG

North Alabama

  • #1 Jere Vucica, F, Jr., 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, 12.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 29.5 MPG
  • #32 Marcus Landry, F, Sr., 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, 9.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 26.6 MPG
  • #35 Calvin Dade, F, Sr., 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, 12.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 30.1 MPG
  • #10 John Fletcher, G, Jr., 6-foot-2, 160 pounds, 5.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 17.1 MPG
  • #11 Nathan Spehr, G, Sr., 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, 13.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 35.4 MPG

Next: Football: What Went Wrong For Auburn in 2014?

More from Fly War Eagle

Home/Auburn Basketball