After escaping Tampa with a razor-thin victory over USF, Auburn basketball heads to The Bahamas for their first nationally televised game of the season against #22 UConn.
The Tigers themselves sit at #19, but they almost fell out of the rankings altogether against the Bulls at the Amalie Arena. At one point, Bruce Pearl’s squad trailed by 15 points and looked overmatched by a game USF.
Eventually, though, the Tigers clawed back with a 15-0 run in the second half–and forced a poor second-half shooting performance (27.6%) in the second half from their opponent–to close the door on the Bulls in the final minutes. Zep Jasper and K.D. Johnson combined for 28 of their 58 points, and only seven Tigers scored all night.
Will Auburn show up in The Bahamas with a sea of orange and blue faithful making the 715+ mile trip to cheer on their Tigers? Or will their first ranked opponent spoil their pre-Thanksgiving showdown?
Let’s take a look at the Auburn basketball betting lines, odds, and TV information while laying a few predictions on the line (all lines courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook):
UConn vs. Auburn basketball Odds, Spread and Total
Spread:
Auburn: +2.5 (-110)
UConn: -2.5 (-110)
Moneyline:
Auburn: +120
UConn: -140
Total:
142.5 (Over -110/Under -110)
UConn vs. Auburn Pick and Prediction
Bruce Pearl wanted a test against USF, as he relayed to the media before last Friday’s tilt in Tampa:
"“Part of my philosophy of playing these non-conference road games is it’s about getting your team prepared,” Pearl said. “I don’t want our first road game to be…I think our second game this season we’re playing on the road in the SEC so we will have played in neutral sites, we will have played in St. Louis and we will have played in Tampa.”"
Well, he got that in a competitive game that had Tiger fans on the edge of their seats. The hope is that the lessons learned from that game will parlay into today’s action.
And it could. UConn has beaten lowly teams like Binghamton, LIU, Coppin State, and Central Connecticut State and have had just one game where they didn’t win by 25 or more. That was against the Binghamton Bearcats, in a 24-point victory.
After a down game offensively from AU’s top guys (Jabari Smith, Wendell Green, Walker Kessler), perhaps the Tigers are due for an explosion on that end of the floor. Coupled with their oversized frontcourt capably protecting the rim against a similarly big and physical Huskies frontcourt, that could be enough to pull off the upset.