Auburn basketball took its first loss of the 2022-23 season this past Saturday at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta against Memphis. The 82-73 loss was a major wake-up call for an offense that still needs to be ironed out schematically.
Too many 3-pointers were heaved out of isolation shot creation, particularly from AU’s two top scorers, Wendell Green Jr. and K.D. Johnson. They shot a combined 1/11 from beyond the arc against Memphis. To be fair to those Tigers guards, Chance Westry and Allen Flanigan (1/6 from the 3-point line) were guilty of the same shooting woes.
Not only was Auburn basketball lacking in efficiency, they were also lacking in urgency. AU got outrebounded 43-32. At the end of the day, a well-coached veteran Memphis team had the best player on the floor in Kendric Davis (27 points, nine rebounds, six assists) and it wasn’t particularly close. Penny Hardaway’s Tigers were a predictably daunting challenge, and they nearly beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa last night following the Crimson Tide’s upset over the top-ranked team in the country, Houston, this past weekend.
Tonight will be a much different setup. The Sunbelt’s Georgia State will be visiting the Plains as a massive underdog, and the Tigers have a good chance to right the ship at the Neville Arena. Can they keep the Panthers at bay, or will Georgia State basketball follow the lead of their football program and give AU a legitimate challenge? Fly War Eagle has your odds and a prediction for the ESPN+-televised matchup (All lines courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook):
Georgia State vs. Auburn basketball Odds, Spread and Total
Spread:
Auburn: -20 (-110)
Georgia State: +20 (-110)
Total: 133.5 (Over -115/Under -105)
Georgia State vs. Auburn Prediction
Confidence in covering a spread this large admittedly isn’t high, but after a high-scoring affair at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta this past weekend, things could slow down considerably tonight.
Prediction: 133.5u (-105)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.