Sure, losing by 30 points to Michigan and 31 points at Arizona is not ideal for Steven Pearl and the Auburn Tigers so far this season, but realistically, it's not as bad as some Auburn fans might want to think it seems.
The Wolverines have dominated everyone who dares to get in their path, and beating the Wildcats in McKay Arena is difficult for anyone. And, as Pearl points out, the Tigers aren't exactly facing chop liver in those matchups.
I think there’s a pretty wide margin between Michigan, Arizona and the rest of college basketball," the head coach said. "It was good for our guys to see where the bar is at because we’ve got a long way to go.”
Auburn doesn't have same inside force it had last season
Much like against Michigan, Auburn was at a size disadvantage against Arizona, whose starting lineup doesn't have a player shorter than 6'foot-3 and features 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas. With the departure of Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome, the Tigers have yet to find the inside game needed to challenge the teams with size that have come up on Auburn's brutal non-conference schedule.
“We told our guys we’re going to have to have a lot of step-up,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We didn’t have a ton of that tonight. It’s disappointing any time you get exposed like that."
The only player who didn't seem intimidated was Tahaad Pettford, who put up a career-high 30 points for the Tigers.
"Great to see him make shots,” Pearl said. “It kept the game from getting even uglier. We’re going to need him to continue to do that for us to be successful. I’m glad his offense was rolling, but I have really high expectations for him and the rest of our guards defensively.”
Still, it wasn't enough as Auburn dropped its third game of the season. But for those who tend to panic, look at who those losses have come to: No. 2 Arizona and No. 8 Houston, who were in the top spot at the time of the meeting in Birmingham.
There's one more hurdle to clear for Pearl's team before SEC play begins, and it is a doozy in No. 1 Purdue, which, like the Wolverines and Wildcats, will have a significant size advantage over the Tigers. Auburn has two weeks before that matchup to figure out how to get things going inside.