It's been just eight months since Auburn and Michigan met at State Farm Arena in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines came out on fire, but Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones led a furious Auburn comeback to beat the Wolverines 78-65.
On Tuesday night in Las Vegas, the two teams meet again, this time with entirely new rosters. Gone is the entire Auburn starting lineup for the game, and the Wolverines don't have big man Danny Wolf anymore.
Steven Pearl, in his first season at the helm of Auburn basketball, knows that Michigan will still have a size advantage over his team.
“We’re going to have to do a really good job of keeping our bigs fresh because they’re going to have their hands full," Pearl said following Auburn's 84-73 victory over Oregon on Monday night. "It’s going to be a tall task because Michigan has a lot of bigs."
Dusty May's squad is led by Yaxel Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward who averages 15 points a game. Replacing Wolf in the middle is 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara, who leads the Wolverines with 9.8 rebounds and three blocks per game.
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“It was great to play a team like Oregon who has comparable size," Pearl said. "It’s going to help us get ready for tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenge and our guys are excited about it.”
No. 21 Auburn and No. 7 Michigan tip off at 7:30 p.m CT on TNT.