After opening conference play with a bang with an 84-68 win over the Missouri Tigers in Neville Arena, the Auburn basketball team will take on their next conference opponent on the road. For the first time, Auburn will face Texas as a conference member.
The Tigers hold the most quad-1 wins in the nation with six, and beating Texas would add another to the tally. The Longhorns are 11-3 overall, but all three losses were quad-1. They are 8-1 on their home turf, with one loss to UConn.
The Longhorns will be hungry for a big win, and the Tigers will face a significant challenge on the road. Here's what head coach Bruce Pearl and some of his players had to say about tonight's matchup.
Pearl on facing the Longhorns, per Auburn Rivals:
“They're looking for a signature win. They're looking for one that they can hang their hat on. This is that first opportunity for them in the league at home. I would imagine that they would be fired up about the opportunity to play us, the No. 2 team in the country, in their building. Obviously, the prize on our head is significant. When you can beat the teams that are ranked, it's a separator. For us, Texas is a huge separator — a Quad 1 opportunity and a road game against a talented, well-coached team.”
Johni Broome on upcoming road games, per Auburn Undercover:
"If you want to be one of the best teams in the country, you have to be able to win on the road, as well. So going to Texas and South Carolina will be a good test for us. But we're looking to go on this road trip 2-0."
Pearl on the environment at Texas, per Auburn Undercover:
"I think this is going to even be more of a road game, because at Duke, their place only holds eight and a half or something like that, and we had at least 1000 people in the building. And so, at Duke, we absolutely could hear the crowd. We got off to a great start, which I think is important on the road, but this is gonna be an even harder environment, because I don't expect to have as many, I don't expect to have 1,000 Auburn fans down there."
The Tigers and the Longhorns tip-off from Austin at 8:00 p.m. central time.