For only the second time this season so far, the Auburn basketball team is headed into a game following a loss. The No. 1 Auburn Tigers fell to the No. 6 Florida Gators at home over the weekend in a disappointing loss, breaking their 14-game win streak.
The Tigers struggled to finish at the rim, missing 15 layups and allowing Florida to hit big threes throughout the entire game. Hopefully, it will serve as a wake-up call to head coach Bruce Pearl and his squad with only eight games left in the regular season.
Tonight, the Tigers will face a tricky Vanderbilt team on the road. The Commodores have a 17-6 overall record and a 5-5 record in conference play, and they've beaten both Kentucky and Tennessee. Vanderbilt is certainly not an opponent that Auburn can overlook. Here is what Pearl had to say about the upcoming game:
On playing Vanderbilt on the road, per AL.com:
“We go to Vanderbilt and a place where they’re 12-1, beaten Tennessee, then they beat Kentucky. Tennessee was 6, Kentucky was 9. We’ve won seven out of eight to Vanderbilt, and prior to that, we lost 13 in a row. So, Vanderbilt has been a tough place for us to play historically.”
On the physicality in the SEC, per Auburn Rivals:
“Without question the most physical league I've ever seen. And I'm 64 years old. I've never seen the league this good, and I've never seen it this physical.
On Johni Broome's health, per Auburn Undercover:
"He's getting better, but the ankle is not 100 percent. He's at no risk for injury — not much of a greater risk for injury, but he's not able to push that off, and we have to do a little bit of load management with him."
On playing in Memorial Gymnasium, per Auburn Undercover:
"It'd be like if we asked Coach Freeze to coach our football team from the end zone, that's what it'd be like. It's very different for the players. It's very different for the coaches. But if Coach Freeze coached half of the season from the end zone, like Vanderbilt does, he'd get used to it. Big advantage."
The Tigers and the Commodores will tipoff from Nashville at 6:00 p.m. Central Time.