Auburn basketball begins SEC play in a clash of Tigers against Missouri. Read more for a full Auburn vs Missouri prediction and preview.
The No. 2 Auburn Tigers and Missouri Tigers get ready to open up SEC play inside Neville Arena this Saturday as both teams are coming off the heels of successful non-conference outings.
Both teams capped off their non-conference schedules with wins as Auburn defeated Monmouth 87-58, and the Missouri Tigers ended their non-conference schedule with a win and a home victory over Alabama State 82-65.
Auburn has won seven of the last eight meetings between the two schools and will look to extend its 10-6 all-time lead over its fellow Tigers.
General Information:
Teams: Auburn (12-1) and Missouri (11-2)
Tip time: 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m. EST)
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: Auburn Sports Network
Latest on Missouri basketball:
The Missouri Tigers have had an impressive 11-2 start to the season and look to be competitive in an SEC conference that is chock-full of talented teams.
Missouri’s only two losses this season came against No. 22 Illinois and No. 21 Memphis. Despite not being ranked yet, they delivered an impressive 76-67 victory over No. 1 Kansas at home.
Missouri is 6-34 all-time against AP top two opponents but is looking to improve to 2-0 in that category this season.
Mark Mitchell has broken out for the Missouri Tigers after spending two seasons at Duke; Mitchell currently leads the team in points per game (13.8) and rebounds per game (5.0).
At 6-9, he has become a force for any smaller defender and excels at grabbing boards on the offensive glass, with almost half his total rebounds this season coming on the offensive end.
Latest on Auburn basketball:
After the most difficult non-conference schedule in program history, there is no slowing down as the SEC gauntlet begins, and the Auburn Tigers are looking to come out on top.
“Now we get ready to start the toughest conference schedule in the history of college basketball,” head coach Bruce Pearl said. “There’s maybe never been a league like this. The strong literally are going to be the only ones who are going to survive. Hungry, healthy, humble is the way to get through it.
After a shaky start to the first half after nine days off against Monmouth, the Tigers ended the first half on an 18-0 run, eventually routing Monmouth. They will look to carry that momentum into conference play.
Auburn vs: Missouri prediction: Auburn Tigers by 20 (84-64)
While The Missouri Tigers have an impressive win over No. 1 Kansas, they have not posted quite the same schedule as Auburn and rank 361 out of 364 in Ken Pom’s strength of schedule net rating.
Given the lack of tests and recent matchup history, I expect Auburn to begin conference play comfortably at 1-0.