Alabama Basketball Opponent Preview: Auburn Tigers

Alabama Basketball will go on the road to play the Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon, looking to defend its undefeated streak in SEC play.

The Tigers are 17-7 and sit at 7-4 in the SEC. More recently, Auburn has been on a slide, losing four of its last five games. In a two week span, it lost to Texas A&M twice and dropped a controversial decision at Tennessee. It also lost at West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Bruce Pearl’s team will be back on its home court to face Alabama basketball. The Tigers have largely played their best basketball at home, compiling an 11-1 record.

Auburn is a fairly average offensive team, and lacks a Jabari Smith-type player that can create his own shot at all three levels. Instead, the Tigers utilize a balanced attack.

Junior guard Wendell Green leads the team with averages of 13.9 points and 4.4 assists per game. Green is not a great three-point shooter, knocking down just 28 percent of his attempts from outside.

Despite his 5’11” stature, he excels at getting into the lane with a quick first step. He is dangerous once he gets by the first defender, looking to score but content to set up his teammates. Green is a crafty finisher around the basket with a knack for getting to the free throw line, where he connects on over 81 percent of his attempts.

Morehead State transfer Johni Broome is a force in the paint that could cause issues. He averages 13.7 points per game and leads Auburn with 9.0 rebounds per game, but he makes his biggest impact as a shot blocker. His 2.6 blocks per game rank third in the SEC and ninth nationally.

Last season, he led the Ohio Valley Conference with 3.9 blocks per game, which was good for third in the country. Alabama basketball may be able to neutralize Broome by spreading the floor. Nate Oats’ uptempo, analytics-based strategy has the Crimson Tide in the top-10 in college basketball in three-point attempts.

Seniors Jaylin Williams and Allen Flanigan are Auburn’s most experienced players, and its best wing scorers. Williams is very versatile at 6’8”, averaging 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting over 36 percent from three.

Flanigan averages 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. He has moved into the starting lineup over the last few weeks, scoring in double figures in three of the last four games. This includes a career-high 22 points in Auburn’s win over Georgia.

Junior guard KD Johnson is well-known to be Auburn’s emotional leader. He defends aggressively on the perimeter, but can be erratic on both ends of the floor. Johnson has come off the bench this season, and has struggled offensively. He is averaging 8.1 points per game, shooting just 35 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point range.

Senior guard Zep Jasper has struggled as well, averaging 3.3 points per game on 34 percent from the field despite starting every game for the Tigers. Forward Chris Moore and big Dylan Cardwell will factor into the Auburn frontcourt rotation.

While Alabama basketball is the better team on paper, Auburn is a gritty opponent that defends well and will present a challenge on the glass. The variance of Bruce Pearl’s guards could decide this game.

Bama’s trio of Mark Sears, Jahvon Quinerly, and Jaden Bradley is far more efficient and consistent in the backcourt, but Auburn’s guards have a tendency to go off at random times. It would be very Auburn-like for Green and Johnson to shoot much better than their season percentages in this game.

As is the case in most games, the offensive ability of Alabama basketball gives the Crimson Tide a major advantage. Brandon Miller is a matchup nightmare, and he is far from Bama’s only dangerous shooter. Mark Sears, Jahvon Quinerly, Rylan Griffen, and Nimari Burnett all stretch the floor and put strain on opposing defenses.

If Alabama has even a typical day offensively, Auburn will have to play way out of character just to keep pace.