Auburn vs. Texas Preview After Historic Win at Florida

Auburn took down Florida in Gainesville for the first time since 1996. The Tigers were considerable underdogs against a Florida team that looked like it could contend for a national title again this year. Here’s how Auburn managed to upset the Gators, plus a preview of Auburn vs. Texas basketball this Wednesday at Neville Arena.

How to watch: Auburn Tigers vs. Texas Longhorns
Date: Wednesday, January 28 | Time: 7:00 PM ET
Location: Neville Arena (Auburn, AL)
TV: ESPN2 | Live Stream: ESPN+

Steven Pearl is building quite the résumé in his first year as Auburn's head coach. With a Frankenstein roster that lost 10 seniors, he's now defeated John Calipari (Arkansas), Rick Pitino (St. John's), Dana Altman (Oregon), Chris Beard (Ole Miss), and now Todd Golden of the Florida Gators – 5–3 against Final Four head coaches and 3–0 vs. coaches with a National Championship under their belt.

For the first time in 30 years, Auburn leaves Gainesville with a win, an accomplishment that eluded Bruce Pearl. Not bad for a "nepo baby". Surely this statement win will put that conversation to bed, but we know it won't.

Coach Pearl made a statement after the game saying "Our team three weeks ago would've lost that game by 20." Would the team we saw on Saturday beat Michigan, Arizona, or Purdue if we could have a do-over of those games? Maybe not, but it would certainly put Auburn at the top in conference play if the team played like this from the beginning.

Winning the Physical Battle against Florida

If you remember last year, Alex Condon was making Johni Broome's game a living nightmare. Auburn struggled to keep up with the physicality of Florida even with Broome, Dylan Cardwell, and Chaney Johnson on the roster. Not to diminish the ability of these players, but the tables were turned on Saturday.

Keyshawn Hall — outsized by Condon, Haugh, Handlogten, and Chinyelu — played 39 minutes and could not be stopped in the first half. Hall, along with the rest of the team, played the hardest he has all year and finished with 24 points, four assists, and seven rebounds against Florida’s frontcourt of giants.

Auburn had contributions from ALL players in this monumental upset. Freshman Sebastian Williams-Adams hit a big three and, in Coach Pearl’s words, “put the most physical player in the league (Ruben Chinyelu) on his ass and scores a layup.” Tahaad Pettiford may not have lit up the scoreboard, but his 36 minutes on the defensive end held Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee to just eight and seven points, respectively. KeShawn Murphy was one rebound away from another double-double, finishing with 16 points, nine boards, and a pair of blocks and steals. Kevin Overton had two big steals and 10 points and led Auburn with a plus-19.

The most touted frontcourt in the SEC was outscored by the Tigers inside the paint, 38–28.

The Tigers' defense certainly traveled to Gainesville in this game, an idea that Coach Pearl and SWA have harped on. Shooting may not travel, but defense must. Scoring just 67 points, the Gators were held to 37% shooting from the floor and 26% from three. Coach Pearl on Auburn's effort:

We were swarming to the ball. We didn't let their size affect us. We wanted to make them settle for jump shots. The biggest difference in the first half was we held them to four offensive rebounds on 16 missed shots. It's the reason why we won the game.

Showing marked improvement at the line, Auburn made 19-of-21 free throws. The Gators struggled, making just 16-of-27. The Tigers will need this trend to continue against the Longhorns, where Texas first-year head coach Sean Miller says the team “has a virus called fouling.”

Auburn Tigers vs. Texas Longhorns Preview

Texas ranks 46th nationally in fouls per game, averaging nearly 20 per night. In their 80–85 loss to Kentucky, the Longhorns committed 23 fouls, giving the Wildcats 30 points from the charity stripe. Texas will have to figure out how to stop fouling if Auburn can make 90% of their attempts from the line like they did in Gainesville.

This is an Auburn team still figuring things out, but this late in the season, consistency is required to keep winning. Auburn’s defense cannot fall off — the Longhorns are a very solid team who just put Georgia into the dirt on Saturday, 87–67. They have conference wins against Alabama on the road and Vanderbilt, with single-digit losses against Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Texas is averaging just over 86 PPG. Leading the team is red-hot guard Dailyn Swain, who is averaging 27.5 points and shooting 69% from the floor in the Longhorns’ last two contests. Murphy, Jovic, and SWA will have to deal with 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis, who is averaging 15 PPG and nearly seven rebounds. I expect Hall to give Vokietaitis — who tends to get into early foul trouble — a rough time.

Auburn’s defense plagued them for the majority of the season, but we’ve seen an unbelievable turnaround as of late. They cannot get too high after the Florida upset and will have to come back down to earth to stop the Longhorns’ attack. Texas is outscoring opponents by nearly 10 points on average. Auburn is a great rebounding team with 38 boards per game (55th in the nation), but Texas is even better at 29th nationally, averaging 39.4 boards per game.

Final Thoughts and Prediction

It’s hard not to believe in Auburn after their performance in Gainesville. A win here would put the Tigers at 5–3 in the SEC — delusion starts to kick in, and then you start looking up and wondering, “who is actually better than this team?”

It’s going to be critical that Coach Pearl lowers the temperature of the team in this game. I can see being back home at Neville after a major upset victory with an emotional team causing hero ball to rear its ugly head if this game starts to go south.

However, with how well this team has meshed in their last three games, I don’t see that happening. I think Auburn takes this one against the Longhorns and heads to Knoxville on Saturday as one of the premier SEC teams.

My Prediction:
Auburn 89, Texas 82

Current SEC Standings

Texas HC - we have a virus called fouling