Preview: Auburn Tigers vs. Chattanooga Mocs Basketball

How to watch:
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13 | Time: 4:30 PM ET
Location: State Farm Arena (Atlanta, GA)
TV: SEC Network | Live Stream: ESPN+

Following a tough Tucson debut against the Wildcats, the Tigers travel to Atlanta for a matchup with the Chattanooga Mocs. Auburn should get a breather here after the grueling Players Era into Arizona stretch, giving the Tigers a chance to build some confidence before facing yet another top-10 team in Purdue next weekend.

Tahaad Pettiford's career-high 30 points last weekend wasn't enough to keep the game from being a blowout. Arizona's size advantage and physicality dominated the Tigers, outscoring Auburn 60-24 in the paint. In the end, Auburn could not respond to Arizona's massive runs, looked undisciplined, and lacked any sort of scoring from the bench.

Losing by 30 to Michigan and 29 to Arizona isn't promising, but these two teams look a cut above the rest of the field, as Steven Pearl put it:

"It’s disappointing any time you get exposed like that. I think there’s a pretty wide margin between Michigan, Arizona and the rest of college basketball. It was good for our guys to see where the bar is at because we’ve got a long way to go.”

Through the first 10 games of the season, Auburn has now played three top-10 teams.

Bouncing Back

You can't add size through practice but you can become a more cohesive unit. The Tigers have to get away from the undisciplined, hero-ball style of play. Pettiford did play an excellent game but it's no mystery how he hit his career-high. He took 19 shots, eight more than anyone on either team, and ended with a single assist. Auburn and Arizona both made six three-pointers, with Tahaad making five out of the six, but Auburn shot 25 of them to the Wildcats' 15.

Auburn finished with just seven assists — only one in the second half. Arizona had 23 total.

Auburn has already shown its resiliency with two big wins over St. John's and NC State after the bashing from Michigan. It's not unusual for a brand new roster to suffer thrashings like this, especially against the opponents on Auburn's schedule so far.

According to KenPom, the Chattanooga Mocs are close to the level of Bethune-Cookman, a team Auburn narrowly escaped in overtime. But that was over a month ago, and this Auburn squad has grown and improved in the meantime.

Holiday Hoopsgiving — Mocs Matchup

This will be Auburn's sixth consecutive visit to Atlanta for the Holiday Hoopsgiving event. At 4-1, Auburn has beaten Indiana, Memphis, Ohio State, and Nebraska in previous years. Bruce Pearl said "Atlanta has always been a special place for Auburn basketball... selling out the State Farm Arena making it a true homecourt advantage."

Auburn clearly has the advantage against the Mocs. How they'll win is a different story: I'd like to see significantly more production from the bench and more facilitation from the guards to go along with more assisted scoring.

With three games left before conference play, getting more experience for both the starters and the freshmen on the bench is critical, especially Kaden Magwood. Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall do not need to be playing for 30+ minutes. Increased minutes for Abdul Bashir, Simon Walker, and Emeka Opurum would be a welcome sight.

Final Thoughts

The games vs. Michigan and Arizona highlighted that this is a rebuilding year rather than another Final Four run. The team faces a mental hurdle: not letting offensive struggles dictate their defense. If shots aren’t falling, the defense tends to slip as well. Lastly, this team must become more unselfish heading into conference play.