BIRMINGHAM — Auburn’s offense has come together over the past month.
Since the Tigers’ Feb. 14 win against Missouri, they’re averaging 75.8 points per contest while shooting 45.5% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc, all of which are marks that exceed the program’s season totals.
Houston’s scoring defense is one of the best in the nation. The Cougars sit at No. 4 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranking, thanks in large part to having a nation’s best 36.1% field goal percentage. Their defense also allows an average of 56.4 points per game, which is the second fewest in Division I.
“You watch the guys, watch tape, you know, watch them just run to the glass and run through people,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “And knowing that we're going to have to put bodies on bodies, and some of our guys may not be able to get a rebound, but they have to make sure that their matchup doesn't get a rebound. So our biggest challenge tomorrow will be keeping Houston off the glass.”
“He is, I think in many ways, their heart and their soul, and just does a great job getting downhill, does a great job facilitating,” Pearl said of Shead. “Will just take the ball from you, whether you want him to or not. He is going to take your rock.”Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead — two of No. 1 seed Houston’s best players — said they’re planning to play against ninth-seeded Auburn in their Round of 32 game Saturday.
“We're not the team we were that was 31-3 and a 1-seed,” Sampson said Thursday. “The team on the floor tonight is not a 1-seed. The last time we were a 1-seed the team was probably when we played Cincinnati. That team was a 1-seed. Memphis, no. And tonight, no. And we have to figure it out.”
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