The No. 14 Auburn Tigers travel to Atlanta on Saturday to participate in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks.
Awaiting them will be their toughest challenge to date, the Memphis Tigers.
Memphis enters with a 7-2 record, earning wins over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Nebraska. Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] says that his squad will need to continue the trend of playing strong defense in order to pull out the win on Saturday.
“Our kids have been excited about playing defense,” Pearl said during his preview press conference on Thursday. “I think they recognize that defense has got to carry us. They have not taken many possessions off. We spend a lot of time on the defense, and on game plans and preparation.”
There is no doubt that Auburn and Memphis will play a tough, defensive game on Saturday, but it is a game that Auburn is projected to win. According to the latest matchup predictor from ESPN, Auburn has been given a 62.6% chance to beat Memphis on Saturday. The game is among the top games for Saturday according to ESPN, with a matchup rating of 86.8.
Entering Saturday’s game, Auburn is No. 19 in the latest ESPN Basketball Power Index rankings, which is fifth-best in the SEC. For Memphis, they check in at No. 39 and are behind only No. 1 Houston in the American Athletic Conference rankings.
Auburn will battle Memphis on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Mark Morgan and Dane Bradshaw will have the call live from State Farm Arena.
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