Auburn University’s men’s basketball team, ranked No. 22 nationally, will face Jackson State on Wednesday night at Auburn Arena. The Tigers are coming off a narrow one-point loss to top-ranked Houston in Birmingham.
Head coach Steven Pearl emphasized the need for his team to maintain the same intensity they showed against Houston. “Houston is typically known as the standard when it comes to playing physically and playing hard, and I thought our guys answered that in a big way,” Pearl said. “Are we going to continue to do that or are we just going to do it because it was Houston?
“Our guys have to find a way to have that same mindset in their preparation, but also in their physical play every game if we want to have the success I think we’re capable of.”
Auburn may be without leading scorer and rebounder Keyshawn Hall, who sprained his ankle late in Sunday’s game against Houston. “It’s a big void,” Pearl said. “I thought our guys did a good job the last four minutes (vs. Houston) of really hanging in there. It’s next man up. One positive about our team is we have multiple options that can score.”
KeShawn Murphy returned from injury during the Houston matchup after missing two games and contributed seven points, five rebounds, and three assists over 30 minutes of play. Murphy commented on Hall’s absence: “We all have to step up,” he said. “It’s more minutes to be played for somebody else and opportunities for some guys who wanted more minutes.”
Jackson State competes in the SWAC conference—the same as Bethune-Cookman, which took Auburn into overtime earlier this season during their opener on November 3rd.
“If I’m Jackson State – and I told the guys this – they’re licking their chops right now because they’re looking at a team that was picked to finish ahead of them that they probably think that they’re better than, gave us everything we could handle, so why can’t we do that?” Pearl said.
The matchup between No. 22 Auburn (3-1) and Jackson State (0-3) will take place Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT with coverage available on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
