Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The Auburn Tigers play host to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday afternoon in an SEC showdown from Colonial Life Arena. The Tigers come into this one looking like a contender atop the conference, while the Gamecocks look primed to finish near the basement. The Tigers have swept the season series in each of the last three seasons and have won five in a row overall. With it being a handful of years since the Gamecocks found success in this series, they are hoping that they can turn things back in their favor at home.
Auburn has been one of the SEC's best teams over the last handful of years but has flown under the radar so far this season. They only have three losses overall on the year and with four wins in a row coming into this one, confidence and momentum are on their side. Adding in their dominance in this matchup series of late, there's no doubt that they'll be confident hitting the road in this series. One concern is that two of their three losses have come in true road games, where they have a 3-2 record this season, so this one has the potential to be tough early. The Tigers have been better at getting off to fast starts on the road lately, while they will want to avoid a slow start to the weekend in this one.
Auburn hits the road on Saturday with one injury that they'll be worrying about. Chris Moore (shoulder) is questionable for this one and if he can't go, it would mark his third straight missed ga me. As a key rotational piece for the road team, his potential absence would be likely to be felt.
Another road test on deck! #WarEagle https://t.co/Yt500zWcux
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) January 21, 2023
While last year was all about the offense for this group, this year's version of the Tigers has them basing their success on their defensive tenacity. They rank 29th nationally in scoring defense and are top 15 in a number of specific categories. Adding in how poor the Gamecocks' offense has been, a normal defensive output should allow them to find quite a bit of success. Wendell Green Jr. (12.6 ppg, 3.8 apg) remains the sparkplug on the offensive side of things but with the forward additions in the offseason, this team's balance is sure to help them find success on Saturday.