Free Daily NFL Lock Pick, Thursday November 16th: Baltimore vs Cincinnati 8:15pm ET
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The Auburn Tigers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will square off on Thursday at Barclays Center in the Legends Classic. Tip-off from Brooklyn, NY, is at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Auburn (1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS, 2-0 O/U) beat SE Louisiana 86-71 at home last Friday. The Tigers were picked to finish sixth in the SEC preseason poll. Last season, they were 21-13 overall, including 4-8 on the road.
Notre Dame (1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS, 1-1 O/U) lost 71-61 to Western Carolina last Saturday. The Fighting Irish were predicted to finish 15th (last) in the ACC preseason poll. Last season, they were 11-21 overall, including 0-10 away from home.
The Tigers are 15.5-point spread favorites and the game total is 146.5 points.
Tigers: No injuries.
Irish: Sophomore forward Kebba Njie (hand) is questionable.
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Auburn earned a bounce-back home win over SE Louisiana in its last game, outmuscling the Lions with a 46-33 rebounding advantage. The Tigers shot 29-for-70 (41.4%) from the floor, including 11-for-32 (34.4%) from three-point distance. While not as efficient offensively, they were much better on the defensive end than in their season-opening 88-82 loss to Baylor.
The Tigers welcome back All-SEC forward Johni Broome (14.2 PPG and 8.4 RPG) from last year's team, which was good but ended prematurely in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They did lose double-digit scorers Wendell Green Jr. and Allen Flanigan, putting pressure on head coach Bruce Pearl to dive into the transfer portal.
“Last year was a good season. It wasn’t much more than that,” Pearl said. “A win over Houston, an invitation to the Sweet 16, now you’re tal king about a very good year. We bring enough guys back from that team and enough experience back to build on, and we’ve got, probably, as many newcomers this year as I think I’ve ever had.”
Fifth-year player Jaylin Williams (11.2 PPG and 4.7 RPG) and senior guard K.D. Johnson (8.9 PPG) also return, but the Tigers will rely on transfers Denver Jones (junior guard from Florida International), Chaney Johnson (junior guard from D II Alabama Huntsville), Chad Baker-Mazara (junior guard from San Diego State), and Addarin Scott (junior forward from Navarro College) to provide depth.
The Tigers average 84.0 points per game (95th) and shoot 42.9 percent (241st), including 39.2 percent from long range (57th). They convert 75.6 percent of their foul shots (79th) and average 39.5 rebounds (67th). La st season, they ranked 46th in adjusted offensive efficiency despite struggling mightily from three-point range (320th nationally).
Auburn's opponents score 79.5 points per game (304th) and shoot 41.5 percent from the floor (180th), including 42.4 percent from deep (347th), with 33.5 rebounds per game (255th). The Tigers ranked 33rd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency last season.
Free Daily NFL Lock Pick, Thursday November 16th: Baltimore vs Cincinnati 8:15pm ET CLICK TO SEE PICK NOW