Auburn basketball isn’t easing into the season-they’re diving headfirst into the fire. The Tigers are set to face their fourth AP Top 10 opponent of the year when they take on No.
6 Purdue this Saturday in the Indy Classic. It’s been a trial by fire so far, with Auburn already squaring off against Houston, Michigan, and Arizona-and coming up short in each of those battles.
Their record against ranked teams stands at 2-3, with wins over St. John’s at the Players Era Event and NC State in the ACC/SEC Challenge providing the only bright spots.
But this gauntlet of high-level competition isn’t just about wins and losses-it’s about growth. And for a team with big aspirations, the lessons learned in December could pay off in March.
Assistant coach Steven Pearl, with a bit of humor, acknowledged the brutal stretch the Tigers have been navigating.
“What I’ve learned is I’m going to fire whoever did our schedule,” Pearl joked. But behind the laugh was a clear-eyed assessment of what his team has faced.
“They’re all different teams. Houston, playing them in Birmingham, I felt like we had a team and a roster that, physically and athletically, could really compete with them and match up well with them.
Michigan and Arizona, they’re just different beasts. They’re beating everyone by 20 and 30 points.”
Pearl pointed to self-inflicted wounds-turnovers, poor shot selection, and lapses in focus-as the difference in those losses. Against elite teams, those mistakes get magnified.
“We’ve got to do a better job of not having so many self-inflicted wounds in those games,” he said. “To keep those games more competitive to have a chance late in the game.”
Looking ahead to Purdue, one of the most disciplined and efficient teams in the country, Pearl knows the margin for error will be razor-thin. “We’ve got to figure out how not to do that in another tough environment against Purdue,” he said. “Understanding that live-ball turnovers lead to transition, and when we take bad shots, that gives their offense confidence that it needs in order for them to build those leads up.”
There’s no question this schedule has tested Auburn early-and that’s by design. The Tigers currently rank 25th nationally in strength of schedule, and they’ve still got one more nonconference matchup before SEC play kicks off in January.
Sophomore wing Elyjah Freeman sees the challenge as a blessing, not a burden. For him and his teammates, these early-season matchups are like looking into a mirror, revealing both strengths and weaknesses.
“It’s been helping us a lot,” Freeman said. “With the four teams, including this one, the best thing for me has just been the film-being able to look back on the good and the bad. To me, it’s a blessing to be able to play these high-ranked teams and get the schedule we have before SEC play, just so we can have an idea of how the season is about to go.”
That’s the mindset Auburn will need as they prepare to lock horns with Purdue-a team that punishes mistakes and thrives on structure. For the Tigers, this is another measuring stick game, a chance to see how far they’ve come and how much further they still need to go.
Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., following the Northwestern vs. Butler matchup. Auburn’s been battle-tested-and now it’s time to see if those tests start turning into results.