Auburn basketball: What’s wrong with the Tigers? 4 things they must fix to get back on track
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Last season, Auburn won a share of the SEC’s regular-season title, along with the Tennessee Volunteers. Under Bruce Pearl, the Tigers went 12-5 in SEC play.
This year, they’re off to a much worse start, and after back-to-back losses to Kentucky and South Carolina, sport a 2-3 conference mark. The players are mostly the same from last year, so what gives?
Here’s a look at four things the No. 16-ranked Tigers must fix if they want to repeat last year’s run at a regular-season SEC title (or at least compete for a top-four seed entering the SEC Tournament):
1. No Austin Wiley
The past two losses — home vs. Kentucky and at South Carolina — can be attributed in large part to the absence of center Austin Wiley, who is out while dealing with a lower leg injury. Wiley’s per-game averages (6.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.0 block) aren’t eye-popping, but when you get into the advanced metrics, he looks much better.
His player efficiency rating (PER), which attempts to combine a player’s overall contributions into one number, is 28.7. That’s significantly higher than any other player who has been on the court for more than 50 minutes for the Tigers. The next-highest PER belongs to Malik Dunbar at 22.1.
Wiley’s missing presence in the middle of the defense was felt in a big way on Tuesday night, as South Carolina F Chris Silva scored a game-high 32 points in the Gamecocks’ 3-point victory. Anfernee McLemore slid over to help more in the middle, but he fouled out of both games Wiley has missed and is a bit overmatched against bigger players, as he’s only 6-7.
2. Live by the 3, lose by the 3
After knocking down 13-of-30 3-point attempts against Kentucky (a big reason they managed to hang around in that game), the Tigers only made 7-of-25 against the Gamecocks. In Columbia, that was the single biggest reason they left town with a loss.
Jared Harper and Bryce Brown shot a combined 4-for-14, and with how important those two players are to Auburn’s offensive success, the Tigers aren’t going to win many games with 3-point percentages like that.
However, it’s not as simple as “get it to the basket more.” The Tigers rely heavily on the 3, for better and for worse. They can shoot it with the best teams in the country and can score in bunches, but when they’re not connecting, they can lose to anybody, too.
3. Not enough free throws
A team that relies on 3s and jumpers as much as Auburn does won’t get to the line as much, but the Tigers do need some more easy points moving forward. So far this year, the Tigers have shot 355 free throws — good for only 11th in the SEC.
When they get to the line, they’re only making 68.7 percent of their attempts — tied for 10th in the SEC. Again, guys like Bryce Brown and Samir Doughty do most of their damage on jump shots, but Jared Harper is a driver (second on the team behind Austin Wiley with 63 free-throw attempts).
The Tigers have the players to get to the line more, and they’ll need to do just that to start to turn things around moving forward.
4. Bad bounces
Lastly, the Tigers have just gotten unlucky. Against Kentucky, Jared Harper had a late layup attempt rim out after it looked like it would go down. On Tuesday night, the Tigers had the ball at point-blank range with a few seconds left, but missed a couple of shots and had to foul a South Carolina player.
Yes, they need to find ways to finish, but their last two losses have come by a grand total of five points, so don’t count the Tigers out just yet.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
