First-year Auburn coach Steven Pearl didn’t need long to break down why his team lost to then-No. 1 Houston 73-72 Sunday in Birmingham, Ala.
“We missed 12 free throws. That’s the difference in the game right there,” he said. “If we go ahead and make our free throws, it’s a different ball game.”
The No. 22 Tigers will try to improve at the foul line Wednesday night when they host Jackson State in another non-conference game.
Auburn (3-1) rallied down the stretch despite the loss of leading scorer Keyshawn Hall. The Central Florida transfer, who finished with 20 points, departed with a foot injury with 4:14 remaining after canning two foul shots. The status of Hall, who’s averaging 23.3 points per game and 11 rebounds, for Wednesday night’s game isn’t known.
If Hall can’t go, the Tigers might rely more on point guard Tahaad Pettiford, which isn’t a bad thing. Pettiford is scoring 12 points per game, tied for second on the team with Mississippi State transfer KeShawn Murphy, to go along with 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals.
After supplying 15 points and a pair of steals on Sunday, Pettiford saluted his team’s performance in the last 2:59, when they held Houston scoreless.
“We got stops when we needed to; just couldn’t convert at the end of the game,” he said. “We think we can compete with anybody in the country. We fought against a great team.”
With six players averaging at least 10.3 points per game, Auburn is scoring 88.8 points per contest.
It’s yet to become a great shooting team, however, as it is hitting only 69% at the foul line and a measly 29.2% on 3-pointers. But it takes care of the ball with just 9.5 turnovers per game, finishing with just eight against the Cougars’ physical defense.
While the Tigers are flashing the potential to compete with anyone they play, Jackson State (0-3) is taking lumps against a spate of top 25 opponents. After blowout defeats at Illinois and Louisville to start the season, it fell 68-51 Saturday at Louisiana Tech.
Jayme Mitchell led the Tigers with 13 points, just under his per-game average of 13.3, but made only 3 of 11 attempts from the field. Daeshun Ruffin is the team’s leading scorer at 14.7 ppg but after the leading pair, no one else is in double figures.
Jackson State brings some lurid stats into this matchup. Its 32.6 field goal accuracy is 365th and last in Division I, while it’s also near the bottom in points per game (58.7), assists (8.3) and rebounds (28.3).
However, there’s still plenty of reason for optimism for the Tigers. They were picked third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll after advancing to the league’s championship game in March. And Ruffin, who scored 15.6 points per game last season, is the SWAC’s preseason Player of the Year.
Jackson State’s coach might be the best player on the floor if he were eligible. Mo Williams, a former NBA All-Star and champion during a successful 14-year career, is in his fourth season as the program’s coach. He’s 37-17 in conference play the last three seasons.
–Field Level Media
