Strength in numbers: Auburn basketball's depth can be the difference in SEC play

"Our 11 versus everybody else's seven or eight is going to be the key to our season."

C Dylan Cardwell (Shanna Lockwood/Auburn Athletics)

When Auburn basketball announced its self-imposed postseason ban before the start of the season, it made sense for Bruce Pearl’s Tigers to attack the campaign with a deep rotation.

Player development and building toward a potentially massive 2021-22 season were obvious priorities for a team that returned zero starters. Wins and losses were going to matter, of course, but the most important goal was figuring out who Auburn could rely on in the future.

Now Auburn will enter SEC play this week with a 6-2 record and a five-game winning streak to its name. The Tigers have fully bounced back from a lopsided loss to an increasingly absurd No. 1-ranked Gonzaga squad and an abysmal offensive performance at UCF.

Pearl spent the pre-SEC portion of the schedule looking for separation among his squad. Justin Powell was a revelation at point guard, where he was moved to fill in for fellow true freshman Sharife Cooper — who is still awaiting word on h…