The Stretch 4: Humble and Hungry
Auburn is No. 1 in KenPom and fresh off a historic road win. But the Tigers know there's still a whole lot of work ahead.
In case you missed it: Auburn basketball picked up a commitment Tuesday afternoon from an exciting blue-chip prospect. Here’s our full breakdown:
And, now, here is this week’s edition of The Stretch 4:
SG/SF Miles Kelly (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Bruce Pearl has a few select words to describe Auburn’s 74-69 road win at Houston: Great. Historic. A barometer.
But there’s another word that stands out above the rest: One.
“That’s really all it was — one game,” Pearl said Tuesday afternoon.
The victory might have been the best regular-season win of the Pearl Era. It might have been the biggest non-conference win in program history. It might have also been a result that catapulted them to No. 1 in KenPom for the first time ever.
As big as it was, it’s just one win. Auburn still has 29 more games left to play in this regular season, followed by the ones that determine who goes home with trophies.
“It's a long season,” Pearl said. “We've got a lot to work on and a lot of challenges in front of us.”
That season continues Wednesday night with a visit from Kent State, an upper-tier MAC program that has knocked off some big-name brands in the past. Then it will be a visit from in-state foe North Alabama next Monday night before a trip to a daunting Maui Invitational.
Through all the extra attention and praise, Auburn can’t think that it’s already arrived. There’s too much that has to be done.
And that’s what made Pearl proud of his team Monday afternoon, when it returned to Neville Arena for its first practice since the comeback win in the Toyota Center.
“I thought the guys came back to practice yesterday humble and hungry,” Pearl said. “They recognize that we've got a Kent State team coming in tomorrow that is picked third in the MAC and has been to the NCAA Tournament several times. Their coach has beaten power-conference teams, I think, four times at Kent State in his career — and on the road. I know they played Gonzaga really tough. They're old, and they're experienced, and they're deep. Quick. They're very well-coached.
“For us, it's going to be if we can play with the same energy and the same sense of urgency, if you will. Because, look, if you didn't put yourself in the right place at the right time against Houston and you were late, they were gonna make you pay. That's what you have to do to survive an opponent like that.
“But we'd like to play that way every night.”
The hunger was on full display Saturday night in Houston. The humility was, too.
Auburn won with a rare formula on offense. It had to lean on the standout play of two stars — Johni Broome and Tahaad Pettiford — and it rarely subbed in crunch time.
That meant several players had to take a backseat to others, or just watch from the bench for longer than usual. The best example was Miles Kelly, who went from hitting virtually everything he shot against Vermont to having a quieter night at Houston.
“I was just proud of the unselfishness,” Pearl said. “Some of the guys didn't eye their scores. They didn't score as much as they normally score and had different moments during the course of the game where they weren't as good as they can be.
“But they were just as happy after the win as if they had a dominating performance. That's what teams do.”
Here’s more on how the Tigers are coming together so well early this season and what they might expect out of the visiting Golden Flashes on Wednesday night.
SF/PF Chris Moore (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
A defense that’s doing the dirty work
Auburn has played two regular NCAA Tournament teams — including arguably the most consistent program in the country for the last several seasons — and is still ranked inside the top 15 nationally in defensive effective field goal percentage.
Considering how many Division I teams are loading up on cupcakes to start the season, that defensive success is noteworthy.