The Stretch 4: Welcome to Atlanta, where the Tigers play
There will be familiar faces in the stands and on the other side for Auburn, which will take on Michigan in the Sweet 16 on Friday night.
ATLANTA — When Auburn takes the court Friday night in Atlanta for its Sweet 16 showdown with Michigan, it will be surrounded by familiar faces.
State Farm Arena holds more than 16,000 fans. No one should be surprised if the majority of them will be there to cheer on the Tigers. A huge advantage of Auburn getting the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament was being placed here.
Atlanta is a massive alumni base for Auburn, and it’s a short drive away from so many others for the university. On top of all that, it takes just an hour and a half up Interstate 85 to get to the city from the campus itself.
“We all couldn’t wait,” said Miles Kelly, an Atlanta native who played his first three seasons of college ball at nearby Georgia Tech. “We talked about it before we played Creighton. We knew if we got to Atlanta, it’d be a home game for us.”
This city has been good to Auburn basketball over the years, producing an steady stream of elite talent for the program, including Bryce Brown, Jared Harper, Chuma Okeke, Isaac Okoro, Sharife Cooper, Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
State Farm Arena has also been a venue where the Tigers have thrived. In three out of the last four seasons, Auburn has taken down a Big Ten opponent — Michigan’s conference — inside this building. Even more impressive, the Tigers have averaged a blistering 98 points per game in those wins. Earlier this season, Auburn put on a shooting clinic, hitting 13 triples en route to a 38-point win over Ohio State.
“I feel like we are gonna go out there and play with the utmost confidence, because we've played here before,” Denver Jones said. “We had a great night here. I just know our guys are going to come in more confident, especially in our shooting ability.”
Yes, there will be a whole lot of familiarity in the building. That includes the opposition.
Michigan’s starting point guard is Tre Donaldson, who spent the last two seasons with Auburn. There’s no bad blood, no animosity between the two sides. Both Donaldson and the Tigers spoke highly of each other Thursday in Atlanta. Considering how well Donaldson has played for the Wolverines and how well the Tigers have played overall this season, it can be considered a rare win-win situation.
“He's doing a lot of the same things he did here, but with more minutes,” assistant coach Steven Pearl told the Observer in a 1-on-1 interview Thursday. “He's just got more time to go out there and do what he does. You saw how good he was for us in certain runs. … I'm proud of Tre. I'm happy for Tre. That was what he was looking for. It's worked out for him, and it's worked out for us as well.”
Meanwhile, the Auburn coaching staff will be able to look over to the other sideline and see Michigan director of basketball KT Harrell — who was a key player in Bruce Pearl’s first season on the Plains and a former staff member for the Tigers.
“My first year at Auburn, the team had one or two players that belonged in the SEC,” Bruce Pearl said. “KT belonged not only in the SEC, but he was an SEC All-Star. We didn't have that much to go around him, and our guys knew it. Our guys had, as you would expect, a very tough year during the regular season, but they never quit. … KT Harrell's team laid the groundwork for Auburn basketball in the future.”
And that successful run for Auburn basketball under Pearl could add onto its history with a win Friday night. The Tigers have already captured an outright title in the toughest-ever version of the SEC. They could become the winningest team the program has ever had with one more victory, breaking a tie with the 2019 team.
There’s plenty of respect between Auburn and its old friends at Michigan. On KenPom, the Wolverines’ team profile is most similar to Texas A&M — a team that beat Auburn a few weeks ago but couldn’t hold off Michigan in the second round.
“Michigan is as good as anybody in this field,” Bruce Pearl said. “They are. And I told our guys, I felt like Creighton could be in this group very easily. They made four out of the last five Sweet 16s.
“And I told our guys, if we can beat Creighton, when we get to Atlanta, there's not going to be anything there that's going to be beyond that to overwhelm us. … You get to this point, we feel like we're playing for a national championship now, and we have four times we're going to have to do it.”
That 2019 team was the last one to get this far for Auburn. After years of falling short in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers are back in the regional rounds.
But their sights are set on something much higher than just the Sweet 16. To get there, they’ll have to defeat a hot Michigan squad that’s won five straight games.
“Michigan, they’re a good team,” Kelly said. “But, unfortunately, they’re a team in our way of getting to a national championship. So we’ve got to handle business.”
For a full breakdown of this matchup between Auburn and Michigan — with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line — here is a special second weekend edition of The Stretch 4.