The Stretch 4: Round 2 of Auburn vs. Carolina probably won't look like Round 1

The Tigers pummeled the Gamecocks by 40 in their first meeting. But what should you expect from the rematch in Nashville?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On paper, a 4 vs. 5 quarterfinal at the SEC Tournament should be the most even matchup the league can get in the first three days.

Besides, No. 4 seed Auburn and No. 5 South Carolina finished with the same conference record as No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 3 Alabama.

But the Tigers finished ahead of the Gamecocks in the final SEC standings — and got the double-bye in the tournament field — because they had an edge in the tiebreakers.

And part of that edge was one of the most lopsided games you’ll ever see in this conference: Auburn 101, South Carolina 61.

A month ago, the night of Valentine’s Day, Auburn put together its most impressive performance of the season. Fresh off a rough road loss at Florida, Auburn hit 61% of its shots and held South Carolina to just 35% in a game that was separated by double-digits midway through the first half and by 20-plus points at halftime.

“I almost threw the film out, just because it was an anomaly in the way that (Auburn) performed as shooters,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said Thursday afternoon. “They had, I think, nine made threes out of their 4 and their 5. They weren't just stare-down threes.

“There wasn't a whole lot. I didn't yell at the guys. I don't think it was from lack of effort. I think they outplayed us. … There's nothing I'm going to do, there aren't enough fixes, to not lose by 40, to go from losing by 40 to winning the game there.”

Auburn and South Carolina both went 4-2 in their final six games of the regular season. South Carolina dropped a close one at home to LSU a few days later. Auburn fell to Kentucky on that same day. Both teams lost to eventual SEC champion Tennessee down the stretch, but that was it.

Now the Tigers and the Gamecocks will rematch Friday afternoon in Nashville. While Auburn got to spend Thursday scouting and preparing away from the spotlight, South Carolina needed a strong second half to cruise past Arkansas in the second round.

And Paris and his players had to answer several questions about facing a team that won by 40 in the first matchup.

“Auburn is a very good team,” All-SEC freshman Collin Murray-Boyles said. “They really got us out the first time. We're going to come with the mindset that we play with against every team: do our best, follow our rules, listen to Coach, play off each other, play with good ball movement, move so we don't get stagnant. They do a really good job of pressure. If we do all our main things, I think we have a pretty good chance.”

Auburn opened as a 7.5-point favorite over South Carolina. T-Rank projects the Tigers to win by 7.2, while KenPom has an 8-point projection. Fans should expect a much closer matchup than the annihilation from the first meeting.

In this series, Auburn has won seven straight games. And the start of that winning streak just so happened to be in Nashville in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal. The Tigers would win two more games to cut down the nets, then run all the way to the Final Four.

“I think 2019 was a team that had talent and finished fifth in the league, and felt we were better than that and made some runs,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said earlier this week. “So that’s often the case: When you are playing your best basketball down the stretch, that does matter. And we’ve played some pretty good basketball down the stretch here, so we’re in position.”

Auburn would love history to repeat itself — even if it’s not the most recent bit of it.

Let’s preview Auburn’s rematch with South Carolina here in Nashville with a new edition of The Stretch 4.