LIVE THREAD: Mizzou opens SEC-play with road tilt against No. 2 Auburn

The Tigers will look to pick up their second Top five win of the season to open up their conference account

First Half

• Starters for Mizzou: Anthony Robinson II, Tony Perkins, Tamar Bates, Mark Mitchell, Josh Gray
• Mizzou trails 9-7 at the under-16 timeout. Johni Broome already has seven points, scoring from near and far away from the basket. Not quite sure why Tamar Bates has guarded him one-on-one so far, but Broome has taken advantage of the size mismatch. Mark Mitchell knocked down a triple from the top of the key, an encouraging sign for the Tigers.
• Auburn has extended the lead to 17-11 with 12:21 left in the first half. Chad Baker-Mazara converted a four-point play, as Mark Mitchell clearly fouled him on a three-point make. Broome is up to nine points.
• The difference in easy looks on both ends of the floor is quite large. Auburn has been able to generate a lot of them. Mizzou hasn’t been as fortunate. The home Tigers have made seven of their last nine field goals, and they lead 23-14 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half.
• Miles Kelly just nailed a three from the logo, and Dennis Gates calls a timeout. Auburn leads 29-15 with 8:03 left in the first half. The home Tigers are 6/10 from beyond the arc. The road Tigers have struggled contesting three-point shooters, but it’s hard to argue that Kelly’s bomb should’ve been contested. Kelly shot that from Montgomery.
• Tahaad Pettiford stays down for a bit after landing on his backside following a drive to the basket. He just walked off the court gingerly. Auburn leads 36-22 with 3:47 left.
• Considering how much Auburn looked like a machine in that first half, a 45-33 halftime deficit doesn’t feel as large as it could be. Mizzou shot just 42% from the field, a season-low for a half. MU was also just 2/10 from three-point range. AU has 14 points off of seven Tiger turnovers.

Second Half

• Josh Gray picks up a Flagrant 1 for smacking Dylan Cardwell in the face on an offensive rebound attempt. Auburn leads 47-33 with 18:46 left.
• The Auburn lead has ballooned to 57-34 with 17:13 left. The home Tigers are doing (mostly) whatever they want on both ends of the floor. AU is on a 6-0 run and has won the opening 2:47 of the second half 12-1. Mizzou is just 2/13 from beyond the arc.
• Mizzou trails 62-36. Tigers are 1/12 from the field in the second half so far. Auburn is 6/12.
• Auburn leads 64-38 at the under-12 timeout. For the game, Mizzou is shooting 13/40 (32.5%) from the field and 2/16 (12.5%) from beyond the arc. Not ideal! (UPDATE: What was initially ruled a long two-pointer by Marcus Allen was ruled a three-pointer after review. Mizzou is 3/16 from beyond the arc.)
• Mizzou has hit its last five shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers from Jacob Crews. Auburn still leads 72-52 with 7:51 left.
• Chaney Johnson just Hulk-smashed a fastbreak dunk, and Auburn leads 76-53 with 6:05 left
• Lead is now 76-59 with 3:56 left. The lineup of Barrett-Allen-Boateng-Crews-Warrick has been on the floor for quite some time. They’re putting together some quality moments.
• FINAL: Auburn 84, Mizzou 68. Can’t say that was a surprising result, as the line before the game favored Auburn by almost 20. AU is a legitimate Final Four contender right now, and it sure as heck played like one. Broome finishes with 24 points on 9/13 shooting. Road Tigers shot just 38.2% from the field and 30.4% from downtown.

Pregame Updates

Five questions

• Who will lead Mizzou in scoring?
• How many points will Johni Broome score?
• How many free throws will Mizzou attempt?
• Which team will win the turnover battle?
• Which team will win?

Predict the Trifecta: Who will be Mizzou’s top three performers tonight?

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The gauntlet of the best conference in college basketball has arrived, and what better way to be introduced than facing one of the top teams in the conference. Johni Broome has the Auburn Tigers firing on all cylinders with a clean brand of basketball that prioritizes getting the ball in the paint. This is the toughest opponent Mizzou has faced this season but they have faced three teams in the Top 25 thus far and should not be fazed by the competition.

The Tigers are a staggering 12-1 and the No. 1 ranked team in KenPom. They are the top ranked offensive squad and the 13th ranked defensive squad, not really possessing any fatal flaws or weaknesses. They have a freshman phenom off the bench in Tahaad Pettiford who has been a spark plug for Auburn as of late getting more and more usage, with a big performance to topple Purdue. Make no mistake though, this team runs through Broome. He can pass, rebound, and score.

The Starters

Mizzou (11-2)

G: Anthony Robinson II (SO, 10.7 PPG)

G: Tamar Bates (SR, 12.9 PPG)

G: Tony Perkins (SR, 9.1 PPG)

F: Mark Mitchell (JR, 13.8 PPG)

C: Josh Gray (SR, 2.8 PPG)

Notable Sixth Man: Caleb Grill (SR, 12.6 PPG)

No. 2 Auburn (12-1)

G: Chad Baker-Mazara (SR, 12.8 PPG)

G: Denver Jones (SR, 11.1 PPG)

G: Miles Kelly (SR, 9.7 PPG)

F: Johni Broome (SR, 18.2 PPG)

C: Dylan Cardwell (SR, 6.2 PPG)

Notable Sixth Man: Tahaad Pettiford (FR, 11.2 PPG)

Note: These starting lineups are projected.

Get to know Auburn: CBB’s newest powerhouse

A program that shot to the front of the scene in the late 80s, reinvigorated itself in the late 90s and has since become the newest top dog in college basketball under Bruce Pearl. Auburn has been the fifth-seed or higher in five tournaments under Pearl, making it to the Big Dance six times in his tenure most notably securing a Final Four Appearance.

Auburn’s most notable NBA Alumnus is obviously Sir Charles Barkley, most known for his role in the movie Space Jam. Okay, I’m kidding he’s a hall of fame basketball player who is also on Inside the NBA on TNT. Of recent days Jabari Smith Jr. who was selected by the Houston Rockets was the highest Auburn draft pick ever as the third pick in 2022.

Pearl began his career as a successful Division 2 head coach before making the jump to Milwaukee picking up two tournament appearances in four years. He then made his way into the SEC in 2005-06 with Tennessee, taking them to six tournament appearances in six years as coach. After a forced hiatus from head coaching due to an NCAA show cause penalty for recruiting violations, Pearl set his sights on rebuilding Auburn. Since joining Auburn he is 226-120 with the Tigers, with the Tigers current ranking being the highest they have had since 2021-22.

3 Keys to the Game

Get Auburn to play sloppy

Auburn is one of the most clean teams in the country with their turnover rate, so it’s natural that if the Tigers can stop that trend it will lead to them having a good chance of winning this game. Similarly, the Tigers got kansas to make uncharacteristic mistakes early which built them a healthy enough lead to allow victory.

Get Johni Broome into foul trouble

Broome has only fouled out in one game this season and it was their loss to Duke, and while he had 20 points in that game him being in foul trouble makes him less of a threat defensively. He only had nine rebounds against Houston and 12 against Duke, which are just around his season averages and he had four and five fouls in those games respectively. This is solely on Josh Gray, Gray frustrated Hunter Dickinson and he will have his hands full with Broome.

Play well off of made baskets

This team plays exceptionally well off of made baskets on both ends, which is why they have harnessed momentum so easily in big games. They need to continue this practice against Auburn because in a road environment as raucous as Neville Arena is, momentum shifts might make or break this game.

Game Prediction

My prediction: Missouri 67, Auburn 78

I really do think Auburn has historically done really well against Coach Gates in the short time he has been in CoMo, and Bruce Pearl is going to have his guys wired for this matchup. If Mizzou can pick up a win that is a season-defining win even more than the kansas win, it would be one of the best road wins of the season of any team. I foresee Broome doing a lot better against Gray than Dickinson did, and I just see the home environment doing a number for Auburn. If Mizzou can pull this out, it needs a big game on the defensive end from Anthony Robinson and a three-barrage from Caleb Grill.