Host Auburn has won three straight games and has seemingly found its stride but will need to be at its best when enigmatic Texas comes calling on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference contest.
The Tigers (13-7, 4-3 SEC) have captured four of their past five games, with the most recent outing a 76-67 win at then-No. 16 Florida on Saturday. Keyshawn Hall scored 24 points for Auburn in the triumph, with KeShawn Murphy adding 16 points, Tahaad Pettiford hitting for 11 and Kevin Overton tallying 10.
“That’s an unbelievable win for our ball club,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said after the victory. “I thought our guys, for about 32 minutes, executed the gameplan to perfection.
“We’ve just continuously gotten better as a group. For us, it’s about what we do from here. … If we let this thing affect us in a way that can distract us from the next one, then it really doesn’t mean anything.”
Hall, who racked up the Tigers’ first 10 points in the victory over Florida, was named Co-SEC Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 21.5 points per game in road wins over Ole Miss and the Gators. Hall is third in the SEC in scoring with 20.3 ppg.
The Longhorns (12-8, 3-4) have been a giant killer of late, with all three of their league wins over teams ranked In the AP Top 25. Texas’ latest such performance was an 87-67 home victory over then-No. 21 Georgia on Saturday as Dailyn Swain poured in 26 points and Tramon Mark had 23.
Texas trailed by seven points at halftime but took over in the final 14 minutes, bursting away from a tied game while shooting 68.8% from the floor after the break. Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope finished with 14 points apiece for the Longhorns.
“(Coach Sean Miller) told us it was like a horse race,” Swain said. “All the horses are together, nobody knows their names, but if you just keep going as fast as you can, you can end up winning the race. You can’t let a fast or slow start affect you, you just have to keep your head up and go.”
Swain, who is Texas’ leading scorer this year with a 16.9 ppg average, paced the Longhorns for the third straight game and the ninth time this season. Miller said that, combined with his 29-point performance against Kentucky in a loss on Jan. 21, it was the best two-game stretch Swain has played.
