Auburn will face a tricky defense Saturday when it plays Mizzou in Columbia.

Missouri is just 11-13 but has a defense that's performed stronger than the record indicates.

"As far as Missouri is concerned, they’re one of the better defensive teams in our league," Auburn head coach Pearl said.

Missouri forces 14.8 turnovers per game and boasts a scoring defense that allows just 64.9 points per outing, good for third in the conference.

And its a team that plays inspired on its home floor. Missouri is 9-3 in Columbia, and those three losses have been by an average of six points, Pearl noted Friday.

"As you would expect from a Cuonzo Martin-coached team, they’re fully engaged," Pearl said. "They’re not playing for a regular-season championship. The math doesn’t put them in that equation. But they’re definitely playing to try to get into the NCAA Tournament and they’re trying to play to win the SEC Tournament Championship, things like that, in the sense that, they know they can beat people."

Pearl also added that when Missouri has scored at least 70 points against its opponents, they're 8-2 on the season. Auburn on average is allowing 70.6 points per game this year.

"They play better at home. They’ve got some great wins," Pearl said.

Auburn could be without star freshman Isaac Okoro after he injured his hamstring against Alabama. And starting power forward Danjel Purifoy is still recovering from the flu, though Pearl said he anticipates Purifoy to play.

Missouri is dealing with an injury bug of its own. After returning from a foot injury earlier this month, center Jeremiah Tilmon will not play against Auburn, Martin announced Friday. Neither will guard Mark Smith, who is Missouri's second-leading scorer this season.

Without Tilmon, Missouri will look to its other 6-foot-10 defenders, Reed Nikko and and Mitchell Smith, to go against Auburn center Austin Wiley, who tore up Alabama on Wednesday with a career-high in rebounds and blocks.

Tipoff in Columbia is set for 5 p.m. CST on ESPN2.

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