In 1992, Indiana was fresh off a final-four appearance after having won three titles in a 12-year span.

In that same year, an Iowa assistant by the name of Bruce Pearl was hired to be a head coach in the same state as the Hoosiers at Southern Indiana.

Flash forward 30 years and now Pearl is Auburn’s head coach and will get a chance to face off against the Hoosiers for the first time.

“What an opportunity for us to be able to play one of the bluebloods in college basketball,” Pearl said. “And I say that with all due respect. I coached nine years at Southern Indiana, and I was there when Coach (Bob) Knight was there. One of the things that I was doing as a young head coach was watching Coach Knight. I was listening to his radio show and always was so impressed with how he communicated with the fans.”

It’s not a secret that Indiana hasn’t been the same since Knight retired, but they’re doing what they can do to reach those heights, which includes playing a brand of basketball that was popular when the Hoosiers were at their peak.

The Hoosiers shoot just 12.1 threes per game and only 12.6 percent of their points come from behind the arc. Those marks rank 361st and 362nd in the country, respectively. For reference, 362 teams are playing Division One basketball.

When the Hoosiers do shoot from behind the arc, it doesn’t go down that much as they’re averaging just 3.1 made threes per game, which ranks dead last in the country. As a team, they’re shooting 25.8 percent from deep.

So how does Indiana get its points? A lot of work down in the post.

17.8 percent of Indiana’s possessions come from post-ups, which is in the 99th percentile per Synergy. They’re efficient when they post up, too, as they average 1.147 points per possession (ppp) on post-ups, which ranks in the 95th percentile.

43 percent of Indiana’s points this season have come from its starting power forward and center, Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware.

It’s going to be quite the test for Auburn’s frontcourt, but it’s one Pearl believes that they can match up well in.

“Indiana's got the best line in the Big Ten,” Pearl said. “And we'd like to think we've got one of the best frontlines in the SEC. So it's gonna be a great matchup from that standpoint.”

The leader of the Hoosier attack is Ware. The former 5-star is averaging 17.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game to start the season.

As mentioned earlier, Indiana does a lot of its work from the post, and Ware is a big reason for that as 42.6 percent of his possessions come from him posting up.

Of his 137 points, 60 of them have come from post-ups which works out to 1.304 ppp ranking him in the 95th percentile. He has a true shooting of 66.6 percent on post-up chances, as well.

Ware’s partner in the front court is Malik Reneau who is averaging 14.8 points per game on 60 percent shooting from the field.

Reneau, also like Ware, spends a lot of time posting up as 43.5 percent of his possessions come from him working in the post.

Also like Ware, Reneau’s post-up numbers are efficient as he averages 1.160 ppp on those looks which ranks in the 86th percentile.

“Reneau in particular, he just forces you to foul him,” Pearl said. “He is big, strong, physical, athletic, bouncy. He’s a terror in there.”

It’s a tough frontcourt to stop, and Jaylin Williams knows how important it will be to play a grit-and-grind game against Indiana.

“I would just say try to play more physical,” Williams said. “Because I feel like the past opponents, you have to be physical when they crash. Offensively, they don’t try to do much. So I would just say try to be more physical than them, get them off-balance with their game, and then just see where it goes from there.”

Auburn’s three-point shooting in its last two games has been dreadful as the Tigers are 5-of-43 from deep in their last two games, and Indiana isn’t going to make things easy on Auburn there as opponents are shooting 32.2 percent from deep against the Hoosiers.

In addition, the Hoosiers’ frontcourt has been excellent defensively as they are allowing just 0.654 ppp on post-ups which ranks them in the 88th percentile.

So where can Auburn attack Indiana? The pick-and-roll.

The Hoosiers have struggled to guard screen actions as teams are scoring 0.864 ppp against the Hoosiers out of the pick-and-roll, which puts Indiana in the 16th percentile.

It’s a special game for Auburn as it's just the second time the Tigers and Hoosiers are matching up, and the game is in Atlanta, an area where many Auburn players are from, including K.D. Johnson.

“Nothing better than playing at an NBA arena,” Johnson said. “And you know, that's back home for me, so it should be special.”

Auburn and Indiana will tip off at 1 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN2.