Auburn basketball will have to buckle up for its toughest stretch of the season to date with No. 12 Missouri and No. 2 Baylor up next.

First up is 10-2 (4-2 in SEC play) Missouri at Auburn Arena on Tuesday.

“Got a big week, two great teams, two teams that actually could be as good as anybody in the country,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “Missouri has got the second-best resume, behind Gonzaga, right now. What makes them great: they’re well-coached, they’re old—by far the oldest team in the SEC, most experienced; they played almost all these guys last year, and I think we played against all of them—and they are the most experienced team in the SEC, seventh in the NCAA.”

Leading the charge for Mizzou is one of the strongest backcourt duos in the SEC. Junior point guard Xavier Pinson leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game, shooting over 40% from the floor.

His counterpart, senior Dru Smith, is averaging 12.6 points per game and shooting 46.1% from the floor.

Starters Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon both average double-digits for the Tigers out of Columbia.

“Guards are terrific. Pinson is a handful, hard to stay in front of. He does a great job finishing their possessions,” Pearl said. “Dru Smith, great pickup, a transfer from Evanston a year ago, sat out a year, played last year. Those two guys just destroyed us a year ago by being able to get to the basket, kind of had their way with us a little bit. They do the things you need to do to win championships—defense and rebounding, right?

“So, defensively they’re No. 1 in field goal percentage defense, No. 1 in 3-point field goal percentage defense, No. 4 in scoring—they got all the math there. They do a good job rebounding the ball. They make free throws, which is important. They don’t beat themselves. Really, really good team.”

While Pearl believes that his team has improved since the beginning of the season, he believes this two-game stretch could prove to be a valuable indicator of where the team stands now.

“I mean, first of all, it's a barometer, see where we're at,” Pearl said about playing back-to-back ranked opponents. “It is not going to be easy to score.”

Guard Justin Powell remains in concussion protocol as of Monday, and seems likely to miss his seventh-straight game.

“He's day-to-day,” Pearl said. “I hope that this week there's a chance that we can move him some. He hasn't moved yet. It's Monday. But I do think he's feeling better.”

Auburn and No. 12 Mizzou tip inside Auburn Arena at 8 p.m. CST with the game broadcasted on ESPN2.

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