Pearl sees something special in Davidson

AUBURN | No. 24 Auburn will face a familiar foe Friday night in Annapolis, Md. No, not Navy. The Midshipmen host East Carolina in the evening portion of the Veterans Classic.

And no, not the Davidson team the Tigers last played back in 1951. It’s this year’s Wildcats that Auburn coach Bruce Pearl compares to his Final Four team of a year ago.

“They shoot it like us last year – unbelievable 3-point shooting team,” Pearl said. “They scored over 100 in their first exhibition game. They’ll challenge us in so many ways. They’ll be really well-prepared.”

Auburn set an SEC record with 454 made 3-pointers last season. Davidson returns all five starters from a team that made 312 3-pointers a year ago and dropped 15 on Glenville State in a 102-94 exhibition win Monday.

Leading the returning starters is Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Jon Axel Gudmundsson, who averaged 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season.

Davidson, which has 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, was 24-10 overall and 14-4 in the A-10 last year.

“They’re a really good 3-point shooting team. They’re a nice, fundamental and well-coached team, so we just know that we have to give everything we have tomorrow in order to win the game,” said freshman Isaac Okoro, who had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in his opening college game Tuesday, an 83-74 win over Georgia Southern.

Senior Samir Doughty was the Tigers’s star in the opener scoring 20 points with five rebounds, three assists and four steals, but AU had 21 turnovers, which is a big concern for Pearl facing a veteran Davidson squad.

“We have to stop throwing the ball to the other team. We threw it away a few times,” Pearl said.

Tip-off at Alumni Hall is set for 5 p.m. CT on CBSSN.