AUBURN | Auburn should have plenty of 3-point shooting opportunities Friday night when South Alabama visits for the home opener.
The Jaguars’ zone defense has forced opposing teams to attempt 151 3-pointers in the first four games. It’s an area the Tigers would like to exploit, as long as they don’t have another performance like Monday night’s loss at UCF in which they made just 7 of 34, 21 percent, from beyond the arc.
“I think we displayed very little confidence,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after the UCF loss. “Like I went and told the guys, I have more confidence in you than you do in yourself.”
Playing at home should help Auburn’s shooting percentage, which is currently last in the SEC at 37.6 percent from the floor and 10th at 26.7 percent from 3-point range after a 1-2 start in three road games.
The Jaguars, however, are 3-1 and holding opponents to 38.6 percent shooting from the floor and 35.8 percent on 3-pointers.
The Tigers didn’t see much zone in the opening three games, a win over St. Joe’s and back-to-back losses to No. 1 Gonzaga and UCF.
“South Alabama will play zone maybe 90-100 percent of the game -- at least they have so far,” Pearl said. “They may change it up against us, but we've seen a lot of zone against them. We haven't played hardly any zone yet in the first three games. So we've got to work on our zone offense.”
Devan Cambridge is one of AU’s starters off to a slow start making just 3 of 17 3-pointers and averaging just 5.0 points per game. The sophomore even apologized on Instagram on Tuesday saying, "Man I apologize to my team, staff, and fans. Y’all deserve better and that ain’t what I’m giving right now. Come Friday, it will be a different outcome. Promise you that. Different day different results.”
Pearl appreciates how much Cambridge cares but also wants to make sure he doesn’t put anymore pressure on himself going into Friday night’s game.
“I think that speaks to our character and our culture,” Pearl said. “In our third game, Devan is going to issue an apology to our fans? That just tells you how badly he wants it and how much he cares and how accountable he’s trying to be. But it’s not his fault. Yeah, we need to count on him to do a couple of things that he’s comfortable doing, do them better. But not try to do more than he’s capable of doing and not put the weight of the world or a loss on his shoulders.
“While I admired what he did and was touched by it, I think, ‘How in the world can you step up and make a free throw or shot when you’re putting that kind of pressure on yourself?’ Really? But I’ve always said that I’d rather try to teach them to care less then to care, right?"
Tip-off at Auburn Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
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