AUBURN | Can the No. 1 overall seed really come into the NCAA Tournament with a chip on its shoulder?

Auburn certainly thinks so.

The Tigers earned the top seed by winning the SEC regular season championship and compiling 16 Quad 1 wins.

But AU also comes into the tournament with three losses in its last four games and a growing number of doubters that wonder if this team hit its peak about a month too soon.

“We're all on social media as well. We see what they say about us,” said senior guard Denver Jones. “I feel like we're going to go out there and play with a chip on our shoulder, man. I feel like we've got a lot of older, mature people.

“Honestly, our freshman, too. He's one of the most competitive guys I know. We're all about to go out there with a chip on our shoulder and try to prove a point.”

One of the best ways Jones and his teammates can express that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is ramping up the intensity on defense.

It’s been a hallmark for the Tigers most of the season but slipped a little over the last couple of weeks. AU gave up 93 points to Alabama at home, 83 to a Texas A&M team averaging 74.3 and 70 to a Tennessee team it held to 51 seven weeks earlier.

“I feel like our defensive tenacity back then was a lot different to now,” said Jones. “Every practice, that's what we've been working on, since we got back from the SEC Tournament. Basically working on what got us to where we are right now.”

The Tigers play No. 16 seed Alabama State Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. CT on CBS.