On Saturday, head coach Bruce Pearl and his Auburn team continue its tradition of playing tough, in-state opponents with Troy coming to Auburn Arena.

Under Pearl, Auburn has played the likes of South Alabama and UAB in recent years, with all four games over UAB and three games over South Alabama ending in close Auburn victories.

Now, the Tigers take on Troy for the first time since 2009. Though, the two met in a closed scrimmage last year.

“So we're continuing, I guess, sort of our commitment to playing the best high-quality, mid-major teams from the state. And next up is Troy,” Pearl said Friday. “We went down to Troy last year for a game -- a controlled scrimmage. A year ago, those controlled scrimmages are private, and it's sort of released as it comes. But I think you guys were all aware that we got challenged, we got really tested. They guarded the heck out of us, and it was way closer a contest than you would have imagined, because we were pretty good last year, pretty experienced.”

On the season, Troy is 4-3 and is coming off a win over a Samford team that nearly took down Georgia.

“So they play really hard, they play really solid defensively, they're extremely well-coached, they'll have a great scout on us because they played us last year. And even though our personnel is much different, what we do is very similar,” Pearl said. “They do a great job scoring from 2 and from 3. They will attack the rim, they do a great job of getting to the foul line, and they probably do a better job of anyone we'll play of drawing charges. They will sink on penetration, and if you don't go in under control, they'll step in, take a charge. They do a good job of that.”

The Troy roster has seven Alabama natives on it, some of which attended Auburn camps and Pearl spent time recruiting, so he knows those players will bring their A-Game.

“A lot of kids from Montgomery, a lot of state champions, a lot of first-team All-State kids, a lot of guys that have been at my camp, that we looked at, that we liked a lot, that we recruited but didn't wind up going for,” Pearl said. “So I'm sure that will be great motivation to come into Auburn Arena, and it'll be obviously a huge, huge game for them.”

Saturday will also be the third annual toy drive at Auburn Arena benefitting Toys for Tots for children in Auburn and Opelika.

Last year, Auburn’s toy drive set a record and they had to bring another truck just to carry all the toys.

With fewer people in attendance this year, Pearl encouraged everyone to bring a toy to tomorrow’s game.

“We're not going to have as many people there, which means everybody who is coming tomorrow needs to bring a toy. It could be a new toy. It could be something that’s unwrapped. We’ll wrap it,” Pearl said. “Obviously, it’s been a challenging year for everybody. What better way of brightening a child’s Christmas. A lot of parents aren’t going to be able to put as many things under the tree, or even have a tree. I’m just saying it’s a really good opportunity for us to go out and do something really, really special. So I encourage all of our fans to go shopping today.”

Because of the limited attendance rules this year, fans are able to donate at AuburnTigers.com/MBBgameday until Dec. 22 with all the proceeds going towards the toy drive.

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