AUBURN | No. 11 Auburn has a shot to finish moving week atop the SEC standings.

It started with a home win over No. 13 Kentucky, which included a first visit from ESPN’s Gameday, and continued with an overtime win at Arkansas Tuesday night.

The Tigers, 20-2 overall and 7-2 in the SEC, host No. 18 LSU this Saturday with a chance to move into a first-place tie with the visiting Tigers. Auburn comes into the matchup with five consecutive wins.

“You know, just when you think it can’t get any better than College Gameday and Kentucky, all of a sudden LSU comes in there and we’ve got a chance to play them for first place,” Pearl said.

While Auburn can take a step forward in the conference race with a win Saturday, Pearl knows there’s still a long way to go in the championship race with eight more SEC games remaining.

He’s also reminding his team of last year’s 83-78 loss at LSU.

“It’s just another game,” senior point guard J’Von McCormick said. “We’re not looking at it as winning a championship. We’re just happy to play them in front of the Jungle. I’m just excited for this rematch from last year because we got whooped pretty bad.”

LSU, 17-5 overall and 8-1 in the SEC, started out conference play with eight consecutive wins before losing 99-90 at Vanderbilt Wednesday night. LSU is second in the SEC in scoring (80.2 points per game), first in rebounding margin (+8.4), first in field goal percentage (.480) and third in free throw percentage (.768).

They’re led by a trio of standouts in senior Skylar Mays, sophomore Emmitt Williams and freshman Trendon Watford. Mays is averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He’s third in SEC averaging 2.0 steals. Williams is averaging 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and is second in SEC shooting .587 from the floor. Watford is averaging 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Pearl is expecting a physical game.

“Both teams like to get the basket and attack the rim. Both teams rely on offensive rebounding. Neither team is great from 3. So it’s going to be difficult to score in and around the basket,” Pearl said. “It’s probably going to be a tough game to officiate for that reason. But I would say it’s probably got to be, just by virtue of the size factor and the athleticism—Boy, they’re really athletic. They’re really bouncy.”

Tip-off at Auburn Arena is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.

BASKETBALL NOTES:

** McCormick scored 12 of his 16 points after ripping his No. 5 jersey and donning No. 55 in Auburn’s overtime win at Arkansas Tuesday night. His coaches and teammates teased him after the game that he would have to wear No. 55 all season, but he plans to be back in No. 5 for LSU.

“For one, the jersey was like 2XL. It felt like a parachute when I was running. That was one reason,” McCormick said. “I really don’t mind wearing 55 though. It’s not a bad number, it’s just the jersey was big.”

** Pearl on Vanderbilt upsetting LSU Wednesday night. The Commodores came into the matchup with a record 26 consecutive conference losses.

“Vanderbilt was at the bottom of our league, and they were able to beat the team at the top of our league. And that just doesn't come as any surprise. Vanderbilt almost beat us in here. Vanderbilt played great against Florida at home, played great at Kentucky. It was just a matter of time. This isn't about an LSU breakdown. It's not a good loss because of the math. But LSU is better than Vanderbilt, but they're not THAT much better than Vanderbilt. That's just how these teams in our league are built.”

** Pearl on Watford, who he recruited for several years.

“I've known Trendon since I got here. We recruited him hard. Great family, great kid. Mountain Brook. Checks all the boxes for what we look for in a player. And just could never get over the hump. But he's having a great year. They've done a really good job. Trendon's a really good player. He was extremely well-coached in high school, obviously, at Mountain Brook. And I think Coach Wade has taken it to another level.”

** Pearl said approximately 85 men were screened for prostrate cancer before last Saturday’s AUTLive cancer game. He said 10 individuals were notified that they had high number including one of his close friends.

“It’s just a continued reminder that the best way to outlive cancer is to get it detected early. We just can’t ever stop sending out those reminders, because you just never know when someone is going to get tired of hearing the reminder and just up and do it. I would say this: it’s more for your family than it sometimes is for yourself.”

** The 1960 SEC Championship team will be honored at this Saturday’s game against LSU.