Auburn has already faced a tough test in its victory at Houston. Now, the No. 4 Tigers will battle it out against No. 5 Iowa State as they open the 2024 Maui Invitational on Monday night.
Bruce Pearl knows precisely what his team faces against the Cyclones.
"Iowa State is a great defensive team," he said. "They have, analytically, defensively, (are) as good as anybody. They force turnovers."
Auburn's guards will be up against what their coach considers the best defensive backcourt in the country, but those two guards — Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey — are also scoring threats. Lipsey is second on the team, averaging 13.7 points per game, while Gilbert is right behind him at 12.3. The scary thing? Another guard, Curtis Jones, is the leader with 15 points per game.
But back to the turnovers. Pearl mentions that the Cyclones turn you over one in four possessions, and once they get the ball, you have to get back on defense or pay the price.
"The second biggest thing, I think, would be transition," Pearl said. "They've got absolutely elite transition finishers. So if they get numbers and they're going downhill, those guys score and get fouled at a very high clip. Those are going to be a couple of our greatest challenges."
So, how does Auburn attack the Cyclones? By doing what they've been successful at doing so far this season.
"I think we've shot it pretty well," Pearl said. "I think we've been a pretty good inside-out team. The high rate, assist to turnover rate have been speaks to our unselfishness."
As for where the Tigers need to improve, especially in games against top competition, is at the charity stripe.
"We can do a better job of getting to the foul line, and we've got to continue to be a good free throw shooting team, and that's going to be an important thing for winning close games," Pearl said. "We beat Houston. And one of the things that sort of gets, I don't want to say overlooked, but Tahaad (Pettiford) made big shots, and we made our last six free throws, and that's what you've got to be able to do, obviously, to go along with everything else."
The Tigers and Cyclones tip off at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
