The Tigers are undefeated through just more than a month of the college basketball season, but they're learning some hard lessons about themselves as nonconference play rolls on.

Most recently, they're considering their near-defeat at the hands of Furman last week as a sign that they need to come with their A-game, no matter the opponent or the location.

"We have to prepare like a top-25 team in the country every night," center Anfernee McLemore said. "We can’t just show up and win."

Yes, No. 12 Auburn is 8-0, and of the five undefeated squads left in the sport. But as Bruce Pearl sees it, his team could very easily have had a few results go the other way.

"You can look at it two ways," Pearl said. "One is, we're 8-0 and one of five unbeaten teams in the country. You could also look at it as, in those eight wins, two of them we barely beat some solid major programs. That doesn't typically add up to a top-25 basketball team."

Always the optimist of his opposition and the skeptic of over-the-top praise for a team of his that's still developing, Pearl's point rings true regarding Auburn's most recent outing against Furman.

Though Furman is no slouch — the Paladins are a top-75 team in KenPom and already have nine wins — Auburn wasn't playing anything like a top-15, let alone a top-25 team for most of that matchup last week. The Tigers were gifting points by turning the ball over and never got into a rhythm on offense, resulting in a deficit as large as 14 points. They needed overtime to pull out the win on their home court.

"I thought we missed a lot of shots around the basket; we obviously didn't shoot it very well, so we had some breakdowns," Pearl said.

The good news, Pearl said, is that Auburn had three or four underwhelming performances, and was still able to win.

He's also glad that certain players rose up late — like Isaac Okoro's six points in overtime and J'Von McCormick's back-to-back layups with just minutes left. That resiliency is hard to teach.

"I like the fact we had no panic," Pearl said. "I like the fact that we got down and didn't appear to be flustered. That's a real positive sign."

Auburn next faces Saint Louis at 3 p.m. CST on Saturday in Birmingham. The Tigers' priority is to improve from game to game, and they're not letting the prospect of being the last unbeaten team be a distraction. But that doesn't mean it can't be a slight motivator.

"We’re not striving for it, to be the last team, but we’re going to keep playing until it happens," McLemore said.