AUBURN, Alabama – The Auburn Tigers will be back in action to compete in the NCAA Tournament on Friday after a two-year hiatus from the event as they take on the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks in Greenville, SC Tipoff for the Midwest Regional game is 11:40 a.m. CDT with coverage on Tru TV.
The Tigers will make their third trip to the NCAA Tournament with Bruce Pearl as head coach. It would have been the fourth, but the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic, with the Tigers set to potentially have another strong playoff run as they did the previous season when they reached the Final Four.
The last time the Tigers played an NCAA Tournament game was at the Final Four in Minneapolis where they lost 63-62 to a Virginia team that beat Texas Tech two days later to win the national championship.
This Auburn team finished 30-10, setting a school record for most wins in a season as well as the deepest run in the NCAA Tournament.
Pearl’s first Auburn team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament finished with a 26-8 record after winning the SEC regular season title, which the current team did on the cusp of post a mark of 27-5. The 2017-18 team finished 1-1 in the Big Dance, beating the College of Charleston in San Diego before losing to Clemson in the Round of 16. The following year, the Tigers won four games in the NCAA Tournament.
Commenting on what the 2021-22 Tigers need to do to be successful in the NCAA Tournament, Pearl said, “Our defense carried us. Our defense will continue to be very good. We need to strengthen our defence. Defense and rebound win championships. Our rebound wasn’t as good. This is something we need to improve. »
The coach added that he would like to see better offensive execution. “That includes being able to shoot the basketball and make better decisions with the shots we take,” he said. “Those are the three things I think we need to be able to do to start playing our best basketball.”
Here are comparisons of the current team to Auburn’s two previous NCAA Tournament entrants:
Points per game
Tigers 2017-18: 81.9
Final 4 Tigers: 79.7
Current Tigers: 79.3
Points allowed per game
Tigers 2017-18: 73.2
Final 4 Tigers: 68.8
Current Tigers: 67.0
Scoring margin per game
2017-18 Tigers: plus 8.7 points
Final Tigers: up 10.9 points
Current Tigers: 12.3 points
Field Goal Accuracy
Tigers 2017-18: 43.1%
Final 4 Tigers: 45.0%
Current Tigers: 44.4%
Field goal defense
Tigers 2017-18: 42.7%
Final 4 Tigers: 43.7%
Current Tigers: 38.3%
Free throw accuracy
Tigers 2017-18: 77.4%
Final 4 Tigers: 71.1%
Current Tigers: 73.6%
Free throws made per game
Tigers 2017-18: 19.0
Final 4 Tigers: 13.5
Current Tigers: 14.8
Three points made per game
Tigers 2017-18: 9.5
Final 4 Tigers: 11.9
Current Tigers: 8.1
Three-point precision
Tigers 2017-18: 35.7%
Final 4 Tigers: 37.7%
Current Tigers: 32.3%
Assists per game
Tigers 2017-18: 14.1
Final 4 Tigers: 14.3
Current Tigers: 14.7
Rebound margin per game
Tigers 2017-18: plus 2.5
Final 4 Tigers: minus 1.3
Current Tigers: plus 3.4
Flights per match
Tigers 2017-18: 7.4
Final 4 Tigers: 9.2
Current Tigers: 8.8
Turnover incurred per match
Tigers 2017-18: 12.1
Final 4 Tigers: 11.1
Current Tigers: 12.2
Forced turnovers per match
Tigers 2017-18: 15.2
Final 4 Tigers: 17.7
Current Tigers: 15.0
Blocked shots per game
Tigers 2017-18: 5.3
Final 4 Tigers: 4.8
Current Tigers: 7.9
Women’s Tournament Supporter Contest, CBS
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