AUBURN, Ala. — No. 2 Auburn (11-1) will face Monmouth (2-10) Monday night in the final non-conference game of the season. The matchup presents Auburn with its final tune-up opportunity before SEC play begins.
Auburn, impressively, played seven Quad I games, winning six of them, with the lone loss coming at Duke. What was billed as the toughest non-conference schedule in Auburn basketball history could not have gone better for the Tigers. The Tigers look to finish the stretch with a win over a struggling Monmouth team.
“From a reflections standpoint, we’re playing good basketball on both ends of the floor,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said on Friday. “We’re sharing it. We’re shooting it. I think we’re defending well. We’re rebounding the ball a little bit better. Areas we can continue to improve on are transition offense and defense.”
While Monmouth has just two wins so far this season, the Hawks are coming off a win against Fairfield in their previous game. Monmouth also has an outstanding player in guard Abdi Bashir Jr. Bashir Jr. averages over 21 points per game shooting 43% from three-point range.
“They got a great, great player in Abdi Bashir Jr,” Pearl said. “You know, who ranks ninth nationally in scoring, but he’s got 30-point games, 38 at Rutgers, and 30 at Stephen F. Austin. So he’s really talented. You know, watch him a little bit, and he reminds me a little bit of Chad Baker.”
If Monmouth hopes to compete with Auburn, Bashir Jr. will need to have a big night. As a team, Monmouth shoots around 35% from three-point range, but Auburn’s three-point defense has been solid this season holding opponents to just 32% from beyond the arc. As Auburn prepares to enter SEC play, continuing to play at a high level defensively is vital.
Auburn’s offense, on the other hand, continues to impress. The Tigers reached the highest offensive efficiency rating ever recorded on KenPom after their win over Purdue. However, Pearl knows his team must continue to work on that end as teams will throw many different looks at them moving forward into SEC play. Monday night’s game will give Auburn another chance to show off its lethal offensive ability.
“As we get ready for league play, teams in the league really know us, and they’ll throw lots of different things at us,” Pearl said. “We’re going to start to see more zone, we’re going to start to see more run-and-jump, we’re going to see more trapping. We’re going to see more things, as we get into league play, where people are not gonna let us do what we do and let us get in our comfort zone. How well we respond to that, you know, will determine whether or not we keep growing. Staying humble, hungry and healthy are obviously keys.”
With a win Monday night, Auburn will have the best non-conference winning percentage of any SEC team over the last nine seasons. Accomplishing this feat against any schedule would be impressive, but doing so while playing a top-10 strength of schedule and seven Quad I opponents makes it beyond remarkable.
“If we can beat Monmouth, that in nine years, we will have the best winning percentage in the non-conference of anybody in the SEC,” Pearl said.
Monday’s game will tip-off at 5:30 PM inside Neville Arena on the Auburn Sports Network and the SEC Network+.
