Auburn @ New Mexico preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2015 ) Auburn 83, New Mexico 78

No. 18 Auburn has shown no hangover from its wild ride to the Final Four last season and it will try to stay perfect early in 2019-20 when it meets a dangerous New Mexico squad Monday in the semifinals of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Tigers opened with three close wins before routing Cal State Northridge and Colgate at home during the on-campus portion of the event.

Senior guard Samir Doughty scored 20 points and senior center Austin Wiley had his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the 91-62 rout of the Raiders last Monday. "We have a great team," Doughty told reporters after his team opened 5-0 for the first time in 15 years. "It's not just surrounded by me, [forward Isaac Okoro] or [guard J'Von McCormick]. Anybody can go off. We know that anybody is capable of coming out and playing great. Some nights I might be in single digits, and we still have five other players in double digits. It's really a team effort all-around." The Lobos enter the event after a thrilling one-point road win over rival New Mexico State on Thursday behind 24 points from JaQuan Lyle and two clutch free throws from fellow senior Carlton Bragg Jr. The winner will face either Richmond or Wisconsin in the title game of the event Tuesday night.

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPNews

ABOUT AUBURN (5-0): Doughty leads the team in scoring at 18.8 points per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from long range. Okoro is next at 14.4 per contest and he's hitting 60 percent of his shots for the Tigers, who entered Sunday's action tied for 17th nationally with a team-wide percentage of 51.0 from the field. McCormick had 14 points and eight assists versus Colgate and he ranks tied for 11th nationally with seven assists per game.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO (5-1): Lyle, who missed all of the last two seasons due to a transfer and then an injury, was 9-for-14 from the floor while recording a season-high three steals against the Aggies, and the team leader knew what stealing one on the rivals' home floor means to the program. "Getting this win meant a lot, especially for my guy [Paul Weir],” Lyle told reporters of his coach, who spent 10 seasons on the New Mexico State coaching staff. "We had a very emotional moment after the game. ... I'm just happy to see him happy. For the university, I'm just happy we got this one for all of our fans." Bragg was the only other Lobo to score in double figures in the contest with 14, and he ranks third on the team in scoring (11.8) and tops the squad on the boards (9.8).

TIP-INS

1. Wiley needed only 18 minutes for his double-double last Monday and he has at least nine rebounds in four of five games this season.

2. Lobos junior G JJ Caldwell leads his team in assists (5.3) and steals (2.3).

3. Auburn won the lone previous meeting 83-78 in the 2015 Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.

PREDICTION: Auburn 79, New Mexico 74