Lipscomb @ Auburn preview

No. 8 Auburn certainly enjoyed an eight-day break for the holidays after starting the season 11-0 and dispatching Lehigh 74-51 on Dec. 21. It will be back to business when the Tigers play their final tune-up before SEC play begins when Lipscomb comes to town Sunday.

"The champion of our conference this year is going to be the team that gets up for every night," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "That defends every night, that's excited to play every night, because there's so much parity." Auburn missed its first 10 3-pointers against Lehigh and trailed by seven but held the Mountain Hawks scoreless over the final 7:17 of the first half to forge a seven-point lead and coasted to victory in the second 20 minutes. Auburn outscored Lehigh 17-0 on fast-break points, 21-2 on bench points and 30-9 in points off turnovers. "Getting a little bit of an identity of our ability to make plays, turn people over, create some offense from our defense, is our biggest opportunity to win games," Pearl said afterward.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT LIPSCOMB (5-7): The Bisons had their two-game winning streak snapped with an 86-63 loss at Vermont on Dec. 20 despite 18 points from sophomore Ahsan Asadullah (14.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists). The 6-8 forward is one of three players in the country averaging at least 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists (Alpha Diallo, Providence; Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis). Freshman guard KJ Johnson, who had 13 points and three 3-pointers in the loss, leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game on 50 percent shooting.

ABOUT AUBURN (11-0): Senior Austin Wiley (10.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 19.5 minutes) contributed his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds; the 6-11 center ranks fourth in the nation in fouls drawn, second in defensive rebound percentage (32.9) and 15th in offensive rebound percentage (16.5). "I try to impact the game every time I step out there," Wiley said. "I'm trying to play the perfect game but I haven't gotten there yet, so stay tuned." J'Von McCormick (11.0 points, 5.9 assists), who hit a trio of 3-pointers in 65 seconds to help the Tigers pull away against Lipscomb, finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while senior reserve Anfernee McLemore (7.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 20 minutes per game) blocked six shots, added seven rebounds and nine points in 20 minutes.

TIP-INS

1. The Tigers have won 23 of their last 24 games overall and 27 consecutive non-conference home games over the past four seasons.

2. Auburn jumps into SEC play at Mississippi State next Saturday followed by home games with Vanderbilt and Georgia.

3. Two of the Bisons' five wins have come against non-Division I schools, two others came against a Tennessee Tech team that was ranked 331st and the other against 260th-ranked Navy - both according to KenPom.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 86, Lipscomb 62