Auburn @ Alabama preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 5, 2019 ) Auburn 66, Alabama 60

Fourth-ranked Auburn hopes to maintain its perfect record with two tough road games this week, starting with a visit to rival Alabama on Wednesday night for an SEC showdown. The Tigers have won 27 of their last 28 contests, dating back to last season, and produced one of the best efforts of the season Saturday when they shot 53.2 percent from the field en route to an 82-60 rout of Georgia.

“When we struggle offensively or miss shots or (turn the ball over), we just try to understand what our identity is and make every possession count,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told al.com after the win. “Like coach (Bill) Belichick has been known to say, it’s not whether you can, it’s whether you will. So far we have.” The Tigers, who play at Florida on Saturday, won both meetings last season and sit second in the SEC in scoring in 2019-2020 at 82.1 points per game - second only to Alabama (83.2), which started the week tied for fourth in the nation with 10.7 made 3-pointers per contest. The Crimson Tide started their league slate with a double-overtime loss at Florida, rolled over Mississippi State (90-69) at home and were within three points at Kentucky with two minutes left on Saturday before falling 76-67. “They are hard to score on and they did as good a job defensively on us as anyone all year,” Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters after his team went 4-for-21 from 3-point range. “You tell your guys what it is going to be like trying to score at the rim on these guys, maybe take a few more threes. But until you get into the game, I don’t know how you emulate it.”

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT AUBURN (15-0, 3-0 SEC): The Tigers got a big effort from their reserves Saturday as senior Anfernee McLemore and freshman Allen Flanigan had 12 points and six rebounds apiece as the bench connected on 15-of-23 from the field overall. “It was probably the best the bench has played,” Pearl told reporters. “We got four 3s from (Flanigan) and Jamal (Johnson). We got really good defensive rotations. When the bench starts to play like that, we have a chance to be a pretty good ball club.” Senior guard Samir Doughty leads the team in scoring (15.7) and was 6-for-12 from the field Saturday after going 12-for-42 the previous four games.

ABOUT ALABAMA (8-7, 1-2): Junior guard John Petty Jr. tops the team in scoring (16.7) along with rebounding (7.3) and has drained 28 of his 49 tries from 3-point range over the last six games despite going 3-for-8 on Saturday. Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. adds 16.2 points and a team-high 4.6 assists per contest while junior forward Herbert Jones scored a season-high 18 against Kentucky and is averaging 13.6 over the last five outings to push his season mark to 9.7. Freshman guard Jaden Shackelford is the third player averaging in double figures scoring for the Crimson Tide (12.1), but is just 3-for-14 from the floor the past two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Petty is shooting 49.5 percent from 3-point range on 107 shots and 47.5 from inside the arc on 59 attempts.

2. Auburn’s 6-11 senior C Austin Wiley averages 10.7 points on 58.1 percent and is second in the SEC in rebounding (9.2).

3. Tigers freshman forward Isaac Okoro (13.2 points per game) was held to a season-low seven against Georgia.

PREDICTION: Alabama 83, Auburn 81