Auburn @ Missouri preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2019 ) Missouri 71, Auburn 81

No. 11 Auburn hopes to end its string of overtime thrillers while continuing to win games when it goes after an eighth straight victory Saturday night against host Missouri in an SEC matchup. Auburn has won four of its seven games during the streak in an extra period, including three in a row after outlasting rival Alabama 95-91 in overtime Wednesday despite allowing the Crimson Tide to drain 22 shots from 3-point range.

Coach Bruce Pearl’s team lost its only two games of the season back to back, starting with an 83-64 setback at Alabama on Jan. 15, and Auburn won the last six contests during the streak by a total of 22 points. “We’re more resilient now,” senior center Austin Wiley told reporters. “We’re more comfortable with each other. I feel like the Alabama game, the first one, was like a hit in the mouth. We went back to the drawing board and went back to square one, so yeah, I feel like we got better because of that. I feel like we’re an overall better team and more tough.” Missouri has dropped seven of its last nine games, but gave SEC co-leader LSU all it could handle in an 82-78 loss on Tuesday and won three of the last four SEC contests at home. Senior forward Reed Nikko said his team must stay locked in and told reporters after the LSU loss: “A big part of it is just experience in these types of games. Going forward, a game like this would be really helpful. Another thing is we just gotta keep developing that killer instinct. Finish teams off.”

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT AUBURN (22-2, 9-2 SEC): Second-leading scorer Isaac Okoro (13.1) could miss some time after the freshman forward suffered a hamstring injury in the win over Alabama, in which he finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Samir Doughty leads the team in scoring (16.0) after averaging 20.9 over the past six contests while senior point guard J’Von McCormick adds 11.4 to go along with a team-best 4.8 assists. Wiley (10.0 points, team-high 9.4 boards) registered his second double-double in three games Wednesday, scoring 18 and hauling in a career-best 17 caroms.

ABOUT MISSOURI (11-13, 3-8): Junior guard Dru Smith tops the team in scoring (11.7), assists (4.1) and steals (2.2) after connecting on 8-of-14 from field for 20 points with four helpers along with three thefts in the latest loss. Junior guard Mark Smith is the only other player averaging in double figures scoring (10.9) and is shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc, while junior forward Mitchell Smith leads the way in rebounds (5.0) after grabbing 28 combined the past three contests. Nikko has stepped up his production while averaging 12 points and 9.5 rebounds over his last two outings - both more than double his season averages.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Missouri freshman F Tray Jackson is 7-for-9 from the field for a total of 18 points in the last two games after recording the same amount in the previous seven.

2. Auburn freshman G Devan Cambridge has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, averaging 15.5 the last two.

3. Missouri is third in the SEC in free-throw shooting percentage (76.8) and Auburn is second from the bottom at 67.4.

PREDICTION: Auburn 76, Missouri 68