Auburn @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2018 ) Vanderbilt 81, Auburn 93

Auburn has seven regular-season SEC games remaining - plus the conference tournament - to prove it belongs in the NCAA Tournament and the process starts Saturday at struggling Vanderbilt. The Tigers, who have lost 10 straight in Nashville, are coming off a 60-55 loss to Ole Miss on Wednesday that left them in a four-way tie for seventh in the SEC and on the Big Dance bubble.

"We’re not going to panic. We’re going to grind,'' Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told reporters. "This is a really good league. These are really good teams. We have to focus on the next one.” The Commodores have lost 12 straight - the second-longest slide in school history - after Wednesday's 66-57 loss to Florida despite a career-high 26 points by freshman forward Aaron Nesmith. "We need everyone to show up if we’re gonna win. (Nesmith) showed up tonight big,” Vanderbilt coach Scott Drew told reporters. “... You can’t win with one guy in double figures. We have to have more balance, we have to have more guys making shots and contributing.” Auburn snapped a 13-game losing streak in the series with a 93-81 victory last season behind 25 points from Bryce Brown and 14 points and 14 assists by Jared Harper, who combine to average 31.7 points in 2018-19.

TV: Noon ET, ESPNU

ABOUT AUBURN (16-8, 5-6 SEC): Sophomore Chuma Okeke (11.1 points, team-high 6.9 rebounds) recorded a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds versus Ole Miss for his third double-double in the last five games. Brown (16.3 points), a senior guard, hasn't reached his season average in the last three games, while junior guard Harper (15.4 points, club-most 6.2 assists) has exceeded his season average in seven of the last 10 games while recording 5.3 assists per contest during that span. Center Austin Wiley (9.2 points, 5.3 rebounds) has registered three points and three rebounds in a total of 16 minutes in three games since missing five because of a leg injury.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-15, 0-11): Sophomore guard Saben Lee (team bests of 13.5 points and 3.8 assists) scored only four points versus Florida but has averaged 16.0 over his last nine games while matching his career high of 24 points twice. Nesmith (10.9 points) is averaging a club-best 14.5 in SEC games with Lee at 13.6. Forward Simisola Shittu (11.7 points) averages a team-most 7.0 rebounds, which also leads conference freshmen, but has reached that number only once in the last 10 contests.

TIP-INS

1. The Tigers are shooting 74.6 percent from the free-throw line in their last 10 games after making 66.7 percent in the first 14 contests this season.

2. Lee takes seven free throws per game, which would be the second-most in school history for a season after Clyde Lee averaged 8.1 in 1964-65.

3. The Commodores lost 14 straight games spanning the end of the 1934-35 season and the beginning of 1935-36.

PREDICTION: Auburn 79, Vanderbilt 75