Auburn Tigers basketball plays their first game on Saturday since last week’s 97-68 loss at Arizona. The Tigers will meet the Chattanooga Mocs in Atlanta, Georgia part of Holiday Hoopsgiving.
Last week’s performance against the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats was one the Tigers could learn from, but will want to soon forget. Outside of Tahaad Pettiford, the team mostly struggled in the loss. Pettiford had one of his best games of the year scoring 30 of the 68 points. However, the game was a struggle Keyshawn Hall with just 13 points on 3 of 11 shooting. Auburn also struggled against the size of Arizona. The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 60-24 in the paint. Good news is the Tigers will face very few teams for rest of the season with that type size in the frontcourt. Also, they did stay in the USA Today Coaches Poll at No. 24. Auburn did drop one spot in the AP Poll to No. 21.
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The Mocs are 5-5 on the season, but twice in the last four games have scored over 100 points. In their last game, Chattanooga defeated Oakwood 103-46. Overall, they average 79.5 points per game and only have two players averaging in the double digits scoring. Guard Jordan Frison is the leading scoring at 12.8 points per game and is shooting 50% from the three-point line. They are coached by Dan Earl who is in his fourth year with the team. The Mocs won 29 games last season and claimed the NIT Championship.
This is a game the Tigers should win with a comfortable margin. The ESPN Matchup Predictor has Auburn with a 95.9% chance at winning and Chattanooga just at 4.1%. The Tigers have done well this season following a loss with a big win. After both losses to Houston and Michigan, Auburn beat their next opponent by double digits.
Auburn and Chattanooga last played on December 30th, 2023 with the Tigers winning comfortably 101-66. Jaylin Williams led the way in that game with 21 points and did not miss a shot. The two are set for a 3:30 p.m. CT tip-off and the game will be broadcast by the SEC Network.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Auburn basketball vs Chattanooga ESPN prediction
