Auburn basketball has just six games remaining on the schedule, and they will need to close out the season strong to make the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Tigers are currently on a four-game losing streak and need a win to regain momentum. Before losing four in a row, the Tigers played well and won four straight games.
Auburn enters Wednesday night’s road game at Mississippi State with a 14-11 overall record and 5-7 in the SEC. It has not been a good year for the Bulldogs, who are 12-13 overall and 4-8 in conference play. Mississippi State picked up a win on Saturday against rival Ole Miss, 90-78, but before that game, they had lost eight of nine games. Auburn will enter the game as the favorite and is expected to win. KenPom gives the Tigers a 65% chance of winning the game with an implied score of 80-75.
Despite the losing streak, KenPom also has the Tigers winning five of six games to close out the season with an 18-13 record. The lone loss is projected in the regular-season finale at Alabama. Auburn is currently projected by USA TODAY Sports as a No. 10 seed and a No. 8 seed by ESPN in their respective Bracketology. If Auburn does what KenPom projects for the remainder of the season, Auburn should be playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
It does appear Auburn will have leading scorer Keyshawn Hall back in the lineup on Wednesday, as he was not listed in the SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report. His presence was missing on the floor Saturday when Auburn lost to Arkansas, 88-75, in Fayetteville. Defensively, Auburn will need to limit the scoring of Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard. He leads the SEC in scoring at 21.4 points per game. He shoots a good percentage of 42% and has scored 30 or more points in two consecutive games.
Auburn will play Mississippi State on the road with a scheduled start time of 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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