ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

No. 20 Auburn (7-2) at No. 2 Arizona (7-0)Ìý|ÌýMcKale CenterÌý|Ìý8 p.m.Ìý|ÌýESPNÌý|Ìý1290-AM

Probable starters

ARIZONA

0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)

5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)

18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)

0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)

13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)

Key reserves

3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)

30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)

2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)

AUBURN

0 G Tahaad Pettiford (6-1 sophomore)

1 G Kevin Overton (6-5 junior)

6 F Elyjah Freeman (6-8 sophomore)

7 F Keyshawn Hall (6-7 senior)

3 C KeShawn Murphy (6-10 senior)

Key reserves

5 G Kaden Magwood (6-2 freshman)

38 F Filip Jovic (6-8 freshman)

33 F Sebastian Williams-Adams (6-8 freshman)

How they match up

The series: Arizona is 0-2 against Auburn, losing to the Tigers 73-63 in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament and 73-57 in the third-place game of the 2018-19 Maui Invitational.

Game agreement: Auburn and Arizona signed a contract last February for a two-year home-and-home agreement in which the Tigers will appear at McKale on Saturday and then host the Wildcats in Auburn, Alabama, at a date to be determined.

Auburn overview: Despite returning only guard Tahaad Pettiford from their Final Four team last season, and having to sub in Steven Pearl suddenly as head coach when his father retired in September, the Tigers are still a Top 25 team, with wins over Oregon, St. John’s and NC State so far. Auburn’s only losses have been to Top 5 teams Houston (73-72) and Michigan (102-72).

The Tigers continue to play the aggressive defensive style they were known for under Bruce Pearl, gaining a steal on 12.1% of opponents’ possessions and limiting them to 48.6% shooting from two-point range.

Offensively, they are a mediocre 3-point shooting team (35.1%) but hit 58.0% from two-point range — including better than 59% against both Oregon and St. John's. They take care of the ball, ranking fourth nationally in non-steal turnovers (only 4.5% of possessions). However, they gave up 20 turnovers that led to 22 NC State points during their 83-73 win over the Wolfpack on Wednesday.

Pettiford, who tested the NBA Draft last spring, is dynamic offensively and disruptive on the defensive end. He has 10 blocks and 10 steals in nine games so far, while averaging 14.1 points and 2.8 assists, though his 3-point shooting (25.9%) has been inconsistent.

Two of the Tigers’ most impactful additions were players the Wildcats saw last season in the Big 12: Forward Keyshawn Hall (a transfer from UCF) and guard Kevin Overton (Texas Tech).

Hall led the Knights in scoring last season with 18.8 average points per game and is averaging 21.8 so far this season, while his rebounding average has increased from 7.1 to 9.1.

A reserve last season at Texas Tech, Overton scored 20 points while hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers against the Wildcats in the Big 12 Tournament. So far this season, he’s hitting 38.1% of his 3-pointers.

He said it: “They're running a lot of the same actions offensively (as under Bruce Pearl) and defensively, Stephen was running the defense before for his dad, so that's consistent.

“They have two really good scores in Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall. They have good complimentary pieces, guys that have produced and are capable of producing at a high level, surrounding them. Offensively, they're a very high powered team and their defense leads into a lot of their offense. They do a good job pressuring the basketball. They're very handsy. They can create deflections. And they speed you up, so when they speed you up, it usually creates turnovers. They force a lot of turnovers. It's not just dead ball turnovers, it's live ball turnovers that lead to transition points. They'll play man to man, they'll do full court, they'll do some zone, some match up. They have a variety (of defenses) and they're a great offensive rebounding team."

Hall is a “very aggressive scorer. An offensive player can put you into tough situations with matchups. Does a great job drawing fouls. He's just a great offensive player. He'll play the four and the three. He's an inside-outside player, really difficult to guard when he's facing up and attacking off the bounce.

“Pettiford is a very dynamic scorer, ball handler, creator. If he wanted to go out and average 10 assists, he could. If he wanted to go out and average 25 points, I feel like he could. You could have him bottled up for 20 minutes, and the next 20 he goes crazy. You have to do a good job with team defense, have five guys locked in on their assignments, because they have very potent offensive players.â€�Ìý— UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Tigers

Key players

AUBURN

Keyshawn Hall

Hall should feel comfortable in McKale after collecting 22 points, six rebounds and five assists there for UCF last season,Ìýbut he’s actually been pretty comfortable almost everywhere in an Auburn uniform so far. One of the reasons Michigan was able to trample over the Tigers was that Hall, in just his second game back from a foot and ankle sprain, was limited to 15 points and five rebounds while shooting 4 for 11 from the field. Otherwise, he’s scored 20 or more in six games, with double-doubles in three.

ARIZONA

Motiejus Krivas

After missing most ofÌýlast season with a foot injury, the Wildcats’ 7-footer has steadily improved over the first month of the season and especially asserting himself when he has a big size advantage, collecting 14 rebounds at UConn and scoring 20 points against Norfolk State.Ìý

Sidelines

Lloyd: Kharchenkov ‘looks fine’

After wing Ivan Kharchenkov rehabbed his sprained left ankle earlier this week, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said the German freshman was expected to practice fully Thursday and that the staff would “react accordingly� from there.

“He looks fine to me,� Lloyd said during a news conference Thursday. “He's done a lot of stuff in the past couple days.�

Kharchenkov did not return to the floor after spraining his left ankle against Norfolk State last Saturday, and Lloyd said after that game that he thought Kharchenkov rolled an ankle trying to split a gap and expressed hope he would be able to play against Auburn.

On Thursday, Lloyd said "nothing happened" and dismissed speculation to the contrary.

Ìý“I don't think he even got an X-ray," Lloyd said. "So I think people that are jumping to those conclusions are being dangerous. Let J-Rock (trainer Justin Kokoskie) do his job. He's one of the best. Let our doctors do the job. They do a great job. Let our strength coach do his job. They do a great job. And he's fine.â€�

Tigers headed back to Israel

While Auburn's 2022 exhibition tour of Israel led to Arizona and Kansas State following a similar path in 2023, no major college basketball teams have toured the country since the Israel-Hamas war broke out less than two months after both sets of Wildcats left.

But Auburn coach Steven Pearl, a Tigers assistant on that 2022 team, said he’s planning to take the Tigers back again next summer.

“It was a life-changing trip for a lot of our players,� Pearl said. “There's always conflict going on over there. We were going over there while there were still rockets being fired from Gaza, so our guys were a little hesitant.

"But as soon as they get off the plane, and they go to Jerusalem, they see the restaurants and the people and the beautiful women and the culture, they're like `This place is unbelievable.’ They fell in love with it right away.�

Pearl said several of the Tigers were baptized in the Jordan River, while — as did Arizona — the team floated in the Dead Sea together and toured Biblical sites. Pearl said several former Tigers are playing professionally in Israel this season.

“It was a trip they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,� Pearl said.

Battle-tested

In what will be just his 10th game as a college head coach, Pearl will have already faced what he called the “most complete� two teams in the country: Michigan and Arizona.

As they also did to San Diego State and Gonzaga, the Wolverines blew out Auburn 102-72 at the Players Era Festival last week. Michigan held Auburn to just 31.6% shooting from two-point range and outrebounded them 35-20. The Tigers also hit only 18 of 33 free throws.

“I think our execution early in the game was really sloppy, which led to them getting out in transition and giving them confidence,� Pearl said. “If you allow a team like that any sort of confidence, they're gonna take full advantage of it.�

Pearl said Arizona’s resume and body of work compared well to Michigan’s, noting that the Wildcats rank 10th in offensive efficiency and 12th in defensive efficiency.

“They just don't have a ton of weaknesses,� Pearl said. “They share the ball really well. They shoot good percentages all over the floor. They defend it well. They do a good job of guarding without fouling. They do a great job using their size and their length to not send you to the foul line. So it's a very complete team.�

Numbers game

0.8: Inches of average height, as weighted by minutes played in a Kenpom calculation, that Arizona has more than Auburn. The Wildcats rank seventh nationally with an average height of 6-9.1 inches.

11: Arizona’s rank in offensive rebounding percentage (41.0).

18: Auburn’s rank in offensive rebounding percentage (39.5).

— Bruce Pascoe