Auburn vs. Georgia Southern - 11/5/19 College Basketball Pick, Odds, and Prediction
Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia Southern Eagles (0-0) at Auburn Tigers (0-0)
College Basketball: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 9:00 pm (Auburn Arena)
The Line: Auburn Tigers -14.5 -- Over/Under: 154 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Georgia Southern Eagles and the Auburn Tigers meet in opening night college basketball action from Auburn Arena on Tuesday night.
The Georgia Southern Eagles come into the 2019-20 season looking to build on a solid 2018-19 season that saw the Eagles finish with an overall record of 21-12, including a 12-6 mark in Sun Belt conference play to finish in a 3-way tie for 2nd place in the conference. The Eagles defeated Louisiana-Monroe in the quarterfinals before falling to runner-up UT-Arlington in the semifinals by a final score of 67-58. Despite posting a 21-win season, the Eagles did not participate in any postseason tournament action. Georgia Southern loses the services of leading scorer Tookie Brown but bring back junior guard Quan Jackson who averaged 14.8 points as well as hitting on a team-high 47 3-pointers. The Eagles also lose top rebounder Montae Glenn, but bring back Ike Smith and Isaiah Crawley who will be tasked with leading the charge for the Eagles on the glass. As a team, Georgia Southern averaged 82.6 points per game on 49.9% shooting last season (which was the 4th-best percentage in the country and best in the Sun Belt), as well as a 32.3% mark from 3-point range and a 69.2% mark from the foul line last season.
The Auburn Tigers will look to replicate their success from the 2018-19 season, finishing the year with an overall record of 30-10, including an 11-7 mark in SEC play, finishing as the 5th-seed in the conference tournament. The Tigers defeated Missouri, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee to win their 2nd SEC tournament crown, earning the #5 seed in the Midwest region. The Tigers defeated New Mexico State and Kansas before taking down top-seed North Carolina in the sweet 16 and Kentucky in the elite eight to advance to Auburn’s first final four in program history. The Tigers’ run came to an end in controversial fashion, falling to eventual champion Virginia. A large chunk of Auburn’s team is gone with Bryce Brown, Malik Dunbar, Jared Harper and Chuma Okeke all going to the NBA. Samir Doughty and Anfernee McLemore will be tasked in their respective senior seasons to lead Auburn with all of the turnover from last year’s squad. J’Von Mccormick will most likely start in the backcourt with the aforementioned Doughty while highly-touted freshman Isaac Okoro will most likely come off of the bench. As a team, Auburn averaged 79.7 points per game on 45% shooting from the field, 37.7% from behind the arc and 71.1% from the foul line last season.
Georgia Southern is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 Tuesday games while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 against the SEC and 4-1-1 in their last 6 non-conference games. Auburn is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 home games. The over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings between these two teams.
I’d like to give Georgia Southern a shot with the points here, but they’ve lost a lot of talent from last season and there’s word that Quan Jackson is still dealing with an injury. Auburn lost a lot of their own, but the likes of Isaac Okoro and fellow freshman Tyrell Jones should be able to make an impact right away and I think Auburn as a team pulls away late, so I’ll lay the points with the Tigers in this one.
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Chris’s Pick Auburn -14.5
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Mitch's Take...
