Auburn’s narrow overtime escape against a lesser opponent in the opener definitely lit some early warning flares…sloppy execution and inconsistent effort from a team pegged as a preseason top-25 squad. Bruce Pearl teams usually clean that up fast, but Merrimack’s pesky 2-3 zone could exploit any lingering ball-stagnation. Auburn’s guards (especially Holloway and the transfer portal additions) Im betting have issues pushing tempo and hitting skip passes to punish overhelps, and the Warriors will muck it up into a rock-fight. Auburn will pull away in the second half , but the number is to steep against this type of D, another anxiety-inducing night for the Jungle faithful is most likely on tonights agenda at least early on in this tilt.

Take the points with Merrimack