Auburn's defense continues to stifle opponents' guards

AUBURN — Much has been made about Auburn’s offensive execution and scheming this season, and for good reason. KenPom and Torvik analytics say the Tigers’ offense is No. 1 in adjusted efficiency. On Tuesday night, Auburn scored 88 points in a conference game without All-American Johni Broome.

The Tigers’ offense, led by Bruce Pearl and Mike Burgomaster is legit. Auburn has scored less than 74 points only once all season, and that was the 66 points scored at South Carolina without Broome for the final 13-plus minutes. Even at Duke (KenPom’s No. 2 defense), the Tigers put up 78 points.

But after a defensive masterclass against No. 15 Mississippi State, holding the fast-paced State team to 66 points (creating 11 steals and blocking 10 shots), led by Steven Pearl, the Tigers’ defense continues to play at a championship level, even without Broome and his three blocks per game in the lineup.

KenPom rates Auburn’s defense No. 14 nationally, while Torvik analytics rates Auburn’s defense No. 16.

And while Auburn leads the nation in blocks per game and the interior defense has been really good, the perimeter defense has maybe been even better. That was evidenced earlier this week, as fantastic Mississippi State point guard Josh Hubbard made only 2-10 shots from the field, with two assists and three turnovers.

Auburn’s defensive performances as of late led to some research on how the Tigers have defended some of the best guards faced this season. The results seem to speak for themselves.

Looking at the primary guards (guards averaging over 20 minutes per game) for seven Quad I non-conference games and four SEC games so far (Houston, Iowa State, North Carolina, Memphis, Duke, Ohio State, Purdue, Missouri, Texas, South Carolina and Mississippi State) here’s what the stats show…

Auburn’s perimeter defense, led by Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Miles Kelly, Tahaad Pettiford and Jahki Howard, and sometimes Chris Moore (depending on matchups), along with big men Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson defending in space, has held 22 of 33 guards to under their season scoring average, with only six of 33 guards scoring three or more points better than their average.

“I think in defending these guards, first of all, we have more size and more length in the backcourt this year and that size and that length has made us better defensively,” Pearl said. “The second thing is our bigs do a good job of impacting in ball screens, and so that a lot of times the way to get guys free are to put them in ball screens. Our bigs have done a good job of impacting…”

Look back to the Purdue game for more evidence.

Against point guard Braden Smith, who EvanMiya.com analytics rate as the No. 1 most valuable player in college basketball, the No. 1 “playmaker” and No. 2 most indispensable player, Auburn’s defense held Smith to only eight points, six assists (three below his average) and five turnovers (two above his average). Smith’s assist rate in that game was 10 points below his per game average, while his turnover rate was over 30 points higher than normal.

And in a 38-point win over Ohio State, a guard-dominated team, Bruce Thornton, John Mobley and Meechie Johnson combined for just 16 points, four assists and five turnovers.

Of the 33 primary guards faced, Auburn held 25 below their average offensive rating per game (per Torvik analytics). And of the 33 guards faced, they shot only 22 percent from three-point range, combining to make only 24 of 111 attempts.

Additionally, the 33 guards faced produced only 55 total assists, while turning the ball over 57 times. Only seven of the 33 guards finished with three or more assists against Auburn, while 20 finished with only one or zero assists against the Tigers.

“I think it’s a combination of our guards’ commitment, their size, their length, their physicality, the freshman’s willingness to learn. It’s a combination of their ability and buying into the system, the job Steven Pearl has done as defensive coordinator, and also our bigs help them get through stuff,” Pearl said.

“You put that all together and that’s why we haven’t been where guards are tearing us up like the last couple of years. That’s just not the case because our guards are better one-on-one defenders. They are bigger and our bigs are giving them more help.”

Auburn hopes to continue their stellar perimeter defense while Broome is on the bench, as the Tigers look to stay atop the SEC standings and shoot for their third regular season title during the Pearl era.