Resume building: Auburn holds firm in rankings, ratings after unbeaten SEC week

Auburn basketball held steady among most of the national rankings and ratings after sweeping the Mississippi schools last week. The Tigers took care of business on the road at Ole Miss (Ken Pom 78th at the time) and then returned home to win a physical battle against Mississippi State (KenPom 46th at the time). It was an odd two games for the Tigers. They scored 82 points at Ole Miss while hitting just four threes. Auburn shot 50 percent from the field and over 80 percent from the FT line. It was arguably their best overall offensive game of the season. Then they returned home and hit 11 threes against Mississippi State, but only scored 69 points. Auburn hit just 13 field goals inside the arc in the game. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs didn't hit one single three in the game. (Matter of fact, random stat of the day, but Mississippi State has hit just five threes in the last four games against Auburn, going 5-54, including going 0-fer in the last two seasons.) The two wins gave Bruce Pearl and Auburn 110 conference wins in the last five seasons, the most of any team in the league. The win over Mississippi State also extended Auburn's home winning streak to 28 games. The Tigers were holding onto a three-game lead over Tennessee in the home winning streak department, but following Tennessee's loss to Kentucky on Saturday, their streak is reset to zero. Each Monday, we’ll take a look at Auburn’s resume as Pearl’s squad fights for their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons, and would be fifth appearance in the last six years, if not for the COVID-shortened season.