'We have to stop that': Auburn focused on keeping Houston off the offensive glass
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bruce Pearl knows the physical challenge that awaits his Auburn team against 1-seed Houston on Saturday night inside Legacy Arena.
When it comes to rebounding, Houston flat gets after it.
“You know, you watch the guys, watch tape, you know, watch them just run to the glass and run through people,” Pearl said. “And knowing that we’re going to have to put bodies on bodies, and some of our guys may not be able to get a rebound, but they have to make sure that their matchup doesn’t get a rebound. So it will be our biggest challenge tomorrow will be keeping Houston off the glass.”
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The Cougars are fourth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing over 37 percent of available offensive rebounds. That’s nearly 10 points higher than the national average.
On the flip side, Auburn ranks 319th nationally offensive rebounding percentage, allowing 32 percent of defensive rebounds to go to the opponent.
“In order to win the game, we have to stop that,” K.D. Johnson said.
(Houston is also fourth nationally in block percentage, blocking over 16 percent of attempted shots. That’s double the national average.)
“They’re very talented, very talented guards, very physical. They’re good at blocking shots. We don’t know much, but they’re very physical,” Jaylin Williams said.
Meanwhile, Tigers’ center Johni Broome is coming off arguably the best game of his career, scoring 19 points, grabbing 12 boards and blocking five shots in the first-round win over Iowa. The last SEC player to record at least a 15-10-5 stat line NCAA Tournament game was Kentucky’s Anthony Davis.
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But that game is already a distant memory for Broome. He knows what awaits.
“We have to defend and limit (Houston’s) offensive rebounds,” he said. “They’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. We have to limit their second-chance points.”
Auburn’s worst loss of the season, a 32-point loss at Kentucky, saw the Tigers lose the rebounding battle by 18, while being double up in second-chance points. Auburn is also fresh off allowing a 50 percent offensive rebounding rate to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.
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“Well, we struggled to keep both those teams off the boards,” Pearl said. “We got physically dominated by Arkansas the second time, and Kentucky up in Rupp Arena.”
But on the glass-half-full side, Auburn can win without dominating, or even winning at times, the rebounding battle.
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The Tigers allowed South Florida, Georgia State, Arkansas (the first time), Mississippi State and Ole Miss all to record 40-plus offensive rebounding rates. Auburn won all of those games. Alabama leads the nation in total rebounds per game and Auburn nearly beat them twice. Tennessee ranks 17th nationally in the same category and Auburn split with them.
“I just think the biggest thing is Houston’s physicality, their ability to go get the ball, their length and their athleticism,” Pearl said. “That will remind my Auburn team of the most athletic, physical, tough teams in the SEC that we’ve had our hands full with.”
Auburn and Houston are scheduled for a 6:10 pm CT tipoff inside Legacy Arena on Saturday evening. The game will be televised on TBS, with the winner advancing to the Midwest Regional semifinal in Kansas City, Missouri.
