Texas' inconsistent physicality to be tested against No. 2 Auburn

It won’t be easy for Rodney Terry‘s Texas Longhorns to bounce back from an 80-60 loss to Texas A&M to open Southeastern Conference play. Texas plays host to No. 2 Auburn at the Moody Center (8 p.m., ESPN) on Tuesday, and what Bruce Pearl‘s Tigers excel at most might be where Texas finds its greatest struggles.

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Auburn is one of the best teams in the nation, if their No. 2 ranking in the AP Poll wasn’t enough evidence. KenPom has the Tigers as its top ranked team with an adjusted offensive efficiency rating that ranks top in the metric.

The standard stats paint a bleak picture for Texas as well. Auburn is No. 6 nationally in scoring at 88.0 points per game and No. 6 in field goal percentage. Their offense runs through star forward Johni Broome, who averages 18.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest. He also leads Auburn in assists at 3.3 per game.

He’s the center point of an offense that is No. 6 nationally in two-point field goal percentage at 61.5 percent, and he’s set to face a Texas defense that just allowed 48 points in the paint to the Aggies and gave A&M 32 opportunities at the free throw line, a strong indication that the Longhorns were pushed around down low.

Broome is the top overall player in EvanMiya.com’s BPR, defined as the number of points per 100 possessions better than the opponent the player’s team is expected to be if the player were on the court with nine other average players. He’s outpacing national stars like Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler, Marquette’s Kam Jones, UCLA’s Eric Dailey, and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson.

By the way, Auburn also has 6-foot-11, 250-pound center Dylan Cardwell in its starting lineup.

Kadin Shedrick will have his work cut out from him on the defensive end as a rim protector, but so too will all the Longhorns trying to upset the No. 2 Tigers in the Moody Center.

Auburn may get its points, but for Texas to have a chance it will need to have a much, much better night from the field than its most recent showing in College Station. The Longhorns are No. 73 nationally in two-point field goal percentage at 56.5 percent but are a nationally elite 40.4 percent from behind the arc. However, Texas is No. 262 in three-pointers attempted and No. 122 in three-pointers made.

They’ll also need to bounce back after going 7-for-26 from distance at Reed Arena and 1-for-12 from three in the second half. Tre Johnson, the Longhorns’ top offensive threat, posted his first 0-for from three of his career against A&M with an 0-for-5 night. From the field, Johnson was a dismal 2-for-13.

Texas has offensive players who can succeed in isolation, but Auburn will challenge that on Tuesday night. All but one of the Tigers’ main contributors, Tahaad Pettiford, is 6-foot-4 or taller. Even so, Pettiford is second on the Tigers in steals with 14 across 14 games.

A Texas win would be monumental not just in the young SEC race, but also for the Horns’ postseason resume. Auburn appears to be the type of team that will have staying power all year in the NET Rankings, the tool the selection committee uses to sort teams and their resumes. Auburn is currently No. 1 in NET, and a win over the Tigers would provide Texas with its first Quadrant 1 win in four tries.

Auburn wants to keep a good thing going and has the ability to dominate against most teams it shares the floor with. Texas will strive to do everything it can on Tuesday not to be like most teams.

2024-25 Texas Longhorns

Tre Johnson, 6-foot-6, 190 lbs, Fr., Link Academy (Mo.), 19.0 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.3 ast

Arthur Kaluma, 6-foot-7, 225 lbs, Sr., Kansas State, 13.8 pts, 8.4 reb, 2.0 ast

Jordan Pope, 6-foot-2, 175 lbs, Jr., Oregon State: 11.6 pts, 1.5 reb, 2.2 ast

Tramon Mark, 6-foot-5, 200 lbs, Gr., Arkansas: 9.2 pts, 3.8 reb, 1.4 ast

Kadin Shedrick, 6-foot-11, 231 lbs, Gr.: 8.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 0.6 ast

Chendall Weaver, 6-foot-3, 180 lbs, Jr.: 7.2 pts, 5.5 reb, 1.6 ast

Jayson Kent, 6-foot-8, 215 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 6.3 pts, 2.7 reb, 0.8 ast

Julian Larry, 6-foot-3, 185 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 6.0 pts, 1.7 reb, 4.4 ast

Ze’Rik Onyema, 6-foot-9, 235 lbs, Sr.: 4.2 pts, 2.4 reb, 0.3 ast

Devon Pryor, 6-foot-7, 185 lbs, So.: 4.0 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.8 ast

Jamie Vinson, 6-foot-11, 225 lbs, Fr., Oak Hill Academy (Va.): 2.5 pts, 1.3 rebs, 0.3 ast

Nic Codie, 6-foot-8, 200 lbs, Fr., Dallas (Texas) Newman Smith: 3.5 pts, 1.3 reb, 0.3 ast

Cole Bott, 6-foot-6, 195 lbs, Gr. (walk-on): 0.7 pts, 0.3 rebs, 0.5 ast

Preston Clark, 6-foot-6, 220 lbs, R-So. (walk-on): 0.3 pts, 1.5 rebs, 0.3 ast

Malik Presley, 6-foot-6, 200 lbs, So., Vanderbilt

Anthon McDermott, 6-foot-5, 185 lbs, Fr., Hallsville (Texas) (walk-on)

Auburn projected starting five

F Johni Broome, 6-foot-10, 235 lbs: 18.6 pts, 11.1 reb, 3.3 ast

G Chad Baker-Mazara, 6-foot-7, 180 lbs: 12.8 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.8 ast

G Denver Jones, 6-foot-4, 195 lbs, 11.0 pts, 1.9 reb, 2.9 ast

G Miles Kelly, 6-foot-4, 171 lbs, 9.4 pts, 2.8 reb, 0.9 ast

C Dylan Cardwell, 6-foot-11, 250 lbs, 5.9 pts, 4.4 reb, 1.9 ast