Game Preview and Open Thread - Auburn @ Dayton

It’s the first true road trip of the season for an Auburn team that finished the pre-Thanksgiving slate at 4-1, with the only loss coming to Temple in the Charleston Classic.

Over the first five games, defense has been a bit of an issue for Bruce Pearl’s team, especially on the coast as they fell to the Owls for the only defeat of the season. However, offense hasn’t been lacking at all, as the Tigers haven’t scored less than 83 points in any game so far. That includes two 100-point outings — a 102-74 season-opening win over Norfolk State, and a 119-85 victory over Winthrop last Friday night. Currently, Auburn ranks in the top ten in the nation in scoring offense with 93.5 points per game, which is good for 9th-best in the country.

Like we mentioned, though, the story on defense is exactly the opposite so far. Auburn places 276th in the land in scoring defense, giving up 77.8 points per contest, and tonight it would seem that things get a little more difficult. You may be wrong in that regard.

We’re all pretty familiar with Dayton, as they’ve been led by Archie Miller over the past few seasons, and they’ve been to the NCAA Tournament each of the last four years. Now, though, Miller’s left town and in his place is a guy we’re pretty familiar with in former Alabama coach Anthony Grant.

Grant actually played at Dayton back in the 1980s, so this return home for him comes after a couple of seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it hasn’t been all gravy for the Flyers to start the year. They’ve lost to Hofstra and Old Dominion, while scraping by Ball State, and notching wins over Ohio and Akron. It won’t be a team that makes the Elite Eight and beats Syracuse, but it’s a still the first road game of the year for the Tigers. We’ll have to see how Bruce Pearl’s team does away from Auburn Arena.

HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN - Auburn @ Dayton - 6 pm CST

TV: CBS Sports Network

Radio: Auburn Sports Network

War Eagle!