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Game facts
No. 7 Auburn (9-1) at NC State (9-1)
Game time: Wednesday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. — PNC Arena in Raleigh
Television: ESPN2
Probable starters
NC State
PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Jr., 12.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 4.3 apg) or 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Soph., 7.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 2.9 apg)
SG — 13 C.J. Bryce (6-5, 195, R-Jr., 12.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.4 spg)
SF — 24 Devon Daniels (6-5, 200, R-Soph., 9.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.1 spg)
F — 2 Torin Dorn (6-5, 210, 5th-Sr., 16.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.9 spg)
C — 33 Wyatt Walker (6-9, 240, R-Jr., 6.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Auburn
PG — 1 Jared Harper (5-11, 175, Jr., 16.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 6.4 apg, 1.1 spg)
SG — 2 Bryce Brown (6-3, 198, Sr., 16.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg)
SF — 10 Samir Doughty (6-4, 195, R-Soph., 8.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.8 spg)
PF — 5 Chuma Okeke (6-8, 230, Soph., 10.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.4 bpg)
C — 24 Anfernee McLemore (6-7, 220, Jr., 6.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.2 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.9 bpg)
Notes
Auburn
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Nickname: Tigers
2017-18 record: 26-8 overall, 13-5 SEC
2017 postseason: Lost 84-53 to Clemson in the second round of NCAA Tournament
Head coach: Bruce Pearl fifth season at Auburn (79-62) and 24th overall (540-207)
Auburn overview: The Tigers have only lost to Duke this season and are being hailed as a potential Final Four contender.
Auburn fell 78-72 to Duke in Maui, Hawaii, but have posted wins over Washington, Arizona, Dayton and Xavier. Auburn also defeated Saint Peter’s 99-49 and UNC Asheville 67-41, who both played NC State.
Auburn was one of the surprises of college basketball last year, getting off to a 16-1 start despite having center Austin Wiley and power forward Danjel Purifoy both suspended as part of the FBI probe. The Tigers stumbled toward the end of the season, losing four out of six SEC contests between the regular season and league tournament, and momentum was lost going into the NCAA Tournament. Auburn squeaked by College of Charleston 62-58, but then got drilled 84-53 against Clemson in the second round.
Wiley and Purifoy are back this season, though the latter missed the first semester.
Auburn did lose leading scorer Mustapha Heron (16.4 points per game), who transferred to St. John’s, and Desean Murray was a graduate transfer to Western Kentucky, where he recently left.
KenPom.com has Auburn ranked No. 12 in the country and NC State is No. 22.
Backcourt: Veteran guards Jared Harper and Bryce Brown are among the top duos in the country. They’ve been joined by VCU transfer Samir Doughty, but depth is a little inexperienced.
Harper was a streaky scorer in high school with a good jump shot, but has become a consistent force at Auburn. He has improved in every category but steals, which he’s just 0.1 away from. Harper is averaging 16.2 points and 6.4 assists per game, and he is shooting an impressive 43.5 percent on three-pointers and 92.3 percent at the free-throw line.
Harper exploded for 31 points in the 75-71 overtime win over UAB on Saturday, and he added 20 points and seven assists in the previous 82-72 win over Dayton on Dec. 8. Harper has hit at least three three-pointers in five contests.
Brown is a quality long-range shooter, who is averaging 16.7 points per game and is shooting 35.9 percent on three-pointers. He had 34 points and went 6 of 13 from beyond the arc against Dayton, and has scored in double figures in all but two games. Brown has made at least four three-pointers in six games.
Doughty averaged 9.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 28.4 percent on three-pointers at VCU in 2016-2017. He has improved to 40.0 percent on three-pointers this season, while chipping in 8.1 points a contest.
Doughty had eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals in the win over Dayton. He had a season-high 18 points in the 88-66 win over Washington on Nov. 9, and has reached double figures in four contests.
Junior point guard J’Von McCormick is chipping in 2.4 points and 1.2 assists per game, and senior wing Malik Dunbar has proven to be a quality reserve. The 6-6, 230-pound Dunbar is averaging 8.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 38.9 percent on three-pointers.
Dunbar came through with 15 points and made 2 of 3 three-pointers in the 73-57 win over Arizona on Nov. 21.
Frontcourt: Auburn plays at least five players who are 6-7 or taller in the post.
Junior center Anfernee McLemore and sophomore power forward Chuma Okeke are the current starters, and bring different skillsets. The 6-7, 220-pound McLemore is a gifted shot-blocker, who averaged 2.7 blocks per game filling in when Wiley and Purifoy were suspended. He is down to 1.9 blocks per game, but has blocked three shots in three contests, and did it 13 times last year.
McLemore is shooting just 42.9 percent from the field, down from 53.2 percent last year. He broke out with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks in the win over Saint Peter’s.
Okeke had a big senior year and finished ranked No. 42 overall in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2017. He has improved in every statistical category, and is a true inside-outside threat. Okeke is shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 40.0 percent on three-pointers, and is averaging 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 28.0 minutes per game.
Okeke has reached double figures in six contests, including 19 points and 10 boards and he shot 3 of 3 on three-pointers in the 88-66 win over Washington on Nov. 9.
Wiley, whose father and mother played basketball at Auburn, was a Rivals.com five-star prospect coming out of high school, and actually enrolled early for the Tigers.
The 6-11, 260-pounder averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 18 minutes per game in 2016-2017. He is actually playing a bit less this season, but has improved his numbers across the board at 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 16.9 minutes per game. He is shooting 61.3 percent from the field, but just 58.5 percent at the line.
Wiley has topped 11 points in five games, and has grabbed at least seven rebounds in five contests. He also enters the NC State game on a shot-blocking roll with 16 blocks over the last four contests.
The 6-7, 230-pound Purifoy is a wild card, who had two points in seven minutes in season debut against UAB on Saturday. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 2016-2017. He had 27 points against both Boston College on Dec. 12, 2016, and the next game against Coastal Carolina. He played for former NC State assistant coach A.W. Hamilton at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy.
Senior center Horace Spencer, who is 6-8 and 225 pounds, has essentially had the same role all four years for the Tigers. He is averaging 4.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game, and similar to McLemore, he has fallen from 52.3 percent from last year to 40.5 this season. Spencer had 14 points and 17 boards in 19 minutes in a 103-52 win over Mississippi College on Nov. 14.
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