Auburn closes out challenging nonconference slate vs. Queens

Auburn will hope to steady the ship when it hosts Queens on Monday night in its final pre-Southeastern Conference tune-up.

Last time out, Auburn (8-4) took a tough 88-60 loss on Dec. 20 to then-No. 6 Purdue, trailing by double digits for the final 24 minutes. Their two leading scorers on the season, Keyshawn Hall and Tahaad Pettiford, went a combined 7-for-18 from the field.

With the loss, Auburn dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time this season.

"You just shoot your season average, we're still in that game, based on the looks that we got," coach Steven Pearl said of what cost Auburn the game. "We competed defensively. They hit the shots we wanted them to take."

The Tigers can take some solace in the fact that all four of their losses have come at the hands of top-10 ranked opponents, including a 73-72 loss to then-No. 1 Houston on Nov. 16. Their other three losses, however, have been by an average of 29 points.

A silver lining for Auburn with conference play looming is that Pettiford is "fine" after tweaking his ankle and exiting against the Boilermakers. The second-year guard is averaging 15.2 points per game with 2.4 assists in a starting role after coming off the bench in all but one game last season.

"He responded to some tough coaching and had one of his better practices of the year (Friday)," Pearl said.

The Tigers will face a Queens team that has had nearly two full weeks of rest since its last contest. The Royals (5-7) took a 108-80 loss to then-No. 14 Arkansas back on Dec. 16. They allowed the Razorbacks to shoot 56.3% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.

If Queens wants an upset, it'll have to start with leading scorers Nasir Mann and Chris Ashby. Mann averages 15.3 points per game and also leads Queens with 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Ashby averages 12.1 points and shoots 37.9% from 3 while taking 8.6 of them a game.

"Culture wins, and there's going to be a lot of close games in conference. Our culture has to be able to be solid in those moments and not come apart," coach Grant Leonard said to Carolina Sports Live on Wednesday.