Surprising No. 10 Tigers closing in on SEC title

AUBURN, ALA. — The Auburn Tigers are in an utterly unfamiliar position.

The 10th-ranked Tigers enter the final few weeks of the regular season chasing a Southeastern Conference title and a high NCAA Tournament seed. They’re right about where Kentucky, which visits Auburn Arena tonight, usually is this time of year.

“We’re not used to it,” Auburn forward Desean Murray said. “We’ve been playing well. We’ve just got to keep our heads focused and we’ve just got to stay hungry and we’ve just got to keep coming to play.”

Auburn (22-3, 10-2 SEC) has a two-game lead over No. 18 Tennessee, which the Tigers beat, and Florida.

The Tigers, whose only SEC titles came in 1960 and 1999, visit the Gators on Feb. 24. But the pivotal stretch run begins with Kentucky (178, 6-6), which has lost three straight games. The Wildcats have won 19 of the last 20 meetings with Auburn, but this isn’t the typical Auburn team.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee seeded the Tigers No. 2 and fifth overall in a mock bracket on Sunday. Auburn is currently seventh in the NCAA’s RPI.

The Tigers’ closing schedule includes road trips to South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas. Kentucky, Alabama and the Gamecocks visit Auburn.

“I don’t think we’ll have any problem in any way with overconfidence,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.

The Tigers have already overcome quite a bit.

The hurdles include the absence of two of their best players all season, center Austin Wiley and forward Danjel Purifoy, amid allegations that former associate head coach Chuck Person arranged payments to their families. Plus an injury to leading scorer Bryce Brown and an exhibition loss to Division II Barry.

Auburn won at Georgia 78-61 Saturday with Brown out with a right shoulder injury. His status against the Wildcats is uncertain.

The Tigers dropped two spots in the poll after losing 81-80 to No. 21 Texas A&M. But even that provided a silver lining for Pearl.

“Do you know what I think a great headline is? ‘Auburn drops to 10,’” he said. “Is that not a great headline?”

It’s especially great for a team that was picked to finish ninth in the SEC. Kentucky was the preseason favorite.