Auburn, South Carolina seek stability after tough starts in SEC

Field Level Media|published: Fri 16th January, 22:17 2026

Auburn Tigers head coach Steven Pearl talks with his team as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.

Four games into Southeastern Conference play, both Auburn and visiting South Carolina will look to unlock some consistency in Saturday's matchup.

Auburn (10-7, 1-3 SEC) seemed to have returned to form in a 95-73 win over Arkansas last Saturday but stumbled in an 84-74 loss at Missouri on Wednesday.

Auburn previously lost its first two SEC games -- the Tigers made a buzzer-beating shot that was waved off after review against Texas A&M and dropped a 104-100 overtime shootout at Georgia.

The conference has given a hostile welcome to new Tigers coach Steven Pearl.

"We're not good enough to just show up," Pearl said. "We have to be excited to play every single night and play with the same effort and energy that we did on Saturday against Arkansas."

The Tigers struggled on both ends of the court against Missouri, shooting just 40.7% (24 of 59) while allowing Missouri to connect on 56.3% of its shots (27 for 48), including 9-for-19 3-point shooting (47.4%).

Auburn's leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall, nearly amassed a triple-double but struggled throughout the game, scoring 10 points on just 2-for-9 shooting while also compiling nine rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers. Kevin Overton and reserve Elyjah Freeman paced the Tigers with 13 points.

South Carolina (10-7, 1-3) has seen its own struggles, coming off a 108-74 loss at Arkansas on Wednesday. The Gamecocks bested LSU, but also have ranked SEC losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt.

"We didn't have the juice and the fight that we needed to and then we didn't play well either," Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris said. "We'll just have to turn the page and get on to the next game."

Leading scorer Meechie Johnson had 29 points for the Gamecocks in the Arkansas defeat, connecting on 9 of 13 shots, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, and dishing out six assists.

Johnson was the only South Carolina player to reach double figures, and the Gamecocks allowed Arkansas to shoot 58.9% (43 of 73) for the game.

--Field Level Media

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