No. 11 Auburn not taking matchup with Vandy for granted (Feb 02, 2018)

Bruce Pearl's No. 11 Auburn Tigers are playing with a swagger and confidence that hasn't been seen around Auburn Arena in years.

The Tigers haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and few believed Pearl's squad could overcome losing two of its best players who were declared ineligible at the beginning of the season.

No one epitomizes that confidence more than Tigers sharpshooter Bryce Brown. The junior guard lit up Ole Miss for 19 second-half points on Tuesday as Auburn beat Ole Miss for the first time in 10 years in Oxford.

"He's got a different gear," Pearl said after the 79-70 win. "He's not afraid to fail. He bides his time in there. We do some things to get him some looks, but he stays patient ... shares it (and) didn't have a turnover."

Brown leads a balanced Auburn offense against Vanderbilt when the Commodores visit Saturday. And while the odds seemingly are stacked against Vandy, Pearl understands this is the type of game that the Tigers can't take for granted.

Vanderbilt is coming off an 83-81 overtime loss to Kentucky on Tuesday. Last Saturday, Vandy upset TCU.

The Commodores (8-14, 2-7 SEC) have played 16 games against top-100 RPI teams and although their record in those games is 3-13, they remain dangerous. All three of those wins came in January against Alabama, LSU and TCU.

"We are not looking at our record," coach Bryce Drew told The (Nashville) Tennessean. "We are playing to get better and to build a program."

Auburn is 20-2 overall and sits atop the SEC with an 8-1 record. One slip-up, though, could change things in a blink of an eye.

"The way I look at a two-game lead in the SEC is we're one weekend out of fifth," Pearl told AL.com. "Maybe that's the Lou Holtz in me or something, I don't know. We grind and we prepare one at a time. I keep an eye on the teams that are behind us and what they're doing. ... We've worked hard to put ourselves into this position."

Only the Tigers believed they'd be where they are now, which is on the cusp of a No. 2 or 3 seed come tournament time.

"We're playing real good right now," forward Desean Murray said. "We're playing hard right now. We're sharing the ball. We got a lot of depth, so a lot of people are contributing, which is making us real good right now."

The Tigers are clicking on all cylinders, averaging 85.7 points per game, 11th best in the nation. They control the boards, averaging 39.9 rebounds per game.

The Commodores are scoring at a 71.8 clip per game. Jeff Roberson is averaging 15.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

In the loss to Kentucky, Roberson scored 23 points but it just wasn't enough as the Commodores let an 11-point lead with nine minutes slip away. Guard Riley LaChance had a chance to make it a two-possession game with 19 seconds left but missed a free throw to give the Wildcats life.

And Kentucky took advantage, sending the game into overtime and then walking away with the win. In fact, LaChance has missed four free throws late in two losses to Kentucky.

"I've been here for four years ... been through some good stretches and some low patches," LaChance said. "From that, I know there will be ups and downs, so I just stay confident and level-headed."