How can Missouri basketball beat Auburn? Scout report, score prediction

After upsetting the top of the preseason order in the SEC in its opening week of league play, Missouri basketball came back down to Earth with a road loss to Ole Miss on Saturday night.

Back on its home floor after back-to-back road games, Mizzou gets a chance to bolster its NCAA Tournament case with a midweek game against another preseason top-25 team that hasn’t quite hit those anticipated heights.

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Auburn, no longer coached by Bruce Pearl but instead by his son, Steven Pearl, heads to Columbia for a Wednesday night matchup at Mizzou Arena. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

Mizzou (12-4, 2-1) opened SEC play with wins over Florida and Kentucky, the No. 1 and 2 teams in the preseason SEC poll. But woeful free-throw shooting at Ole Miss killed Missouri’s chance at remaining atop the SEC standings.

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Can MU get back to winning ways and take down another big name?

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Here’s what you need to know about Auburn before its visit to Mizzou Arena, including our score prediction for the matchup:

What is Auburn’s record?

Auburn is 10-6 in Pearl’s first season at the helm. The Tigers’ losses have been against Houston, Michigan, Arizona and Purdue in nonconference play, all of which are top-25 teams. They have lost to Georgia and Texas A&M since league play started.

AU has two wins over teams ranked at the time of the game: St. John’s in November and Arkansas, 95-73, this past Wednesday.

How can Mizzou beat Auburn?

Auburn, since SEC play has started, has been leaky on the defensive side.

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It’s still a small sample size at just three games, but Pearl’s Tigers have allowed one of the worst effective field goal percentages — a metric that gives more weight to 3-pointers — in the nation at 58.2%. That’s in the 6th percentile nationwide.

Auburn’s defensive rating…

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Publish date : 2026-01-13 17:15:00

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