AUBURN — Somewhere in the offices of Auburn basketball‘s coaching staff, head coach Steven Pearl is sifting his through a lot film.
“I’m clipping, right now, every 3-point attempt and make in conference through 10 games and categorizing them based on where they have ball screens, screens off the ball, transition, drive-draw dishes, downstream dribble handoffs,” Pearl said Monday, Feb. 9. “Just all the different ways that people are shooting and getting 3s, and trying to figure out if there’s a pattern as to why people are shooting 39% against us.”
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In specific, that’s 241 3-point attempts from Auburn‘s opponents since the start of SEC play. Ninety-four of those have gone in, and while Auburn’s 3-point defense was already the worst in the conference, it’s even worse in league play, which was highlighted in a loss to Alabama over the weekend, as the Tigers surrendered 12 makes on 23 attempts.
Against the SEC, Auburn’s had just one opponent, Tennessee, make fewer than seven triples, and that’s coincided with the Tigers themselves struggling from distance, shooting 29.1% from 3-point range in conference play.
In recent seasons, Auburn’s perimeter defense has often been a strength. The Tigers had a top-20 3-point defense each of the past three seasons, and their current mark is the program’s worst since the 2016-17 campaign.
“Part of it is obviously us trying to be more intentional on being in the gaps, because the first (SEC) game of the year, Georgia, they just drove us because we were so spread out and we just couldn’t let that happen,” Pearl said. “But at some point, we’ve got to make an adjustment, too, because teams are shooting a good percentage against us. Can’t keep chalking it up to, ‘Teams are making tough shots.’ We’ve got to make adjustments.”
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Auburn will have its hands full defending the arc this week, hosting No. 20 Vanderbilt on Tuesday before heading west to face No. 21 Arkansas over the weekend in Fayetteville.
The Commodores and Razorbacks are among the league’s best 3-point-shooting teams, at third and first, respectively, in the SEC in 3-point percentage. Arkansas shot 38.1% from distance in Auburn’s blowout victory against it last month, though the Razorbacks are shooting 33.8% against the league in that mark.
Vanderbilt has been similar. It’s made 36.2% of its 3-pointers this year, but in SEC play, that number has dropped to 34.1%. Against league opponents, the Commodores have shot better than their season percentage four times.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball looking for answers as 3-point defense struggles
