Auburn basketball returns to Neville Arena this week after two straight SEC road games at Ole Miss and Florida.
The Tigers will host the Texas Longhorns Wednesday night, a team that has already defeated ranked SEC opponents in Vanderbilt, Alabama and Georgia this season.
“Ole Miss had won three games in a row, and then we came in there and beat them. They might have been feeling good about themselves. Florida had won five games in a row, and they may have been feeling pretty good about themselves because, as they should, they’re really, really good. We came in there and beat them,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said Tuesday afternoon.
GAINESVILLE, FL – JANUARY 24 – Auburn’s Filip Jović (38) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the #16 Florida Gators at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.
Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers
“If we let this thing get to our heads and we don’t get ready for Texas, like this is — we’ve got to keep that chip on our shoulder. We’ve got to have our backs against the wall, because that’s the only way that we can play well,” Pearl added.
Pearl talked about how his team has grown tremendously since the Tigers last blowout loss to Purdue back in December.
Auburn has gone 5-3 since its 88-60 loss to the Boilermakers. Pearl credits the Tigers’ practices for the drastic change since starting conference play.
“If this team can continue to get better every single week, this team has a chance, and I think this team has done that for the most part, especially since we got back from Christmas,” Pearl said. “We took one step back, and that was the Missouri game, but I thought even that week we had great practices. We’ve had really good practices every single day. We’ve stayed consistent in what we’re doing with our preparation and our routine leading up to games.”
Auburn and Texas will tip off at 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2.
