AU HOOPS: Tigers release 2009-10 schedule

Auburn will play 11 games against 2008 postseason tournament teams, including home games against SEC Champion LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Niagara and Alabama State.

Other home games vs. Virginia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia and Arkansas, as well as a road game at 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Florida State, a neutral site game vs. North Carolina State in the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla., and a game at Missouri State also highlight the schedule.

The Tigers final season opener in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum is Nov. 13 against Niagara, which loses only one player from last season’s NIT team that won 26 games. In addition, all 16 of Auburn’s, SEC regular season games, as well as the SEC Tournament games, will be televised.

The Tigers have seven games against NCAA Tournament teams in Tennessee, both LSU and Mississippi State twice, at Florida State and Alabama State. The four games against NIT teams include Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina and Niagara.

“We have a very demanding schedule this year with three ACC teams on it and a couple of good road games,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo. “We have a return game at Missouri State, and we will play in Huntsville. A couple of years ago we wanted to play in different parts of the state, so we have been to Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile, and now we are going to be up in Huntsville. That will be great for our Auburn fans in that area and in northern Alabama.

“We play at Florida State, which went to the NCAA Tournament, North Carolina State and Virginia in Auburn. We have a good mixture of some high-level teams.”

After an exhibition game vs. Miles College on Nov. 6 and the Nov. 13 season opener vs. Niagara, Auburn plays at Missouri State on Nov. 16 before playing Central Florida, IUPUI and North Carolina State, respectively, in the Glenn Wilkes Classic Nov. 20-22 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Following a home game vs. High Point on Nov. 25, the Tigers open December by traveling to Huntsville to play Alabama A&M in the Von Braun Center before playing seven of their next eight games at home.

Auburn plays host to Troy, the preseason Sun Belt Conference favorite that returns seven seniors, on Dec. 4 before back-to-back games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams vs. Virginia on Dec. 7 and at Florida State on Dec. 17.

Auburn plays host to Sam Houston State, the Southland Conference preseason favorite that has averaged 21 wins the last four seasons, on Dec. 20, defending SWAC Champion Alabama State on Dec. 22, Charleston Southern on Dec. 29, Georgia Southern on Jan. 2 and West Georgia on Jan. 5 to close out its non-conference schedule.

Auburn opens SEC play against South Carolina for the second consecutive season, but this time in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum in the arena’s final league opener on Jan. 9. The Tigers play at Tennessee on Jan. 14 before returning home to face preseason top five-ranked Kentucky on Jan. 16.

A pair of road games at defending SEC Champion LSU on Jan. 20 and at Vanderbilt on Jan. 23 prelude a pair of home games vs. Ole Miss on Jan. 28 and Alabama on Jan. 30. The Tigers face a difficult stretch as they play three of their next four games on the road at Arkansas on Feb. 6, vs. Georgia on Feb. 10, at Mississippi State on Feb. 13 and at Florida on Feb. 18.

The schedule turns with three of four at home against Arkansas on Feb. 20, at Ole Miss on Feb. 24, vs. LSU on Feb. 27 and vs. Mississippi State on March 3 in the final home game in the 41-year history of the Coliseum. Auburn plays its regular season finale at Alabama on March 6 while this year’s SEC Tournament will be played in Nashville, Tenn., in the Sommet Center on March 11-14.

The Tigers return three starters in leading scorer DeWayne Reed (13.2 ppg, 3.7 apg), leading 3-point shooter Tay Waller (12.1 ppg, .368 3fgs) and Lucas Hargrove (8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) off a team that finished 24-12 and came within an eyelash of reaching the NIT Final Four.

Sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan (7.6 ppg in 19.2 min/gm), 6-foot-10 senior center Brendon Knox, forward Johnnie Lett, Oklahoma transfer Tony Neysmith and a very impressive recruiting class look to mix well.

2009-10 AUBURN BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (all times Central)
Nov. 6 Miles College (exh.), 7 p.m.

Nov. 13 (1) Niagara, 8:30 p.m.

Nov. 16 at Missouri State, 7:05 p.m.

Nov. 20 (2) Central Florida, 5 p.m.

Nov. 21 (2) IUPUI, 5 p.m.

Nov. 22 (2) N.CState, 7:15 p.m.

Nov. 25 High Point, 6 pm

Dec. 1 (3) at Alabama A&M, TBA

Dec. 4 Troy, 7 pm

Dec. 7 Virginia, 7 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Florida State, TBA

Dec. 20 Sam Houston State, 1 p.m.