For real, how is this a first-round matchup in Maui?
No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 5 Iowa State
Venue: Lāhainā Civic Center — Lāhainā, Hawaii
Time: Monday, 9 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
This game is an immediate signature test for both programs, though Auburn doesn’t quite need one after already toppling Houston earlier this month. Bruce Pearl’s squad is second in KenPom offensive rating and fifth in defense. The Tigers’ previous two head coaches, Jeff Lebo and Tony Barbee, combined for just two winning seasons and zero NCAA Tournament appearances in a decade of miserable basketball. Pearl now has the school ranked in the top 10 for the sixth time in his 11 campaigns.
Auburn’s Johni Broome, a fifth-year senior, has been dominant so far. He’s putting up 20 points, 11.3 rebounds and an SEC-best 3.3 blocks per game. He’s also a full 10 percentage points higher than his career-best field goal mark and is averaging his fewest turnovers despite a herculean 32 percent usage rate.
Chaney Johnson has taken an inspiring, serpentine path to this moment, starting in Division II with Alabama-Huntsville. Averaging 25 minutes a night, he is a stat stuffer at 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks. Fellow seniors Denver Jones (11.3 points per game), Chad Baker-Mazara (10.5) and Miles Kelly (10.3) are all capable scorers, while freshman Tahaad Pettiford was wholly unafraid of big shots in the Houston win. This offense is well-balanced and deep.
Iowa State comes into Monday’s tilt with the best-scoring defense in all of college basketball. Five Cyclones are averaging double-digit points, with starting center Dishon Jackson nearby at 9.3. The guards are good and well-traveled. Senior Curtis Jones had an inefficient first season in Ames after transferring from Buffalo but is putting up 15 points per game off the bench. Senior Keshon Gilbert has 21 assists to just six giveaways so far. And junior Tamin Lipsey, a hometown product, is an All-Big-12-level defender with 3-point range.
The caveat, of course, is that Iowa State has yet to play a meaningful opponent — sorry, SWAC, Summit and Horizon League. They’re ranked this high for a reason, though — T.J. Otzelberger schemes up a menacing and disciplined defense, and three starters return from the team that earned a No. 2 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament. But this Auburn matchup is the Cyclones’ chance to really assert themselves.
This year’s Maui Invitational proceedings will also feel heavier after one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in American history ravaged Maui just 15 months ago. “I’m sensitive, and (we’re) still in the healing process,” said Luis Fuentes, an island resident speaking with Brendan Marks. He called the tournament “a little light at the end of a dark, whole yearlong tunnel.”
Auburn vs. Iowa State odds
(Photo of Johni Broome: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
