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Key players and statistical leaders for Arizona Wildcats vs Auburn Tigers
Narcisse Ngoy averages 5.5 offensive rebounds
He has 10.0 rebounds per game overall. Arizona's Kharchenkov leads his team at 9.0, with 1.7 offensive.
How to watch Arizona at Auburn
ESPN2 has the broadcast. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. CT, 9:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. PT and 03:00 in Madrid.
Stay with VAVEL for starting lineups, the score by half, Kharchenkov and Pettiford's box scores and the final numbers once the game is over.
Neville Arena, the line and ESPN's matchup model
The game is played at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama, where the Tigers are 2-0. DraftKings has Arizona at minus 3.5 with a total of 159.5.
ESPN's matchup model gives Auburn a 56.6 percent win probability and Arizona 43.4, which runs against the line. The two leading scorers, Kharchenkov at 24.7 and Pettiford at 22.0, are separated by 2.7 points per game.
The two teams average 89.7 and 83.5 points per game, a combined 173.2 that is well above the 159.5 total.
The rosters: Arizona is global, Auburn is experienced
The rosters tell a clear story. Arizona's 16 players include athletes from Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Montenegro, South Sudan and England. Motiejus Krivas, a 7-foot-2 senior from Lithuania, is the tallest. Tommy Lloyd is the coach.
Auburn lists 17 players and only one freshman, Caleb Williams from Tampa. Arizona lists five seniors and five freshmen. Eight of them are seniors, and the roster includes players from France, Lithuania and Canada. Bukky Oboye, at 7-foot-1, and Ngoy are the two 7-footers. Joah Shay, at 5-foot-6, is the smallest player in this game.
Auburn's roster also has a local player, Bradley Pearson, who is from Auburn, Alabama.
How the SEC and Big 12 tables look
Auburn plays in the SEC, where Texas A&M is 4-0 and nine teams are 3-0, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU. Auburn and Tennessee are 2-0. Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma are 2-1.
Arizona plays in the Big 12. BYU is 4-0 and nine teams are 3-0, among them Arizona State, Baylor, Houston and Kansas. The Wildcats are 2-1, along with Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
This is a non-conference game, so it does not count in either league table. It is still one of the biggest tests for both teams so far.
Rebounding and shot blocking favor Auburn
Auburn is a big team, and Oboye's 4.0 blocks per game explain part of it. It averages 45.0 rebounds per game against 39.7 for Arizona, a gap of more than five. The Tigers also block 8.5 shots a night. Arizona blocks 4.0.
Arizona's strengths are different. It shoots 51.1 percent overall against 46.0 for Auburn, and it makes 65.0 percent of its two-pointers against 50.0. It also hits 76.9 percent of its free throws. Auburn is at 66.0 percent.
Ngoy's 10.0 rebounds per game are more than any Arizona player has, since Kharchenkov leads that team at 9.0.
Both teams protect the ball. Each averages 10.0 turnovers per game, and Arizona has 9.3 steals to Auburn's 9.0. Auburn's steal leader is freshman Caleb Williams at 2.0 per game. Arizona's is Kharchenkov, also at 2.0.
Arizona's first three: a loss to UCLA, then two big wins
Arizona is 2-1. The Wildcats lost 84-75 to UCLA, then beat Cal Poly 104-84 and Northern Arizona 90-59.
The UCLA game is the only loss, and Arizona scored 75 in it. The 104-point game against Cal Poly is the highest total on either schedule. The 31-point win over Northern Arizona is the biggest margin.
The Wildcats have allowed 84, 84 and 59 points. UCLA is 3-0 in the Big Ten table, so the loss came against an unbeaten team. After Kharchenkov, the top scorers in those games are Krivas at 18.0 per game and Holt at 15.0, which means a senior center and a freshman guard supply a large share of the offense.
Auburn's first two: wins by 33 and 22
Auburn has played twice and won both games at home.
The Tigers beat SE Louisiana 92-59 and App State 75-53. The margins were 33 and 22 points, and the defense allowed 59 and 53. The Tigers have not allowed more than 59 points yet.
The two games give us a small sample, and ESPN shows Auburn with a 2-0 record in the SEC table, tied with Tennessee. The Tigers shoot 46.0 percent as a team and turn the ball over 10.0 times per game.
Tahaad Pettiford and Narcisse Ngoy lead Auburn
Auburn scores 83.5 points per game. Tahaad Pettiford is the leading scorer at 22.0 points, shooting 40.0 percent from the field and 92.3 percent from the line. The junior guard from Jersey City, New Jersey, plays 23.5 minutes and has no turnovers so far, with 3.5 assists.
Narcisse Ngoy is the rebounder. The 7-foot center from France averages 10.0, 5.5 of them on the offensive glass. That is a huge number of extra possessions for a team that shoots 40.0 percent from three, though only two games have gone into that figure.
The scoring drops off after Pettiford. Kolby King averages 10.5 points, and Kevin Overton and Narcisse Ngoy are next at 8.5 and 8.0. Thomas Dowd, a senior from Dothan, Alabama, is the second rebounder at 8.5 a night, and Bukky Oboye leads the team with 4.0 blocks per game.
Steven Pearl coaches the Tigers.
Ivan Kharchenkov leads Arizona at 24.7 points a game
Arizona scores 89.7 points per game, the highest number in this game, and the offense runs through Ivan Kharchenkov. The sophomore forward from Munich, Germany, averages 24.7 points and 9.0 rebounds. He shoots 58.5 percent from the field and 74.2 percent at the line. His 24.7 is the top scoring average in this game, ahead of Pettiford's 22.0, and 7.3 of his 9.0 rebounds come on the defensive glass.
JJ Mandaquit is the playmaker. The sophomore guard from Hilo, Hawaii, averages 5.0 assists with just 0.3 turnovers in 27.0 minutes. Kharchenkov also averages 5.0 assists, so the two share the team lead.
The supporting cast is deep. Motiejus Krivas, a 7-foot-2 senior from Lithuania, adds 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and blocks 2.7 shots a game. Freshman guard Caleb Holt, from Huntsville, Alabama, scores 15.0 with 6.7 rebounds, and Derek Dixon adds 13.0.
As a team the Wildcats shoot 51.1 percent overall and 65.0 percent on two-pointers. From three they make just 27.5 percent. They pass well, with 20.3 assists a night.
Twelfth-ranked Arizona visits Auburn at Neville Arena
Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of Arizona at Auburn from Neville Arena. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2, which is 9:00 p.m. ET and 03:00 in Madrid.
The Arizona Wildcats are ranked 12th by ESPN and sit at 2-1. The Auburn Tigers are 2-0, both wins at home. The Wildcats have not played a road game yet this season. Tommy Lloyd is their coach. DraftKings, as listed by ESPN, has Arizona as a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 159.5.
We will follow every basket, run and substitution from the opening tip, and the box score will update until the final buzzer.
Star power headlines tonight's matchup between Arizona Wildcats and Auburn Tigers at Neville Arena.
Auburn Tigers statistical leaders: Tahaad Pettiford (22.0 points) and Tahaad Pettiford (3.5 assists).
Arizona Wildcats statistical leaders: Ivan Kharchenkov (24.7 points) and JJ Mandaquit (5.0 assists).