Speedy Tahaad Pettiford and new coach Steven Pearl take center stage for No. 20 Auburn

No. 20 Auburn (32-6, 15-3 SEC)

The Tigers are replacing longtime coach Bruce Pearl and all five starters, including SEC player of the year Johni Broome. Pearl retired in late September and turned the program over to his 38-year-old son Steven. The younger Pearl has never been a head coach before, but he played a pivotal role in building Auburn into an SEC power. Now he’s tasked with leading a revamped roster back to the NCAA Tournament. Auburn earned the overall No. 1 seed in the 68-team NCAA field in March and lost to eventual champion Florida in the semifinals.

Players to watch

Speedy guard Tahaad Pettiford is back after testing NBA draft waters. Often a blur on the court as a freshman, he averaged 11.6 points while being asked to create a spark off the bench. Can he do it for 30-plus minutes?

Keyshawn Hall led the Big 12 in scoring at UCF last season, averaging 18.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward is playing for his fourth team in as many years, going from UNLV to George Mason to UCF to Auburn.

KeShawn Murphy could be a force in the paint after spending the last three years at Mississippi State. A 6-foot-10 senior and a Birmingham native, Murphy averaged 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks as a junior with the Bulldogs.

Departures and arrivals

Broome, Dylan Cardwell, Denver Jones and Miles Kelly graduated, and Chad Baker-Mazara transferred to USC. Auburn has 10 new players, including five freshmen. The recruiting class ranked 14th in the country and featured 6-8 forwards Sebastian Williams-Adams from Houston and Filip Jovic from Serbia. Elyjah Freeman joins the Tigers after a year at Division II Lincoln Memorial, where he averaged 18.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Top games

Auburn gets an early test when it faces No. 2 Houston in Birmingham on Nov. 16. The Cougars are one of four ranked teams on Auburn’s non-conference schedule, which included No. 7 Michigan in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, at No. 13 Arizona on Dec. 6 and against top-ranked Purdue in Indianapolis on Dec. 20. Throw in games against two teams just outside the Top 25, Oregon and North Carolina State, and Pearl should have a good idea about his team before SEC play.

Facts and figures

Hall scored a team-high 26 points in an exhibition loss to Oklahoma State in mid-October and drew 10 fouls. … Despite the roster and coaching turnovers, the Tigers were picked to finish sixth in the SEC. … Auburn should have plenty of scoring options again, but Pearl doesn’t have a lot of frontcourt depth behind Murphy.

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