Auburn hopes to avoid going under .500 early in the season when they hit the court Friday night against the Georgia Southern Eagles out of the Sun Belt Conference. Bruce Pearl is proving that he's not trying to schedule push-over teams in the non-conference schedule with this one.
The Eagles were runner-ups in the Sun Belt Conference tournament last year to champion and NCAA tournament darling Georgia State. That game came down to the wire. Head Coach Mark Byington is in his third year in Statesboro. The Eagles suffered through years of struggling teams before his arrival. He had them pushing for the tournament in only his second season.