By David Ching, special to AL.com
As Auburn's shooters go, so go the Tigers. That has been the consistent theme for Bruce Pearl's short-handed club through its first four games.
When Mustapha Heron, Bryce Brown and Jared Harper have been effective from outside -- particularly from beyond the 3-point line -- the Tigers (3-1) boast a potent offense. When they're off, as they were in last Friday's loss to Temple, the Tigers struggle to pack a scoring punch.
Led by Heron's 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, the trio combined to make 58 percent of its shots in Sunday's 89-78 win over Hofstra in the third-place game of the Charleston Classic. That was a marked turnaround from the Temple game, where Heron, Brown and Harper were a combined 9-for-40 from the field and 5-for-24 from 3-point range.
"Offensively so many of the things that had ailed us in the past came up and reared their ugly head [against Temple], just guys trying to win it for the team," Pearl said Monday night on Auburn's "Tiger Talk" radio show. "Mustapha pushed and forced the issue a little bit. Bryce Brown followed suit, and Jared was a little aggressive, and next thing you know my guards are 9-for-40. We're not going to win many games when our guards are [off]."
Heron was a preseason All-SEC pick after averaging 15.2 ppg last season, but was shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor entering the Hofstra game. Sunday's victory marked the first time this season that Heron or Harper shot better than 50 percent in a game. Overall, the three guards made 18 of 31 shots against Hofstra, including 7-for-15 from beyond the arc.
"In the last game, it was fun to see Mustapha back," Pearl said. "He had his rhythm offensively, he was active, he was confident and obviously because he is such a really hard worker and he's such a threat, he is a focus of everybody's scouting report."
Tough post matchup ahead for Tide
Alabama's frontcourt is getting closer to full strength, and that will be important when the Crimson Tide ventures to Brooklyn this weekend.
In Saturday's matchup between ranked teams, No. 25 Alabama will face a major inside test from No. 14 Minnesota and Jordan Murphy, who has already been named Big Ten Player of the Week twice this season.
Murphy entered Tuesday night's game against Alabama A&M as the Big Ten's leading scorer (24.8 ppg) and rebounder (12.8 rpg), having recorded a double-double in each of the first four games.
Even if senior forward Riley Norris, returning from a hip injury, is available for Friday's game against BYU and Saturday's matchup with Minnesota in the Barclays Center Classic, the Tide will still be short-handed in the paint. Preseason All-SEC forward Braxton Key is still expected to be out until December following knee surgery.
Alabama entered the top 25 this week for the first time since December 2011 - the last season where the Tide reached the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota has also already marked a poll milestone, entering the season as a ranked team for the first time since 2009. Fifth-year Gophers coach Richard Pitino is the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading Minnesota to a school-record 23 wins in the regular season in 2016-17.
Online-only for Brooklyn games
Alabama basketball fans will soon get a taste of what UAB supporters experienced over the last few days while the Blazers have played in the Cayman Islands Classic.
The Tide's Barclays Center Classic games against BYU (1:30 p.m. CT Friday) and Minnesota (4 p.m. CT Saturday) will be available to watch only on Stadium Network's live college basketball page at Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/StadiumCollegeBasketball/).
UAB's game Wednesday will be its third in three days at Grand Cayman Island. Each game will have aired online-only on flohoops.com.
Charles Barkley statue unveiling this weekend
Pearl has already gotten a sneak peek at the Charles Barkley statue that Auburn will unveil Saturday at 11 a.m. at Auburn Arena.
"It's really cool," Pearl said Monday. "Charles is going to look at it and think he's handsomer than that statue, but it's a pretty good replica."
Auburn will honor the Hall of Famer with Charles Barkley Appreciation Night at Friday's game against Winthrop (6 p.m. CT) before Saturday's unveiling ceremony. Barkley is also slated to participate in Tiger Walk at 12:30 p.m. Saturday ahead of the Auburn football team's Iron Bowl showdown with Alabama.
Leeds native Barkley played at Auburn from 1981-84 before becoming an 11-time All-Star and MVP in his legendary NBA career.