When Missouri takes on No. 2 Auburn at Neville Arena on Saturday afternoon, it will have been 673 days since the Tigers won a regular-season SEC game after going 0-18 in conference play last season.

Bruce Pearl knows Mizzou will be looking for a win more than ever to break that winning streak in both teams’ SEC opener.

“I’m telling you, they come here hungry,” Pearl said. “And they should have a certain level of self-confidence. They beat Kansas when they were No. 1. They beat a really good Cal team. They lost by 3 to Illinois, who beat Oregon by 30 last night. They lost their first game in Memphis.” close. It’s a good team.

Missouri, like Auburn, is deep and came at you in waves. The Tigers have 11 players who play at least 10 minutes per game. Dennis Gates’ team is also adept at reaching the charity stripe, ranking second in Division I by shooting an astounding 29.2 free throws per game.

“Let’s just put it this way: They do a great job of drawing fouls,” Pearl said. “That’s why we have to continue to do something better that we haven’t been able to do before: defend aggressively without fouling. There is a noticeable difference in not saving our opponent and putting them at risk.”

Mizzou is also good at converting turnovers through steals, with 10.3 per game, good for ninth in Division I. This defense counters an Auburn team that ranks first in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.21.

The Tigers are led by guard duo Mark Mitchell and Tamar Bates, who combine for 26.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Tahaad Pettiford is ready for the challenge.

“They’re really good when things go downhill and they make fouls. So containing them and making them uncomfortable the whole game helps us win,” the freshman said.

And like his coach, Miles Kelly is confident the black and gold Tigers will be ready to play.

“We just see an aggressive team,” the guard said. “They are really hungry. Of course, we know they didn’t have a chance to win a game in the SEC last year, so we know this is their first chance. You will be really hungry. We are very aware of this and we are taking it very seriously in our preparation for this game.

Auburn and Missouri meet at 3:00 p.m. CT, with the game airing on the SEC Network.