Already two games into the Chicago Invitational, Auburn will finally make its first trip out of the state today to take on the University of Dayton.

The Tigers are currently 1-1 in the early-season tournament of sorts. They lost their first game, 78-74, to Mercer before Tuesday’s 61-46 win over Bethune-Cookman.

The competition promises to be amped up for today’s 5 p.m. tipoff at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

“We are going to see a Dayton team that is very, very physical and plays outstanding defense,” coach Jeff Lebo said.

“They will be the best team that we have faced to date.”

The Flyers are 4-0 and have looked very impressive doing so. They have outscored their opponents by a 20.3 scoring margin and are allowing just 45.5 points per game on 32 percent shooting.

Dayton downed Mercer on Tuesday, 71-53, and breezed by Bethune-Cookman, whom Auburn played rather sluggishly against, in a 40-point victory last week.

“They are very well-coached and are very tough,” Lebo said. “They have always been good defensively, and Coach (Brian) Gregory came from Michigan State with Tom Izzo, where they believe in good, solid, tough defense.”

The Tigers (3-1) will wrap up the Invitational on Saturday when they take on Northern Iowa.

With the quick turnaround and the Panthers’ quirky offense, Auburn’s preparation will be slim to none, Lebo said.

The Panthers are 3-1, picking up their wins against Denver, Texas Southern and Chicago State.

“(Northern Iowa) runs 400,000 different plays,” Lebo said. “With no time to prepare for them, that concerns you a little bit. I think that favors them a little bit with our new group of guys.”

Growing pains have already been abundant for Lebo’s group.

Junior-college transfer Tay Waller, who had been leading the Tigers in points per game, didn’t score a single point in Auburn’s win over
Bethune-Cookman. Freshman sharpshooter Frankie Sullivan is still getting used to the offense and Juco-transfer big-men Johnnie Lett and
Brendon Knox have looked strong at times, but have also had their fair share of struggles.

“We will see how we respond,” Lebo said. “We have a lot of new faces out there that haven’t played in a neutral environment or played on the road. We will find out a lot about our basketball team this week.”

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Auburn vs. Dayton
Where: Sears Centre; Hoffman Estates, Ill.

When: 5 p.m.

TV/Radio: None/WXMA 97.7 FM

Scouting report: As Jeff Lebo said, this will definitely be the toughest matchup to date and likely the toughest non-conference game of the season, aside from next week’s trip to Xavier. The Flyers play very good defense, allowing just 45.5 points per game. Unlike Auburn, they’ve had no trouble dispelling inferior opponents. The Tigers, though, will be their toughest game to date, as well. Dayton is very big inside, which could cause the Tigers problems, especially when they want to go smaller than they usually do. All signs point to a low-scoring game, which will require at least one of Auburn’s outside shooters to get hot if it wants to upend the Flyers.

Projected starters Auburn: F Lucas Hargrove (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), F Korvotney Barber (14.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F Johnnie Lett (2.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), G Quantez Robertson (9.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), G Tay Waller (13.8 ppg, 2.8 apg)

Projected starters Dayton: F Charles Little (6.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg), F Chris Wright (15.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg), F Kurt Huelsman (3.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg), G London Warren (2.8 ppg, 4.8 apg), G Marcus Johnson (11.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg)