When Auburn and LSU last met, coach Jeff Lebo was scrambling to find someone, anyone, who could guard Tasmin Mitchell and prevent him from breaking some sort of scoring record at the Tigers’ expense.

Water boys and managers likely weren’t overlooked before Lebo found his answer in freshman Earnest Ross, who bodied up on the 6-foot-7 Mitchell “like a guard” and sent his conceivably perfect game into a world of confusion.

It worked then, as Auburn held on for an 84-80 victory — its lone SEC road win of the season — but Lebo isn’t exactly sure it will for a full 40 minutes tonight at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum — the penultimate game in the arena’s 40-year history.

Tonight’s game is set to tip at 6 p.m. and can be seen on Fox Sports South (Channel 33 in Lee County).

“For that short period of time, he did a good job on him,” Lebo said of Ross, who limited Mitchell to just 8 points in the game’s final 6 minutes. “Whether he can do that for a long period of time, I don’t know. Mitchell is a great player. He can score inside and outside. He is as strong as anybody in our league, and he shot the ball extremely well against us.

“He is a hard guy to guard.”

Lucas Hargrove was originally assigned to Mitchell, but that sort of matchup has been to Hargrove’s disadvantage all season. Hargrove frequently creates tricky matchups for opposing defenders because of his speed, athleticism and ability to knock down mid-range jumpers, but has had difficulty bodying up with bigger players who can also shoot from outside the key.

Hargrove gives up nearly 30 pounds to the 245-pound Mitchell, who also knocked down four 3-pointers against Auburn.

“We’ve had a hard time playing against people who can play in and out at the four position,” Lebo said.

That might be one of the bigger understatements of the season.

Sam Houston State’s Gilberto Clavell absolutely had his way with everyone Auburn threw his way to 34 points and eight rebounds. Arkansas’ Marshawn Powell combined for 42 points and 13 rebounds in his two games against Auburn. Florida’s Chandler Parsons led all Gators with 17 points in their win over Auburn earlier in the month and Ole Miss’ Murphy Holloway saved his biggest game of the season for the Tigers on Wednesday, scoring 15 points and grabbing 20 rebounds.

Stopping Mitchell might even require a double-team at times, Lebo said, though he’s not getting his hopes up that it will work, either.

“He is getting the best defensive effort,” Lebo said. “They are trying to do different things to stop him. We doubled him a lot, and he still scored a lot of points against us. That is why he is a first-team all-conference player. He is terrific. He almost commands a double team just when he gets it.”

Ross didn’t do anything magical to halt Mitchell and allow Auburn to pick up its first conference win of the season, Lebo said.

“He stuck his nose in there and has quick feet,” Lebo said. “He has a big body. He wasn’t able to get the position on Earnest as much at that period of time at the game. He gave him a different look probably that he wasn’t use to with more of a guard on him than a big guy.”

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