GAME NOTES: The Auburn Tigers look to bounce back from the first loss of the Bruce Pearl era as they host the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Friday.

Pearl began his tenure as Auburn's head coach last week with an 83-73 victory over Milwaukee. However, the Tigers quickly fell to the .500 mark on Monday when they were dismantled in a 90-59 loss at Colorado. KT Harrell scored a team-high 20 points in each of the first two games of the season and has topped the 20-point mark on 14 occasions in 32 career games. Auburn should be able to get back on track on Friday, as it comes in with a 36-10 all-time record versus current members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Tigers will face a motivated Ragin' Cajuns squad, which will be hoping to erase the memory of the 64-53 loss it suffered to Tulsa on Monday. Louisiana's goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season is going to be very difficult without Elfrid Payton, who was selected in the lottery of the NBA Draft. Coach Bob Marlin still has an all-conference caliber performer in junior forward Shawn Long, who has averaged a double-double in each of his first two seasons at the school. Louisiana is 1-1 with the win coming courtesy of an 85-57 rout of Louisiana College.

The Tigers are 5-3 all-time against Louisiana, including a 4-0 mark in games played in Auburn.

Harrell's early season scoring prowess should come as no surprise. The senior guard is the top returning scorer to the SEC (18.3 ppg) and has scored in double figures 31 times for Auburn. The Tigers also have an inside force in Cinmeon Bowers, who is the reigning SEC Player of the Week. The 6-foot-7, 278 pound Bowers recorded double-doubles in each of the first two games, averaging 14.5 points and 15 boards. New Mexico State graduate transfer K.C. Ross-Miller is also off to a decent start, netting 12 ppg in 24.5 minutes per tilt.

In the loss to Tulsa, Long was the only player to score in double figures for the Ragin' Cajuns with 15 points. Brian Williams chipped in with nine points and six rebounds. Louisiana had a streak of 17 games with at least one 20- point scorer as a result. Tulsa forced Louisiana to turn the ball over 25 times, which it converted into 20 points. The Ragin' Cajuns also had a disappointing shooting performance, sinking only 40.8 percent of their field goal tries including a 5-of-14 clip from 3-point range. Devonta Walker made a great first impression in the season opener with 20 points, making him the first player to score 20 or more in their program debut since the 2004-05 campaign.

The Ragin' Cajuns are capable of stealing one on the road from a major conference team such as Auburn. The Tigers are loaded with talent, but they have to figure out how to convert all the moving pieces into a well-oiled machine. Louisiana will not be successful if it can not find a new ball- handler to replace Payton.