In its first exhibition game against Furman, Auburn forced 18 Paladins turnovers and scored 24 points from those giveaways.

But that was Furman without its starting point guard.

According to Bruce Pearl, it won't be that easy for the Tigers against Florida Atlantic.

“Florida Atlantic is a really good team,” Pearl said. “You're going to do good stuff, hard-to-guard stuff and get great preparation. The difference between Furman and Florida Atlantic would be athleticism. They have SEC size up front, length and experienced, older guards.” Good depth, defensively diverse.

A major factor in Auburn's opportunistic defense? There are two freshmen, Jahki Howard and Tahaad Pettiford.

The two former 4-stars combined for 23 points and recorded five steals along with numerous highlight plays against Furman on Sunday.

That's why Pearl believes the fan base will love the two freshmen.

“They both have different levels: speed, athleticism and jumping ability,” Pearl said. “They will be absolute crowd favorites because of their athleticism.”

And while the two freshmen will have electrifying moments like they did against Furman, they will also have tough moments because they are still 18 years old.

Against Furman, Pettiford had a turnover where he threw the ball over Johni Broome's head because he was too quick on a quick counterattack. Howard got beat defensively a few times for going for steals.

Pearl expects this from them, but also knows that they will be true contributors from day one.

“They’re going to do a lot of really good things,” Pearl said. “They will make some mistakes because they are newbies. But they are good. They will be a big part of this team.”

Auburn and Florida Atlantic kick off at 7:00 p.m. CT at Neville Arena. The game will not be televised but will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network.