-- Before every SEC season begins, Tony Barbee tells his team the same message.Auburn's No. 1 goal is protecting the home floor at Auburn Arena.And the Tigers have their first chance at 1 p.m. today against a Missouri team ranked No. 21 in the nation but coming off of an overtime loss to Georgia at home on Wednesday.Missouri swingman Earnest Ross began his collegiate career at Auburn. (Associated Press)"The number one goal is to take care of our home court," Barbee said."Then you have to find a way, because games in conference play are so hard, you have to find a way. Give yourself a chance to win the game and find a way at the end to steal one or two or more."Auburn (8-4, 0-1 SEC) is coming off of its own loss in the conference opener, a 65-62 loss to an Ole Miss team playing without the services of Marshall Henderson.Now, the SEC schedule throws another tough task at Auburn in the form of Mizzou (12-2, 0-1), a ranked team with a trio of great scorers on the perimeter in Jabari Brown, Jordan Clarkson and former Auburn forward Earnest Ross, who decided to transfer after leading Auburn in scoring and rebounding during Barbee's first season on campus.For the season, Clarkson averages 18.8 points per game, Brown averages 18.4 and Ross has chipped in 14.1."They are a talented team," Barbee said. "They have three really good guards and their bigs do a good job of playing off those guys and they do a good job of keeping their bigs involved in the offense and helping make the game easy on them."Missouri presents big matchup problems on the perimeter, in part because the trio of Clarkson, Brown and Ross is so big.All three players stand between 6-5 and 6-6, putting Auburn's backcourt -- K.T. Harrell at 6-4, Chris Denson at 6-2 and Tahj Shamsid-Deen at 5-10 -- at a distinct size disadvantage on the perimeter.Harrell and Denson, a pair of experienced players who have combined for 38.5 points per game this season, are used to dealing with that kind of size, but Shamsid-Deen, who is averaging 7.8 points, 3.3 assists and has 13 assists and no turnovers in his past three games, has to make some adjustments.On the offensive side of the floor, Auburn should be fine.But the Tigers have to find a way to make Mizzou's talented trio on the perimeter work for their points."It probably affects Tahj more than the other guys. Chris and KT, even though they are not 6-5, 6-6, they are long and athletic so they are not going to be bothered by the size," Barbee said. "I think Tahj is starting to get a feel, Ole Miss had some bigger guards last night, of how he has to be successful guarding guys like that."
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Auburn guard KT Harrell (1) looks for an open man as Mississippi defenders close up in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. Mississippi won 65-62. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)