AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl planned on taking a deep dive into scouting his team’s first round NCAA Tournament opponent on Sunday night, but he offered his first impression of Charleston after the matchup was revealed on Selection Sunday.

“College of Charleston is a three-headed monster,” Pearl said. “They’ve got two great guards that play the point and the two and they got a great four man. All those guys can shoot three’s, average over 17 points a game. They have three great payers and lots of other good pieces.”

The “three-headed monster” Pearl referred to is guard Grant Riller, guard Joe Chealey and forward Jarrell Brantley. All three players received All-Conference honors averaging 33-plus minutes a game. Riller, the team’s leading scorer, is shooting 55 percent on the season.

One thing Pearl will find out about the team is that they don’t turn the ball over. Charleston’s 9.6 turnovers per game is fourth in the country (351 ranked teams).

Charleston (26-7, 14-4 Colonial Athletic Association) comes into the tournament having won 14 of 15 games including its conference tournament. Chealey scored 32 points against to help his team erase a 17-point second half deficit in the 83-76 overtime win over Northeastern. The Cougars trailed 65-60 with 40 seconds to go before forcing overtime and locking up their first tournament bid since 1999.

It was the team’s fifth overtime win of the season.

"We are battle tested,” Charleston coach Earl Grant said. “We have experience, size, depth and toughness. We've been able to win on the road and on neutral courts this season. We are built to win. I think this team has some destiny in them. We just need to come up with a good game plan and try to put our best foot forward."

Charleston doesn’t have the kind of size that’s given Auburn problems in recent weeks after Anfernee McLemore down with a season-ending ankle injury — only one player in the Cougars’ rotation is taller than 6-foot-7 — but Pearl isn’t ready to declare an advantage just yet.

“It's hard to say,” Pearl said. “I can't tell you how good the matchup is until I look at them. I haven't looked at it. But yes, I don't see anybody in the first weekend that is built like Alabama or Texas A&M, Kentucky. Those were the teams we were going to see in St. Louis — Missouri. Georgia. Big, big, physical teams. But they'll present us with other challenges.”

Auburn leads the all-time series against Charleston 3-0. The two teams last met in the 2012 ESPN Charleston Classic at TD Arena. The Tigers won the game 55-51.

Charleston’s expected starters

G Joe Chealey, 6-4, 190, Sr. (18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, 35.8 min)

G Grant Riller, 6-3, 195, So. (18.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 33.4 min)

G Cameron Johnson, 6-4, 200, Sr. (8.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 33.0 min)

F Jarrell Brantley, 6-7, 250, Jr. (17.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 32.0 min)

F Nick Harris, 6-10, 260, Jr. (6.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.4 apg, 25.5 min)

Charleston in the NCAA Tournament (1-4)

1999 – No. 8 Charleston vs. No. 9 Tulsa; 62-53 L, NCAA First Round

1998 – No. 14 Charleston vs. No. 3 Stanford; 67-57 L, NCAA First Round

1997 – No. 12 Charleston vs. No. 4 Arizona, 73-69 L, NCAA Second Round

1997 – No. 12 Charleston vs. No. 5 Marylan 75-66 W, NCAA First Round

1994 – No. 12 Charleston vs. No. 5 Wake Forest, 68-58 L, NCAA First Round

*** Subscribe: Try Auburn Undercover's VIP package FOR FREE and get the latest intel ***

*** Get free breaking news in the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***