Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats are going out on the road for the first time this season Friday night, taking on Steven Pearl and the Auburn Tigers at The Jungle.

Arizona (2-1) took care of business at home against Cal Poly and Northern Arizona, and is now looking to re-establish itself as one of the best teams in the country after the season-opening loss to UCLA in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile Auburn is entering Year 2 of the Steven Pearl era, with Arizona not only representing the first big test of the season for the Tigers, but also a chance at revenge after the Wildcats gave them a 97-68 beatdown last year in Tucson.

Arizona could really use Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey's physicality in this matchup, but since he remains ineligible it'll be up to Mo Krivas, Ivan Kharchenkov, and Arizona's new look backcourt to lead this team to a much needed victory.

Below are three things the Wildcats must do to leave the Jungle with a win:

1. Keep Auburn star Tahaad Pettiford from taking over

Auburn's best player is Tahaad Pettiford, a 6'1 high-flying guard who averaged 15.4 points and 3.8 assists last year as a sophomore, although his efficiency plummeted to just 39% from the field and 29% from three.

He's scored 44 points in Auburn's first two games, however, and is adept at getting downhill and to the free throw line. While the Tigers have other offensive weapons, Pettiford is the straw that stirs the drink - and Arizona's best chance at victory is hounding him defensively and making other players beat them.

Enter Caleb Holt, Arizona's 5-star freshman and elite perimeter defender, who should take on the task of draping himself on Pettiford all game long. It's a great opportunity for Holt to prove himself on that end of the floor, especially in a hostile road environment.

2. Get more production from Arizona's bench

Only 49 of Arizona's 269 points scored this season, or about 18%, have come from players not in the starting lineup. That's a surprisingly low rate, especially with Arizona blowing out two of the three opponents they have played.

Lloyd will ride his starting lineup hard on Friday, and for good reason, but for the Wildcats to get a big time road win they will need production from the bench - namely Cameron Holmes and JJ Mandaquit.

Holmes leads the second unit with 6.7 points per game, most of which has come in transition in the past two contests. If he can step up against a marquee opponent and give Arizona good minutes on both ends of the floor, it will go a long, long way toward a victory for the Cats and a bigger role for Holmes going forward.

Meanwhile Mandaquit has been great as a pure point guard, with a stellar 15-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, but he hasn't contributed much in the scoring department, shooting 4-12 on the year and 2-2 from the free throw line.

He, Maksim Brnovic, and Ugnius Jarusevicius will all get opportunities on Friday, and it'll be critical that one or more of them step up as scorers against this tough Auburn squad.

3. Find a rhythm from beyond the arc

Auburn has played SE Louisiana and Appalachian State this season, two teams outside the top 200 at KenPom. With that caveat out of the way, it's still notable that they are only allowing opponents to shoot 24.6% (15-61) from three this year, one of the best marks in the country.

Meanwhile Arizona isn't really faring much better, sitting at 27.5% through three games. The Wildcats never want to rely on the outside shot, but against an Auburn frontcourt that features 7'0, 280 pound Narcisse Ngoy and 7'0 rim protector Bukky Oboye (eight blocks in two games), Arizona will likely have to hit from the perimeter to give Krivas and Kharchenkov room to operate around the rim.

Derek Dixon (7-22, 31.8%), Kharchenkov (3-10, 30%), and Holt (1-11, 9.1%) are all much better shooters than the numbers indicate, and Friday night would be a perfect time for those percentages to start to normalize.

Arizona and Auburn are set to tip at 7:00 PM MST on Friday, Nov. 13. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.