Bruce Pearl Issues Warning to Auburn Tigers after First Round NCAA Tournament Win
The Auburn Tigers cruised to an 83-63 win over Alabama State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon, but head coach Bruce Pearl wasn’t completely pleased with what he saw.
“They were a formidable opponent,” Pearl said of Alabama State after the game. “We didn’t play our best, but I think they had a lot to do with it. So I just give them a great deal of credit.”
After paying the proper respect to his opponent, Pearl turned on his own team.
“Trust me we can play — and we’ll need to play — a lot better,” said Pearl. “Again, we missed 14 free throws, we made 18, and that’s going to catch us in a close game. These next games have a chance to be closer, so we’ve got to sharpen up in that area.
Pearl didn’t hold back on his team bringing up a first-round exit from last year’s tournament.
“Going back to Yale, we played better against Yale than we did tonight. Give Alabama State credit,” said Pearl.
The Tigers finished the season losing three of their last four games, and it’s hard to ramp up the intensity once the foot is taken off the gas. Pearl is hoping to see the team that dominated the regular season through February emerge starting Saturday night against Creighton.
“Part of that is valuing possessions, and if there’s one thing I can get my guys from this point forward to lock into right now, did we value every possession on the defensive end? Did we value any offensive end scoring th
“That’s the biggest difference right now between the way we were playing earlier in the season and the way we’re playing right now. You can do that against a team that you’re better than, but you can’t do that — we won’t be able to do that from this point forward.”
If the Tigers aren’t careful, moving forward will constitute just one more game. They’re in the one and done part of their season now. While the regular season was magical and another SEC championship is nothing to sneeze at, this Tigers team will be judged by how they do in the NCAA Tournament.
Anything short of a Final Four will be deemed a big disappointment. To get there, Bruce Pearl understands the team needs to play better… a lot better.a
rough contact? Did we just rely on the whistle? And then would we finish plays?