Despite being the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Auburn’s performance against Alabama State left their coaches far from satisfied. While the Tigers eventually pulled away in the second half, assistant coach Steven Pearl was visibly frustrated and did not hold back in his postgame comments, making it clear that he expected a much better effort from his team.
Alabama State, a No. 16 seed, kept the game competitive and even had a chance to take the lead late in the first half, closing the gap to 32-31 with just under 90 seconds remaining. Fortunately for Auburn, they took control after halftime and secured an 83-63 victory. However, with a much tougher matchup against No. 9 seed Creighton looming in the second round, Pearl and the coaching staff made sure to send a strong message to their players, emphasizing the need for a higher level of focus and intensity moving forward.
Steven Pearl called out Auburn’s players, specifically Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara, demanding improvement in all areas of their game. He emphasized that without their best efforts, the team wouldn’t be able to win, adding that head coach Bruce Pearl would likely push them hard. Frustrated with their lackluster performance, Pearl admitted he had no explanation for why they didn’t show up the way they needed to.
“I thought the rest of the guys competed well. The rest were excited to be here, but when our two best players play like that, our chances of beating a really good team are going to go down. We have to find ways as a staff to get more out of them,” Pearl said.
Leave a Reply