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Bruce Pearl says Auburn has slipped after first-round NCAA Tournament win
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Bruce Pearl wasn’t pleased with what he saw from his Auburn team on Thursday.
The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament beat 16-seed Alabama State Thursday afternoon, 83-63. Miles Kelly popped off for a program tournament record-tying 7 made triples and Johni Broome produced a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. But Auburn also shot just 31% from 3 as a team, turned the basketball over 12 times, and missed 14 of its 32 shot attempts at the charity stripe.
“We won’t beat Creighton if we play like we did tonight,” Pearl told reporters after the game, referencing Auburn’s second-round opponent.
Creighton (25-10) beat Louisville in a de-facto road game on Thursday, 89-75. The 9-seed Bluejays got 22 points from Steven Ashworth and a 29-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist performance from Jamiya Neal. The team’s leading scorer, Ryan Kalkbrenner, had 4 blocks and made 6 of his 8 shots from the field.
The Jays exploded late in the first half to pull away from Louisville. It was a 3-point game with 6:20 to play in the half. Four minutes and 10 seconds later, Creighton led by 20. The lead never dropped below 10 in the second half.
Auburn, a 31-point favorite over Alabama State, opened up a 13-point lead in the first half but saw that lead all but evaporate before the break. With less than 2 minutes to play, the Tigers led by just 1 point.
But they closed the first half with a 9-0 run and stretched the lead to as many as 24 points in the second half. Talent won out. There was very little drama in the second half.
Still, Pearl was looking to press buttons after the game.
“It was at Texas A&M or it was home against Alabama or it was Tennessee in the tournament, we’re not playing as well as we were a month ago. It’s not a good time to be in that situation,” Pearl said. “Now, can we get it turned around and beat a really good Creighton team? Yeah, we can.”
Auburn entered the tournament with losses in 3 of its previous 4 games. Still, the Tigers were the top overall team in the field. Before the late-season slump, the Tigers were mauling teams. Even in a 20-point win, it didn’t quite feel like Auburn found its top gear.
“They (Creighton) are really good. They are really old. They are really smart. They’re really big. They’re really tough. We’ll have to play a lot better to beat them,” Pearl said.
That game will take place on Saturday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
