Auburn basketball HC Bruce Pearl reacts to dominating Mississippi State without Johni Broome
Yesterday at 11:13 AM
Although Johni Broome’s injury had a silver lining for Auburn basketball, it didn’t help that head coach Bruce Pearl would be without his star once again. However, those worries were put to rest on Monday. The Tigers dominated Mississippi State, 88-66 on their home court.
Without Broome, Auburn basketball looked as great as they have all season. For Pearl, he wanted to acknowledge two of his players for stepping up and carrying the Tigers to the win.
"I thought the defensive game plan was great,” Pearl said via AL.com. “But more than anything, Chaney Johnson and Dylan Cardwell, their ability to stay down, be second off the floor, blocked all those shots. Just really worked hard at defending without fouling. That was the difference in the game," Pearl said.
"That starting five is as good a defensive unit as you can put out there on the floor. I think they just locked in, and bought in. And when Mississippi State made a little bit of a run, and we had different lineups out there, it was because we weren't as locked in defensively."
Bruce Pearl thinks Auburn basketball hasn’t reached its potential
Losing the top player on the team and still winning by 20+ is impressive. Let alone, they played the No. 14 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Tigers only have one loss on the season. Following that loss, Pearl was brutally honest after the Duke loss, and explained that they didn’t play their A-game.
Since then, it’s been the exact opposite. They’ve played well on both sides of the ball, as the Tigers have the sixth-highest-scoring offense in the country. They’re still in the upper echelon of defensive teams, but the margin of victory stands out. The Auburn basketball head coach explained his mentality to his team during the game.
"I say basketball's a game of runs,” Pearl said. “Teams are going to go on runs, we're going to go on runs, but I do feel like we need to start putting two halves completely together," Johnson said. "I feel like sometimes, we let our foot off the gas a little bit; start being a little more relaxed.
“And that just shows, you know, we'll go in the film room and watch film. And for a team that's doing as well as we are, and being No. 1, I feel like we still haven't reached our full potential yet."
The Tigers will head to Athens and take on No. 23 ranked Georgia on Saturday. Pearl will hope to see the same level of dominance from his team in a hostile, road environment.
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