Bruce Pearl addresses Auburn scoring drought, critical of point guard play

It is not shocking to say that Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is less than thrilled after his team lost another game on the road Saturday. The Tigers fell to the Tennessee Volunteers, 67-62. The toughest part about this loss to swallow for Pearl and Auburn fans alike is the team gave up an 11-point lead in the second half. Auburn led 39-28 with just over 16 minutes to play in the game. Then, Auburn proceeded not to score another basket until close to the seven-minute mark. By that time, Tennessee had caught up, and passed the Tigers, taking a four-point lead, 45-41 that the Volunteers never conceded.

In his postgame press conference, Pearl did his best to explain where the wheels fell off for his offense, which went over eight minutes without scoring a basket.

“Turned it over,” said Pearl. “Didn’t make the shots. Didn’t execute. And if I knew I’d give you the answer. I’m not being short, I just I don’t have the answer. If I did, we would have scored, you know.
“I mean I’ll go back and look at it. The question is you know do we value possessions? Didn’t we get a lot of late shots, not very good?

“Didn’t get good point guard play tonight. Got great point guard play against Ole Miss, didn’t we? Didn’t get good point guard play tonight.”

Auburn’s Jabari Smith tweets message after loss

After falling to Tennessee on the road 67-62, Auburn star Jabari Smith tweeted out a simple but powerful message to fans about the Tigers’ toughness. Smith had 27 points and 8 rebounds in the loss, as Auburn was unable to match Tennessee’s second-half intensity on defense.

“We staying together no matter what. War Eagle,” was all Smith had to say after the tough road loss.

Smith’s emergence as one of the best players in the nation has made him a leader for the Tigers as they sit atop the SEC standings. At one point, Auburn was running through their opponents, but they have dropped three of their last six games. While all three losses were road games and against good teams, they are trending in the wrong direction as the regular season draws to a close.

However, Smith made it clear that he and his teammates are not throwing in the towel. Auburn closes their season with one more road game against Mississippi State, then a home finish against South Carolina. The Tigers have not lost their home gym all season, but did suffer their only non-conference loss of the season against the University of Connecticut as the designated home team in the Battle 4 Atlantis.