Bruce Pearl addresses ups and downs from Auburn recently, ceiling for season

Like many SEC teams, Auburn hoops has experienced a roller coaster of a February, and Bruce Pearl is just trying to stay calm through the peaks and valleys.

The Tigers started out 16-2 this season and won their first five SEC games before going just 4-4 now over the last eight. But that could partially be due to how the conference schedule played out, because Auburn had zero quad one games in the first five but have since played four quad one games on the road and two at home vs. Alabama and Kentucky.

According to Bruce Pearl, such streaks are going to happen in such a tough league.

“I mean, I’m not worried about it,” he said after consecutive weekend losses to Florida and Kentucky. “I kind of go in sort of expecting to see this at times against the best teams on our schedule. I still like our team. I do.”

Pearl admitted his team simply didn’t play up to their standard against the Wildcats, but he’s not panicking because he’s seen what this group is capable of at their best.

“You know how I felt about this team from the very beginning. I said this is a good team with a chance to be a very good team,” Pearl said. “What they’ve shown is they’re a very good team with a chance to maybe a great team. We weren’t very good tonight.”

The news Sunday is that Jaylin Williams will be back soon after leaving the Kentucky game with an injury. However, he is likely to miss some amount of time, and when discussion his potential absence Saturday night, Bruce Pearl pointed to his team’s depth.

“We’re going to have to, if Jaylin’s out, we’re going to have to figure some things out,” Pearl added. “I think we have guys that will step up. If he’s out for a little while, it’s got to be next man up. That’s a significant loss.”

Pearl noted that Williams is one of the better players on the team, and one of the winningest guys in Auburn history, so he is a loss. But he’s confident in the subs.

“The depth on this team and the chemistry on this team — we’ll put it together. We’ll get something, we’ll be ready for the next one,” Pearl said.