Bruce Pearl: Auburn's win over Indiana is big for the SEC

After dropping an unexpected outcome to Appalachian State in Boone last weekend, Auburn responded with a massive win over Indiana in the Holiday Hoopsgiving. It was a significant victory for the Tigers as well as one that Bruce Pearl thinks will hold plenty of weight for the Southeastern Conference.

Pearl explained his point in his postgame press conference following the 104-76 win over the Hoosiers on Saturday in Atlanta. Considering some saw Auburn as a middle of the pack team in their conference, a victory over a quality opponent from the Big Ten should speak volumes about the state of the SEC in ’23-’24.

“That’s a big win for our league, that’s a big win for the SEC,” said Pearl. “We were picked sixth in the SEC. That’s a big win for our league tonight.”

However, Pearl also didn’t take anything away from Indiana and how they performed inside State Farm Arena. He continued by sharing his high regard for their opponent, specifically their head coach, and admitted that there was no shame in losing that day considering how well the Tigers ended up playing.

“Indiana is such a great program, Coach Woodson is such a great coach,” said Pearl.

“He was so gracious in defeat tonight,” Pearl said. “I told him, ‘Look, that’s about as well as we could play’. He was very, very gracious in our handshake.”

After Indiana led by a dozen early on, Auburn brought it to a tie around the eight-minute mark of the the first half. From then on, it was War Eagle for the rest of the way. They would go on to outscore the Hoosiers on a 26-6 run to end the first half. Then, in the final 20 minutes, they would post another 52-point half to break the century mark and take it by 28 after leading by as much as 30.

In total, the Tigers shot 48.6% from the field and 48.3% from three by making 35 shots off 25 assists. Aden Holloway and Jaylin Williams both went for 24 on better than 57% shooting. Each also hit at least two threes with Holloway nailing five. K.D. Johnson, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Tre Donaldson finished in double-figures as well.

Auburn (6-2) got back on track with this blowout of Indiana in the ATL this weekend. Now, as the season goes on, Pearl hopes it helps their conference’s resume as much as it does their own.