Bruce Pearl calls Auburn's bench 'terrific' in Alabama loss

By the end of their trip to Tuscaloosa, just about everything had gone wrong for Auburn. However, Bruce Pearl gave the Tiger’s bench credit for being a bright spot against Alabama.

Pearl went down the list of several bench players who helped give Auburn a chance during their 90-85 overtime loss to the Crimson Tide. He pointed out a handful who were productive in their roles on both ends of the floor, even though it ended up being all for naught.

“The bench was terrific,” said Pearl. “I thought Tre Donaldson stepped up and played with a lot of confidence. KD (Johnson) is an athlete that’s hard to stay in front of. He obviously made 4-5 from three and was pretty effective. He got to the line 12 times, did a good job driving downhill. Chris Moore was fantastic. I mean his defense on Brandon Miller was great.”

Auburn’s bench outscored Alabama’s bench 34-29 overall. A big part of that was Johnson as he led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points off the pine. From there, Donaldson gave them seven points on 3-4 shooting in 17 minutes. Throw in Moore’s defense on Miller, who finished 3-12 on the night, and it was a job well done by their five-man bench rotation on a night where the team as a whole dealt with some foul trouble.

Losing a 17-point second-half lead is anything but ideal. Even so, Pearl wanted to let several of his players know they were impactful in the matchup, even if it was a loss in the end.

Pearl credits Auburn’s fight vs. Alabama

Auburn is doing everything they can to play their way out of the NCAA Tournament. After 20 games, the Tigers were 16-4 and virtually locked into the field. But in 10 games since, they’re just 3-7 and had huge letdowns in their last two outings, which were both Quad 1 opportunities. Following a 32-point loss at Kentucky over the weekend, the Tigers responded on the road vs. No. 2 Alabama by building a 17-point lead midway through the second half. From there, the Tigers proceeded to allow a 16-0 run while not scoring for the following six minutes after going up 17.

Of course, the Crimson Tide ultimately came back, forced overtime and won the game as Auburn let slip away a win that would have all but assured an NCAA Tournament appearance. Instead, Bruce Pearl’s club is on thin ice. After the game, a grumpy Pearl addressed the loss with a brief summary:

“Well, we came here to win a basketball game. I thought we represented the name on the front of our jersey as well as the name on the back. Here we are a pride program, we have great respect for Alabama, we congratulate them on winning the (SEC) championship. They’re a very worthy champion.”

This was a massive lost opportunity for the Tigers. A road win over one of the nation’s best teams would’ve catapulted Auburn off the bubble and into the guaranteed field. Auburn was up by 17 points and failed to score for six straight minutes, though, while Alabama made every necessary play to climb back in it — and that’s where Auburn actually lost the ball game.

Tough pill to swallow for Bruce Pearl and company.