Bruce Pearl explains how Auburn forced more turnovers against South Carolina

Auburn bulldozed one of the top men’s basketball teams in the SEC this week, toppling South Carolina by 40 in a 101-61 win. And the Tigers got the big-time win in part by a strong defensive effort.

That included winning the turnover margin by a significant mark, against a team that doesn’t turn it over often. In that respect, Pearl had to offer some credit to his son, assistant coach Steven Pearl, for the scouting work.

“I thought Steven Pearl did an amazing job on the scout,” Pearl said. “He had us really ready to go. And they don’t turn the ball over, but we blitzed them a little bit in ball screens. We did some things with our ball pressure that bothered them and we weren’t afraid to switch.”

Pearl also noted Gamecocks big man B.J. Mack is capable of causing significant problems. And though he did score 14 points to keep up with his season average, Pearl thought the way the Tigers guarded him, and thusly took South Carolina out of its offense, was key.

And the disjointed offense, among other issues, doomed the Gamecocks. They lost the turnover battle, 13-7, went 3-for-15 from 3 and shot under 35% from the field on Wednesday night.

Ultimately, it was a recipe for a blowout by Auburn.

“B.J. Mack is such a tough cover that if you kind of guard him traditionally, he’ll tear you apart,” Pearl said. “So we switched a lot tonight and they rolled us down some and scored some inside, but that was part of — it takes away a lot of the things they like to do offensively.”

Lamont Paris tried to explain his teams struggles vs. Auburn

The Gamecocks suffered a 101-61 loss, losing for only the fourth time this season. Afterwards, South Carolina coach Lamont Paris discussed what went wrong for his team.

“Nothing that we didn’t prepare for. We prepared really hard. We’re [25] games into this. So we prepared,” Lamont Paris said. “But they made a lot of shots, and their pressure bothered us at times.”

The defense was the biggest issue for South Carolina. The Gamecocks entered the game allowing 64 points per contest, before giving up 101.

Auburn shot 61 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range in the win.

Paris was pleased with the offense in the game but certainly not the defense.

“We still were 1 point per possession,” Paris said. “It was not the Mona Lisa for us offensively. But at one point, while we were still statting it, at one point we were 1 point per possession offensively, which generally generates enough offense for us to win or have a good chance to win once our defense sinks in.”