Bruce Pearl, Johni Broome describe Auburn's second-half mentality: 'Drop your nuts'

The Auburn Tigers defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Afterwards, Tigers star Johni Broome explained what went into the team’s inspired performance in the second half, while speaking with ESPN’s Marty Smith, as his teammates celebrated around him.

“We had to be the more physical team in the second half,” Broome said. “First half, they kind of got a lot of offensive rebounds. We didn’t play a good half in the first half. So we went in at halftime, and you know, Coach told us, it was a tie ball game, 20 minutes before the championship, I think we’d take that position.

“They just said, ‘Drop your nuts.’ You know, big boy basketball. Go out there and be the first person to hit first, and go out there and get some rebounds.”

Almonds, cashews and peanuts, oh my. Auburn will take all the smoke. They’re headed to the SEC Tournament finale.

“Job not done,” Broome added. “You know, we got one more game. We’re gonna watch whoever wins this game. We’ll be well prepared. But everybody, everybody’s ready to go. It’s not too much to say.”

As for Bruce Pearl, the Tigers coach joined the desk on SEC Network afterwards, where he elaborated what he was feeling during the clash.

“I don’t want to let these guys go. The truth of the matter is I don’t want any coaches down. I don’t want to let the players down,” Pearl said, regarding the hard-fought win. “So I will work as hard as I can. Try to stay healthy if I can, but just prepare. And I gotta be the hardest working guy in the building. Right? My players need to know that. And I gotta love him in the good times and the bad times.

“When Chad Baker-Mazara was a little emotional, I told him,’ You know what, if you shut down in this game, I’m still gonna love you.’ And he smiled at me, and came back and made big shots and big plays.”

The game got a little chippy at times, with both Auburn and Mississippi State players being assessed a technical. Regardless, there’s a lot of love between Pearl and Bulldogs leader Chris Jans, as the latter turns his attention to the NCAA Tournament.

“Well, there’s two things. No. 1, Chris Jans is a professional. He’s one of the best coaches in the country. He knows that his job is to get his guys ready to go. And they’re gonna play. They’re gonna play as hard and physical as anybody. He knows that’s my job too. We respect each other,” Pearl added. “How we responded, I did kind of settle things down a little bit.

“I got a say what I said to the officials. He said what he said to the officials. And then we played hard.”

The job is far from finished for Auburn. They’re looking to win the SEC Tournament, as the Tigers will now await the winner of Texas A&M and Florida.