Bruce Pearl reveals Auburn's issues with turnovers

Seven second-half turnovers allowed Ole Miss to hang around against Auburn until the final buzzer during Wednesday night’s SEC matchup.

What could have been a disaster for the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament resume turned into a gutsy 78-74 win, and head coach Bruce Pearl wasn’t pleased with his team’s efforts in handling the ball down the stretch.

“We were not executing offensively. We were sloppy and [Ole Miss] was aggressive,” Pearl said postgame. “They jumped back in the game. We weren’t setting good screens, our timing was off, we were resting and we succumbed to fatigue. That’s how they got back in with those turnovers. It was our very poor, very lackadaisical offensive execution.”

Auburn took a seven-point lead into halftime but ended up being outscored by the Rebels 41-38 during the final 20-minute stretch. Despite this, four of Auburn’s starters finished in double scoring figures including 42 combined points and 12 rebounds for forward Johni Broome and guard Wendell Green Jr.

Even more impressively, despite seven turnovers from Auburn in the second half, Ole Miss was only able to score one basket off turnovers and score six fast break points during the final stretch. This is one of Bruce Pearl’s most defensive-minded teams in recent seasons, and Wednesday further proved that notion.

Next up for Auburn is the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena. It’s one of the Tigers’ best chances to improve their NET ranking ahead of the NCAA Tournament. After Saturday’s matchup with UK, Auburn will take on No. 2 Alabama on the road and No. 11 Tennessee at home, meaning a road game at Rupp Arena might be their best shot of finishing the regular season with 20 wins.

Tip-off between the Tigers and Wildcats is set for 4 p.m. ET live on CBS. Auburn can move into the top four in the SEC standings with a win against Kentucky, meaning they have an opportunity for a BYE into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament next month.