Bruce Pearl says Dylan Cardwell injury vs. Alabama was a sprained ankle

Things went from bad to worse for Auburn basketball in the waning moments of an overtime loss to Alabama on Wednesday night, with a Dylan Cardwell injury adding to the postgame woes.

Cardwell was hurt when an Alabama player crashed into his lower legs and took him out without a foul call.

“He was. The decision to go small was we needed a bucket,” coach Bruce Pearl explained. “Our lack of size didn’t necessarily hurt us, but he sprained it pretty good. And he got hit, he didn’t just fall down.”

Cardwell went down clutching his ankle and would have to leave the game.

Dylan Cardwell’s injury left Auburn even shorter on potential bodies down the stretch as it desperately tried to hang on to beat in-state rival Alabama.

Ultimately Auburn came up short, and now Cardwell will have an ankle injury to tend to leading into the SEC Tournament next week.

In-game fight irks Bruce Pearl

Adding insult to injury, an in-game fight that spilled over into ejections ultimately landed big man Johni Broome on the sidelines when he was assessed a fifth personal foul in the aftermath.

Pearl was not happy about that.

“I’ve got to go watch the play, but I thought, was it Johni that took the shot?” Pearl asked reporters. “There was a pass over the top and like three guys tackled him. That play? We’re at Alabama. They play football over there at the football stadium. We threw the ball, a couple defensive backs climbed on his back.”

Pearl was clearly still upset when speaking about the in-game fight after the game, throwing his hands up in exasperation as he described what he was told following the sequence.

Auburn found it tough to recover momentum following the sequence, ultimately losing to its in-state rival in overtime.

Pearl was still trying to make sense of the confusion after the game.

“Then the ball went out of bounds, I guess. I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what happened. It was some sort of a scuffle. Our bench stayed on the bench and they had some guys come off I guess. So the explanation was his fifth foul.”

Auburn will return to action Saturday when it hosts No. 12 Tennessee on Saturday in a game that tips off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.