Brief thoughts after Auburn's 'disappointing' loss at Tennessee

AUBURN -- Bruce Pearl wanted no part of moral victories after No. 11 Auburn's 92-84 loss at No. 4 Tennessee. Sure, the Tigers played hard and played it close on the road, but Pearl and his team were there to win a championship. It's why Pearl, while crediting Dalton Knecht and Tennessee postgame, cited his own team's turnovers and defensive mistakes for costing them the game. He believes his team should have won that game, and he's likely right, if not for Knecht's heroics. The Tigers are now 21-7 overall and 10-5 in league play. They are in great position to finish 13-5 in league play, if they take care of business. For perspective, if they do finish 13-5, that'll be just two games worse than the Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler team that won the SEC, one game better than the Samir Doughty and Isaac Okoro team that finished second in the SEC, two games better than the Final Four team, and will match the SEC record of the 2018 team that won the league for the first time under Pearl. Not bad, but there's work to do. Mississippi State comes to town on Saturday playing really well. The Bulldogs won five in a row before losing a buzzer-beater to Kentucky this week. Then a tricky road game at Missouri before coming home to host Georgia in the season finale. Auburn will have to battle back mentally from losing a game they could have won and now finding themselves out of the SEC title hunt for all intents and purposes. Brief thoughts inside...