Bruce Pearl Q&A ahead of postseason play: Exceeding expectations, external motivations, 'step-up time' and more

AUBURN -- It's nearly tournament time for Auburn basketball. Bruce Pearl and his team travel to Nashville on Wednesday afternoon, will go through a light practice on Thursday before playing at approximately 2:30 pm CT on Friday afternoon against either Arkansas, Vanderbilt or South Carolina. The Tigers (24-7, 13-5) are the No. 4 seed in the tournament and are looking to exercise some recent SEC Tournament demons. Auburn lost on Friday in 2022 as the No. 1 seed and lost on Thursday in 2023 as the No. 7 seed. Due to a postseason ban in 2021 and Covid cancelling the basketball season in 2020, it's been since the Final Four team in 2019 that Auburn made noise in the SEC Tournament. Auburn is widely projected as either a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A win on Friday might be enough to firmly secure their place on the 4-line. A loss might push them onto the 5-line for good, especially if it's to Vanderbilt or Arkansas. Momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament is never a bad thing, and after closing the regular season with three straight wins, building on that in Nashville could do this team wonders. Pearl met the media on Wednesday morning before the team practice and hit the road. Here's what he had to say...