'It was embarrassing': Auburn coach Steven Pearl, senior Dylan Cardwell challenge the Tigers to 'man up'

Listen, I’ve been to a lot of Auburn practices over the years. I’ve heard players and coaches fired up, challenging teammates. It’s not uncommon.

Rarely though, have I heard a player and coach challenge the team through the media in the way that associate head coach Steven Pearl and senior leader Dylan Cardwell did during postgame radio after Auburn’s 20-point first-round win over Alabama State.

1-seed Auburn slugged their way to a 83-63 win over 16-seed Alabama State on Thursday afternoon. At one point with two minutes before halftime, the Tigers led by only one point after leading by 13.

Auburn committed 12 turnovers, missed 14 free throws, and for large portions of the game, looked tired or sloppy or disinterested, whatever way you want to describe a very lackluster outing.

And this effort comes after losing three of four games entering the tournament, and of course, with the first-round loss to Yale in last year’s NCAA Tournament still fresh on on everyone’s mind.

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RAPID REACTION: AUBURN 83, ALABAMA STATE 63

So, I’m just going to give you what Pearl said in response to being asked his thoughts on the game, and the same with Cardwell.

First up, Pearl.

“That’s about the only positive is that we won the game. It was embarrassing, honestly,” Pearl said.

“To come out in the NCAA Tournament with that energy and effort, that’s why we lost last year. We have to be so much friggin’ better than what we are right now. If I’m Creighton, I’m licking my chops right now. I’m really excited to play us, if I’m a Creighton coach. We have a lot to figure out in the next 24-36 hours if we’re going to beat a really good team. Not good enough. Really poor.”

Then, Pearl directly called out Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara — the two most valuable players on the team, per the analytics. Broome, the SEC Player of the Year, scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but certainly wasn’t a dominant figure in the win by any means. He had three turnovers and only took nine shots. Baker-Mazara scored only five points, shooting 1-9 from the field and 1-5 from three. It’s his fourth-straight game scoring in single digits.

“Johni and Chad have to be better. They have to be better in all aspects of the game. If they are not, we will not win. I’d imagine Coach will challenge them pretty hard right now. They didn’t bring it tonight and I have no idea why. No idea,” Pearl said.

“I thought the rest of the guys competed well. The rest were excited to be here, but when our two best players play like that, our chances of beating a really good team are going to go down. We have to find ways as a staff to get more out of them.”

Then there’s Cardwell. One of the most energetic and charismatic players in Auburn history, in his own words, was “pissed” following Auburn’ first-round win. Cardwell grabbed eight rebounds in the win, but that didn’t matter much when he was asked about his feelings on advancing.

“We have to be better. We have to play on fire, we have to play pissed off. It’s frustrating to see that we aren’t playing pissed off. If we play like we did today, we are going to get beat. I’m upset. I’m upset,” Cardwell said.

After a handful of answers to other questions, Cardwell then went back to his feelings on this team and its effort on Thursday. Buckle up, because Cardwell went off.

“We have to man up. You can’t go in and expect you’re going to cover the spread. You can’t think the other team is not going to show up. Teams are going to play desperate. These teams want to extend their season. We aren’t playing hard. We need to play harder. That’s all it is. We need to play harder and more aggressive. When we’re clicking, when we’re playing hard, when we’re not slopping through stuff, when we’re playing in a stance, no one can beat us. It’s frustrating,” Cardwell said.

“We lost to Texas A&M, we lost to Alabama, we lost to Tennessee because we aren’t playing hard. We come out and we’re still pissing away the opportunity and we have to stop doing that. You can’t afford that. You have the option to go out as the best team in Auburn history or the biggest bust in the country. At some point, it has to click. What more is it going to take?

“I don’t want to look back when I’m 40, 50, 60, and be like, ‘dang, I wish I would have gotten past the first weekend. I wish I would have played in the Final Four.’ We’re a great team, one of the greatest teams in the country, that’s why we’re the number one seed. We aren’t playing like that anymore. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get there. We can have all the kumbayas, prayer meetings, all these things, but what’s it going to take for somebody to buy in?”

YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RIGHT HERE.

Auburn plays 9-seed Creighton on Saturday, and as Bruce Pearl said on Thursday evening, it will take a much better effort to advance to the Sweet 16 than what the Tigers displayed against Alabama State.