What Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn taking on Arkansas in the SEC Tournament

AUBURN — It’s officially the postseason for Auburn basketball as the 7-seed Tigers take on 10-seed Arkansas at the SEC Tournament in Nashville on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. The winner gets 2-seed Texas A&M in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

Auburn sits at 20-11 overall and finished league play at 10-8 after beating Tennessee to end the regular season. The Tigers finished 3-3 in their last six, and if not for a buzzer beater at Vanderbilt and a blown 17-point lead to Alabama, that could be 5-1. Arkansas sits at 19-12 overall and finished 8-10 in league play after dropping the last three games of the season to Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Auburn’s win over No. 12 Tennessee last Saturday gave Bruce Pearl’s program 20 wins for the fifth time in the last six seasons. That’s only happened one other time in the history of Auburn basketball.

“We have that sign in the locker room about making history,” Pearl said. “I’d like to give some credit to Joel Eaves team before 1957-1963, because that was the last time Auburn had a run of five 20-win seasons in six seasons. It’s only happened one other time in Auburn basketball history. I’m proud of those guys for doing that.

“And all it took was beating the No. 12 team in the country. That takes some doing.”

RELATED: LOOKING AT AUBURN’S RESUME ENTERING THE POSTSEASON

Auburn’s recent history at the SEC Tournament has certainly been up and down.

This will only be Auburn’s second appearance in the SEC Tournament since running the table in 2019 on the way to the Final Four. That seems hard to believe, but the following season the tournament was cancelled due to Covid (the Tigers were the 2 seed heading into the tournament). The next year, Auburn self imposed a postseason ban. And last season, the Tigers earned the No. 1 seed before going one-and-done to Texas A&M in the quarterfinals.

The season before Auburn won the SEC Tournament championship against Tennessee, they were one-and-done against Alabama in 2018 after winning the regular season title. In 2017, Auburn lost to Missouri in the first round. In 2016, Auburn lost to Tennessee in the first round. Outside of the championship run in 2018, you have to go back to 2015, Bruce Pearl’s first season at Auburn, to find multiple wins at the SEC Tournament. The Tigers shocked everyone that year with wins over Mississippi State, Texas A&M and LSU before losing to Kentucky in the semifinals.

Quick Take prior to the Tigers and the Razorbacks

It’s certainly an interesting dynamic. Auburn’s win on Saturday should cement their place in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are projected between a 8 or 11 seed by most prognostications and recently moved off ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four Byes” column and into a more firm placement for the tournament. Arkansas’ tournament projections look similar to Auburn’s in the 8-11 seed range.

The biggest question mark around the Razorbacks might be the mental state of a team that’s lost three straight games, underachieved more than any other SEC team based on preseason predictions, and has multiple players preparing to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Is Arkansas preparing for a March run or simply going through the motions?

Auburn’s problem this season hasn’t been talent for the most part, but consistency and valuing the basketball late in games. The Tennessee win showed the Tigers are capable of getting the job done, but in the postseason, it has to happen consistently. That’s Auburn’s biggest nemesis as March gets rolling: consistency and avoiding 5-minute spurts of bad basketball.

For Auburn, it’ll be about weathering an early storm from a talented Arkansas team and its fanbase. If the Tigers can settle in, they’ll be in good shape. Auburn should be the more motivated and determined team considering the circumstances and momentum coming in, but all it takes is for Arkansas to gain momentum during the first 10 minutes of that game for the tables to turn in that regard.

As always, here’s what Bruce Pearl said to the media on Tuesday as Auburn prepares to travel to Nashville on Wednesday before Thursday’s game:

— “Dylan practiced today and wasn’t in there a lot, but he was in there enough to think he’s possible.”

— “I thought our crowd on Saturday was incredible. I can’t even tell you how grateful and thankful I am to coach at Auburn. Without Neville Arena — we have no chance to make that history.”

— He continued, “it was a back-against-the-wall win — a lot of programs don’t get that win. I won’t take that one for granted.”

— On good memories from the season: “Going to Israel was an unbelievable experience…at the same time, it makes for a really long year. … Going to Cancun and playing Bradley (No. 1 seed in Missouri Valley), playing Northwestern — they’re really well coached, they finished second in the Big Ten… the wins at home against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee… we’re once again in position to be in position.”

— “They weren’t full strength,” Pearl said of Arkansas the first time around. Mentions playing mostly zone against Arkansas the first time around, “zone won’t be the answer this time around.”

— “It’ll be a tough matchup and all we want,” he said.

— On Nick Smith Jr.: “It doesn’t make zone an option — the other thing, it gives them another big guard.”

— “Their the 13th longest team in the country by length,” Pearl says of Arkansas. “Still better than two than three… we have to guard without fouling.”

— On not looking ahead: “Last year, we were one of the best teams in the country, so maybe that was an option. It’s not the same circumstance. I don’t think we looked past Texas A&M. They came in playing really well — they got all the way to the finals and should have beaten Tennessee. They were really hot.”

— Pearl points out that Auburn had 22 games that the NET said they should have won. Pearl says the Tigers won 19 of those. “We’ve really not looked past anybody.”

— On Johni Broome’s improved 3-point shooting recently: “I thought Johni could come in here and because he’s such a good 15-foot shooter, I thought he’d demonstrate the ability to shoot the ball. Johni didn’t feel comfortable or didn’t feel ready — he’s comfortable out there and he’s worked at it. He’s going to be a stretch five which will make him really valuable for us.”

— On the budding rivalry against Arkansas: “I’m not going to jump into that.” He did mention jokingly, “we almost got killed” during the court storm last season.

— On limiting turnovers for most of the season: “We haven’t pressed as much in league play, so the game has been more of a half-court game, so we’ve been better in half-court offense and defense.”