With only five games remaining in conference play, No. 10 ranked Auburn holds a two-game lead atop the SEC standings. If the Tigers win three of their last five games, they will be SEC regular season champions for the first time since 1999.
Even without a conference championship, Auburn basketball is a lock for the NCAA tournament, and that hasn’t been said in 15 years.
The Tigers were the top No. 2 seed in the latest NCAA tournament projection before Wednesday night’s 76-66 win over Kentucky in a sold-out Auburn Arena. The win pushed the Tigers to 23-3 overall and 11-2 in SEC play.
But, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl isn’t looking ahead.
“Whatever Sunday—whatever date the Sunday selection show is, I’ll look at it then,” Pearl said on Thursday. “We got five games left; we can win them all, we can lose them all. It’s nothing I’ve not said since the very beginning, and one way or the other, our opponents will have a lot to do with whether we do or whether we don’t. So, we’re just going to find a way to get right for South Carolina, and I know that stuff just sounds like coach-talk, but until you’re ever in this, you’d understand that’s the only way you can go.”
Kentucky was a much bigger team on paper Wednesday night, but it was more of the same for an Auburn team that expects to win despite being undersized. The Tigers have been at a disadvantage down low in almost every game this year, but Bruce Pearl’s players continue to simply outwork their opponents.
“They all played big,” Pearl said. “They all played huge. Some of those balls Kentucky put up there including some inside shots could have gone in, but didn’t. We managed to get enough rebounds to allow them to not simply play volleyball in the paint. I’ve never seen a front line at 6-3, 6-5, 6-7 play as big as those guys played in the last six minutes of the game.”
Auburn will look to continue its dream season when they travel to South Carolina on Saturday, a team that swept them last season before making an improbable run to the Final Four.
“South Carolina is terrific defensively,” Pearl said. “The hardest thing at South Carolina will be finding a way to score. They dominated us last year.”
Last season, the Tigers were embarrassed in Columbia, losing to the Gamecocks 98-69 in one of the most lopsided losses Auburn has suffered during Pearl’s tenure.
“Taking care of the basketball is going to be vital against South Carolina ... They force the second-most turnovers to us as far as how they defend and they do a great job in their transition offense as well,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to take care of the ball and handle their pressure.”
With three of its next four games coming on the road, in a year where the SEC may send up to eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, Pearl wants his team to stay grounded and not overlook any opponent.
"We can't afford to not get up for an opponent,” Pearl said. “We can't afford not to or we won't win. It's real simple. If you're big enough, talented enough, deep enough and then you can show up sometimes and win.”
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