Simply put, your guards must shine in March.
And that's what the top-seeded Tigers’ backcourt did in their quarterfinal takedown of No. 8 seed Ole Miss on Friday.
“Just want to congratulate Ole Miss on a great season so far. That team is capable of going to the NCAA tournament and making some noise. Older team, group of veterans. They obviously play the right way.”
The Tigers’ defense carried the load as their offense sputtered out of the gate. Auburn attempted eight 3-pointers on its first nine shots from the field and faced an early deficit until the 10-minute mark of the first half. A Johni Broome slam over a mass of Rebel defenders gave Auburn its first lead and ignited a 23-11 run for the remainder of the first half.
Auburn held Ole Miss to 27% shooting in the first half and forced seven turnovers while limiting Malik Dia, the Rebels’ leading scorer at the break, to five points. Sean Pedulla, matched up with Defensive Player of the Year finalist Denver Jones, managed just two first-half points.
“Denver was great in the first half. He's always the best defensive player out there on the floor. Then Johni carries us. He puts us on his shoulders and is one of the best competitors I think I've ever met. He hates to lose at everything. His teammates know that. It was a good team effort," said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.
Notching a season-high 29 points in the team’s first meeting this season and coming off a display of late-game heroics with a triple at the buzzer to vault the Rebels to the quarterfinal game, Pedulla was held to just 12 points while going 0-for-5 from deep.
“It’s going to be very important,” said Auburn guard Miles Kelly on the team’s guard play in March. “Every team has great guards, so it’s about who’s guards are going to be better. And today, we were better and that’s why we came out with the win.”
Auburn held Ole Miss to just four makes from deep on 23 attempts. It was the Rebels worst 3-point percentage (17% ) in a game this season.
“Our 3-point field goal defense has been pretty elite. The fact that I've got bigs that can get out there and guard the perimeter, guards that can go inside, physically be able to handle some things. When you hold a good offensive team like Ole Miss to 22 points in the first half, you obviously deserve victory.”
Auburn will await to see the winner of No. 4 seed Tennessee and No. 13 seed Texas to see its opponent for the first semifinal game on Saturday at noon CT.
Whoever the opponent may be, the Tigers know their best efforts must be on display in hopes of winning their second-consecutive SEC Tournament Championship.
“Our guys came here to win a championship,” Pearl said. “It’s not going to be easy because Tennessee or Texas will be all we can handle and then on the other side there are two teams on that side that could be on the one line.”
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Logan Fowler is a Senior from Sumiton, Alabama and is majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in Spring 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @loganffowler
