What Bruce Pearl said after beating South Carolina to win the SEC outright

The Auburn Tigers defeated South Carolina to claim the SEC title outright. After the game Bruce Pearl talked about what it meant.

The Auburn Tigers are the ’22 SEC regular season champions. The SEC was an absolute gauntlet this year and Auburn has claimed the crown outright. In a conference with at least 6 tournament teams Auburn found ways night after night to grind out tough wins. At the very end, only South Carolina stood in the way of the team’s ultimate regular season goal. Auburn took care of business and after the game Bruce Pearl had this to say.

Opening Statement

We’re obviously very excited about our championship, our third in four years. We have an incredible fan base that travels with us but also gives us an unbelievable home court advantage here in Neville arena. To be able to win a championship here was significant. It’s all about our players, guys. To be 15-3 in this league they came to play every night. Our guys came to play every night and took no team for granted. They locked in and grinded. The lessons that these guys learned because of their own discipline will serve them well for the rest of their lives. They know how to win, compete, and prepare. The coaching staff did a phenomenal job as way. We have the best staff in the country. Now it’s post season and this is when the stakes are higher, and the rewards are even greater. So can we get hot? That’s the deal. Our defense can carry us but to win another championship we’re going to have to step it up offensively.

On corrections Auburn must make headed into the post season

We’ll continue to work on ways to get Jabari open. It’s hard when they played him like a box and one. They just held him, and face guarded him and it was a nice game plan but South Carolina didn’t want our best player to beat them. I thought Jabari was patient letting the offense come to him. That’s good coaching but it’s got to be frustrating when wen they’re top blocking every screen and its so hard in the half court. He didn’t let it disrupt him and he got enough during the flow of the game and in transition. We have to do a better job with our inside out game. That has to be an emphasis for us. Very proud of our point guard play.

On bench production and it’s importance in the post season

It wont help us in the first round, but it will help us if we advance. That’s where the bench comes into play, on the second night and the third night. The hardest one is going to be the first one. That’s going to be the hardest one to win. The bench was. It was a good team effort.

On Jabari Smith’s aggressiveness

It’s not about Jabari being more aggressive. He’s an unselfish player and a productive one. The reason why he’s scoring like he is right now, when you come down the stretch against better teams or on the road every player on the floor is challenged in their matchup. Jabari Smith is going to win his matchup every night. Not every one of our players is going to win their matchup so when you play the best teams on our schedule, we count on him more because he’s going to win his matchup. You get more guys to win their matchup you win by greater margins.

On Chris Moore getting more playing time

We talked about one of our challenges being our rebounding not being elite. Chris is a locker room favorite. He’s had to sit behind a couple of guys who are just a little bit ahead of him and hasn’t said a word. If I’m going to talk the talk about playing our bench, I better walk it. Even if it’s only a couple of rotations a game he deserves to bet out there. His teammates love him, and he helps us with his physicality and his toughness. A lot of times at the end of seasons, coaches shorten their bench, but I just don’t believe in it.

On Walker Kessler playing through injury

There’s no body harder on Walker than himself. He gets down on himself because he cares so much. No one cares more that Walker Kessler. He’s played with greater confidence and more joy. I don’t think he’s bothered by the injury. I think he’s bothered knowing that he can dominate and when he doesn’t, he gets upset with himself.

On the importance of three point shooting in the post season

It’s big. Making open shots matters. We didn’t shoot it very well in the second have. I’ll take a loot at it but that’s how we continue. Defend, rebound, make shots, and stop turning it over. Those are the keys to success. 

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