Tag: Bruce Pearl auburn

Dan Dakich on Auburn’s self-imposed tournament ban: ‘I got to re-think it’

ESPN analyst Dan Dakich is all aboard the Sharife Cooper bandwagon now and thinks Auburn should reconsider the self-imposed postseason ban.

It’s hilarious how much Dan Dakich’s attitude toward Sharife Cooper and his presence on the Auburn basketball team has changed during the last few weeks.

After taking the stance that Cooper’s productivity would only decline from his debut against Alabama, the ESPN analyst has seemingly turned the page by calling the freshman point guard possibly the best player in the SEC and, per The Montgomery Advertiser, is now saying Bruce Pearl should consider lifting the self-imposed postseason ban on the Tigers this year.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic,” Dakich said of Cooper. “That dude is 1,000% dynamic. That dude gets easy shots.

“And don’t think for a second that Bruce Pearl opted out knowing or thinking that this kid was going to be that good,” Dakich added. “It’s one thing to be that good in practice, boss. Bruce Pearl, if I’m him, I got to re-think it.”

Yes, Cooper has absolutely been that good for the Tigers since joining the team on January 9 after missing the first 11 games of the season due to eligibility concerns. The Powder Springs, Ga. native is averaging 22.3 points, 8.7 assists and five rebounds a game.

In the victory over No. 12 Missouri on Tuesday night, Cooper was clutch from the free throw line, making 18-of-21 attempts with many coming in the final minutes and the game still in question.

“That’s my favorite thing to do is close the game,” Cooper said following the 88-82 victory. “Just making the right plays, making winning plays that affect the game tremendously – just by doing something little. That’s my favorite thing to do since I was a kid.”

Opinion: Auburn’s Sharife Cooper most impactful freshman in college basketball in some time

Auburn freshman Sharife Cooper showed once again why he is one of the best freshman in college basketball with performance against Missouri.

A lot of hype surrounded Sharife Cooper when he signed with Auburn. That continued when the NCAA kept him out for 11 games for reasons that still haven’t been explained.

Is he that good? How special can he be? How will Auburn benefit from his presence?

There are no questions now. Cooper’s ability as a basketball player, floor general and overall leader of a team just six games into his career is one of the most impressive things I have watched in my 39 years of watching basketball and, on Tuesday night in Auburn’s 88-82 victory over No. 12 Missouri, it was even more evident.

Need proof? Just look at the tape of the Tigers without him against Mizzou. After Cooper picked up his third foul late in the first half, Bruce Pearl decided to keep him out of the beginning of the second 20 minutes with Auburn up four points. That lead didn’t last long as Missouri took a six-point lead early in the second half.

Yet Cooper had every answer. A lob to Cambridge. Taking the beating that the visiting Tigers were giving him and getting to the foul line that resulted in him making 18-of-21 free throws. Drawing charges even though he was in foul trouble. Driving past defenders and somehow getting a jump up in traffic among taller players.

He finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

It was all part of his magic and what has become must-watch viewing not for just Auburn fans but basketball fans nationwide. You will not run across many players that can make such a vast difference to a game and a team than Cooper.

To make an Auburn comparison, he’s what Cam Newton was to the 2010 national title team: the alpha dog and the reason why everyone was scared of the Tigers.

He makes everyone on the floor better. His fellow freshman JT Thor becomes a major threat from the three-point line when getting the ball from Cooper. Allen Flanigan gets to be himself, a scorer at heart, instead of someone in charge of taking care of the ball. You can go down the list. Dylan Cardwell lives off the easy dunks he gets because of Cooper. Jaylin Williams, Chris Moore and … well … every Tiger instantly becomes so much more confident on offense with him on the floor.

When was the last time you could say that about any freshman at Auburn? In the SEC? In NCAA basketball? There’s not many and, those that do come to mind (Bobby Hurley and John Wall are examples) were surrounded by players better than them.

Not Cooper. Of course, he won’t admit that or will he ever take full credit for Tuesday’s win, but let’s face facts: without him, Auburn has no chance winning against Missouri.

If he decides to stay another season, the expectations for 2021-22 will skyrocket yet let’s state what is obvious right now: Cooper is the most impactful freshman in college basketball this season and it’s not even close. That doesn’t mean that he is the best, but that he means the most to his team.

It was never more evident than against Missouri. Cooper stole the show and, for those who watched, it was magical.

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn’s matchup against Missouri

Auburn hosts No. 12 Missouri in Auburn Arena on Tuesday night as the Tigers look to win their second game in a row.

Opening statement…

“We’ve got a big week. Two great teams. Two teams that are going to be as good as anybody in the country. Missouri has got the second-best resumé behind Gonzaga right now. What makes them great? They’re well-coached, they’re old, by far the oldest team in the SEC, the most experienced. We played against all of these guys last year. They’re the most experienced team in the SEC, seventh in the NCAA. Their guards are terrific. Xavier Pinson is a handful, hard to stay in front of, does a great job finishing their possessions. Dru Smith, great pickup, a transfer from Evansville a year ago, sat out a year, played last year. Those two guys just destroyed us a year ago by being able to get to the basket. They kind of had their way with us a little bit. They do the things you need to do to win championships: defense and rebounding. Defensively, they’re No. 1 in field goal percentage defense, No. 1 in 3-point field goal percentage defense, No. 4 in scoring. They’ve got all the math there. They do a good job rebounding the ball. They make free throws, which is important. They don’t beat themselves. Really, really good team. Once again, we’ll have to play our best game of the year to beat them.”

On Allen Flanigan’s improved 3-point shot…

“Allen is one of the most improved players in our league because he’s worked as hard as anybody in our league. Hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but without hard work, I guarantee you won’t have success. It’s your choice. Allen Flanigan has chosen to work as hard as anybody. Not surprising coming from a family of coaches and tough guys. He is taking advantage of the opportunity. I continue to want more from him and have him continue to be more productive and be the best defensive guard in the league. He’s going to get an unbelievable opportunity against (Dru) Smith and (Xavier) Pinson. We ask a lot from him. I’m really, really happy for Allen. When he plays well, we play well.”

On if he saw this much improvement coming from Allen Flanigan…

“I hoped that this would be the kind of sophomore year he would have. He worked through the COVID in the gym by himself and in the weight room by himself. Where it was safe, he would put himself in positions to continue to train. It just never stopped. He knew that he was going to come in last year and be supportive and play behind some people. And he did. But he knew the opportunity was going to be presented to himself. I didn’t recruit over his head. I didn’t transfer it up. We just tried to build a solid foundation around people like Allen. I’m so pleased that he took advantage of the opportunity. Being around the game and growing up in the gym, there are some definite advantages to that. But, as a young person, you have to take advantage of them. His dad is a great individual workout guy. Wes does a great job with our guys, one-on-one in our workouts, and Allen has benefitted from that.”

On playing non-conference games in the middle of league play…

“I like it. I think it’s great to take a break from your conference opponents. I’m not thrilled about going down and playing at Baylor, the No. 2 team in the country. Baylor was picked to win their league and we were picked in the middle to lower half of our league. Look, it’s great to get them. It would have been great to get them anywhere the last four years when we thought we were going to be pretty good. We’re still very, very young and inexperienced, but what a great opportunity for us. I think it’s great. Good for the league. Good for them, good for our league, good for the Big 12, and I just hope we’re up to the challenge.”

On the improved free throw shooting…

“I think we’ve shot it better in conference play. But I think a lot of it has to do with a couple things. One would be we just got back into school. So we wound up spending, a good three, four weeks out of school playing, and so there’s a lot of time in the gym. It just tells you how hard the guys have worked. I think the second thing is getting getting the guys that shoot good free throws on the line by getting Sharife Cooper and Allen Flanigan there a lot. Those are our better free throw shooters. JT Thor has got a good stroke. He’s gotten to the line a little bit more. And then the other guys that haven’t shot a great percentage have really worked at it. Dylan Cardwell is going to be a really good 3-point shooter someday, and he’s going to be a great foul shooter someday. But he was really struggling early in the year. Right now, the percentages say maybe only a 50 percent shooter, but he’s worked really, really hard at it. So he’s not afraid to get to the foul line and get fouled. That’s going to be important because we will be in some more close games. We missed eight at Arkansas, a couple of front ends, and that was a factor in the outcome. Missouri – they have five guys that shoot 80 percent from the foul line. They’re not going to leave any out there.”

On the role of graduate assistant coach KT Harrell…

“I think so often it’s just in those interpersonal relationships – those conversations on the bus or in the hotel, in the locker room, having played in the system, having played in other systems, having played professionally, having graduated and started a family. He’s not too many years removed from what those guys are going through, and so he’s a great listening board. Marquis Daniels, director of player development, same thing – except Marquis played in the NBA and was a great NBA player. Having those guys in coaching, on our coaching staff as resources for our players. And then KT, he’s watching Ira (Bowman) and watching Wes (Flanigan), watching Steven (Pearl), watching the other guys – learning from Chad (Prewett) and Mike Burgomaster and Ian (Borders) and my other staff about how to coach, how to watch, how to break things down. It’s a combination of a hands-on training for him. And then the last thing is he can see if he’s enjoying it. Is this something that he wants to continue to do as a profession? There’s no better way of bringing an Auburn guy back, letting him work on his master’s degree, help us, but also get some training on the job. KT’s dad was a terrific coach as well, so he gets that from home.”

On areas where Auburn can improve…

“We’ve got to get better defensively. We’ve got to get better rebounding. We’ve got to take care of the ball better, not turn it over quite so much, but we’ve made progress. I’ve never faulted our work ethic. We’ve had challenges with our ability to close out games. Obviously, we’re a much better team with Sharife (Cooper) as our quarterback, but defense, rebounding, 50-50 balls, those are not things Sharife is going to bring all to the table. He needs to do his part and help in that area, but it’s the other growth. Understand, this is the first season for most of our players. We are the youngest team by experience in college basketball, and so they should be getting better just by virtue of the opportunity.”

On facing back-to-back ranked opponents…

“First of all, it’s a barometer to see where we’re at. It is not going to be easy to score. You talk about what we did at South Carolina. These are two of the best defensive teams in the country, which means you just can’t slop through your offense. It won’t work. So my job this week is to make sure they see that and understand how important their spacing is and their cutting and their screening and their dedication to detail because that’s what older, more experienced teams do to you. Look, these teams are where we want to be. We’re not there yet.”

On status of Justin Powell…

“Here is your weekly Justin Powell concussion protocol update. He’s day-to-day. I hope that this week there’s a chance that we could move him some. He hasn’t moved yet. It’s Monday. But I do think he’s feeling better. And I can tell you now that as we get closer to the back half of the SEC season – if we were to get him back this week, it would take at least two weeks to get him back because he’s been shut down completely. He’s done nothing. You kind of do the math.”

Everything Jaylin Williams, Allen Flanigan said after Auburn’s win over South Carolina

Auburn’s Jaylin Williams and Allen Flanigan spoke after the Tigers’ big victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

Jaylin Williams, F, So.

 On what allowed them to score 109 points during the game…

“The scouting report was big because it helped us in knowing who could guard who and knowing who was struggling to move their feet for the other team. We got our plays and we had to change them up a little bit because South Carolina’s coach, he’s a good coach, so we had to flip them up a little bit for him, and then they struggled to guard us so we just penetrated. When Sharife penetrates, they have to throw to him or he’s going to finish at the rim.”

On the team’s mentality after losing the lead to Arkansas…

“Especially at halftime when we saw we were up, I don’t know by how much, so going into the locker room I was thinking, ‘Man, we can not blow this lead.’ Going into the locker room we all got together and we kind of kept our energy up together, jumping around, happy, keeping our same energy to come out with in the second half. I believe we did so.”

On his own offensive performance…

“It was fun. Me, I don’t really care too much about having a big scoring game. We were struggling to win and that was good for me, I just wanted to win. I know BP told me to be more aggressive and do more things, but just the team win was big for me today.”

On scoring off turnovers and rebounds…

“South Carolina is leading the league in offensive rebounds so we know we had to bust them out and so when we got rebounds we know they were bad at getting back in transition so knew we had to bust out. I know in transition, Sharife is unbelievable so he’s going to find somebody or he’s going to get it to the rim.” 

Allen Flanigan, G, So.

On what Auburn did better Saturday vs. Wednesday…

“We communicated better and just played to make plays for other guys, for the most part.” 

On the pressure he puts on himself and his mentality changing from a freshman to a sophomore…

“My mentality and everything had to change in a big way, real quick, through the summer and through the quarantine phase, but really just being a leader and a guy that other guys can look at – the younger guys – and following what I do try to lead by example, and just be a great teammate.” 

On what it means to accomplish a lot during the game as a young team…

“Everybody who comes to Auburn, we come here to make history. So just really just being able to make history and get out here and play great. We made history tonight.”

Bruce Pearl on South Carolina win: ‘We learned from our mistakes against Arkansas’

Auburn made sure to not allow a comeback again on Saturday as the Tigers blew out South Carolina 109-86.

Auburn took care of business early and often against South Carolina as the Tigers pulled away with a 109-86 victory in Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

It was clear that the loss on Wednesday night after leading my 19 points to Arkansas was fresh in the minds of the Tigers.

“We learned from our mistakes at Arkansas,” Bruce Pearl said. “Came out in the second half and didn’t take our foot off the gas, particularly offensively – 109 is an Auburn record for a road SEC game.”

Here’s everything Pear had to say following the victory:

Opening statement…

“It was a good win on the road. We’re making progress, getting better. We learned from our mistakes against Arkansas, came out in the second half and didn’t take our foot off the gas, particularly offensively – 109 is an Auburn record for a road SEC game. I’m most pleased with 21 assists. When we’ve played South Carolina and we’ve gotten great point guard play, we’ve been successful. But when we haven’t, we haven’t (been successful). I think that’s the key. To have both Allen Flanigan and Sharife Cooper on the floor together right now, it gives me two playmaking guards that I can work through, it helps me as a play-caller. I thought the guys did a good job mixing in the fast break and transition with running some good half-court sets. We still struggled defensively. Lawson gets 23. Bryant gets 24. And we fouled them too much. Good win with short prep. Great balance. I thought JT and Jaylin Williams really responded. JT keeps getting better. Al does everything. Devan has been terrific off the bench. Our 5s did a good job scoring at the rim. So overall, a pretty good afternoon.”

On making the extra pass against South Carolina…

“South Carolina will really extend defensively, and they don’t let you run your normal offense. You cannot pass the ball much against them because of the way they extend, the pressure they put on you. So you just keep the ball in your ball handlers’ hands and then allow them to make plays. Both Sharife and Al are guys you need to be able to guard all the way to the rim, and you’ve got to come off because they can beat their 1-on-1 matchup. When you come off, you’ve got things at the rim and you’ve got perimeter guys who can shoot it. The team was sort of built around that aspect – guys who can shoot the ball, finish at the rim, and a couple play-making guards to get them the ball.”

On making 14 3s, winning battle on the boards…

“Sharife was upset because he only had one assist in the second half, claiming that some of those guys missed some shots that they should’ve made. It’s important in a spread offense to be able to stretch the defense. Jaylin Williams and JT Thor played a lot together in this game because South Carolina went smaller. I thought Ira Bowman did a good job tonight recognizing that they were small, and we went small also. I thought that helped us offensively because we were able to put five guys on the perimeter that could shoot it. The fact that JT made one, you’ve got to guard him. Jaylin made two, you’ve got to guard him. It just makes any offense you run that much better.”

On Sharife Cooper and Allen Flanigan…

“The thing about Sharife is – to be a great undersized player, you’ve got to be the toughest guy on the floor. Sharife is going to get bounced every game, all game. It doesn’t bother him. It just doesn’t. He’s a tough kid. And that is required amongst undersized players. The opponent knows that. They do. That’s what they should fear. Allen is just such a productive player. I have a high expectation for Al. Al will probably tell you after every game I want more from him than anybody else. He’ll lead us in rebounding or lead us in field-goal percentage, get to the foul line and make them all, and Al finds something wrong with his game. I think he’s a great player, but he whether he loses focus or stays sharp all the time, I have very high expectations for him. He played great tonight.”

On finishing the first half strong…

“Steven Pearl got them in with about three minutes to go in the first half and really challenged them in that timeout to close. I thought Ira Bowman and Mike Burgomaster did a phenomenal job on the scout. We were extremely prepared. We had a great game plan both offensively and defensively. I think my assistant coaches really helped us win this game.”

Auburn 109, South Carolina 86: Random thoughts following Tigers’ blowout victory

Auburn went into Columbia and blew out the South Carolina Gamecocks in a 109-86 victory with Sharife Cooper recording another double-double.

Auburn made easy work of South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday afternoon, blowing out the Gamecocks, 109-86, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates.

Sharife Cooper recorded his second double-double in his first five games for Auburn while Allen Flanigan continues to show he can be an offensive force for the Tigers.

Here are some random thoughts following the game.

  • Let’s just get right to it: I know it must be difficult to call a second half when one team has a huge lead, but how Beth Mowins and Jimmy Dykes handled it was absolutely miserable. At one point, the two went 15 straight minutes without mentioning any of the action on the floor including a weird monologue by Dykes honoring everything Mowins has done for women in sports broadcasting, including for his daughter. Great, have that personal conversation somewhere else. There are players on the floor that deserve the attention.
  • Another double-double for Sharife Cooper and this one was his easiest yet, having 10 points and 11 assists by the end of the first half. He finished with 16 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds. Dan Dakich has yet to comment.
  • It was imperative for Auburn to finish the first half strong after what occurred on Wednesday night at Arkansas. In his postgame press conference,. Bruce Pearl acknowledged that he had his son, Steven, challenge the Tigers during the last three minutes heading into halftime. Final result? A 15-point lead.
  • Flanigan continues to grow as a player and become a major producer for Auburn offensive and defensively. His 24 points led the offensive onslaught and he was 4-of-6 from the three-point line.
  • JT Thor is an absolute threat in the paint. At one point, he blocked a Gamecocks shot without even jumping. His offensive game is also coming around nicely.
  • Back to Cooper, he finished the game with just three turnovers. That is a sign hat he is getting even more comfortable in the game and with his teammates. A 12-to-3 assist to turnover ratio is something Bruce Pearl will absolutely take every game.
  • Also on Cooper: his vision is probably the best I have seen in college basketball in some time. He sees things that aren’t even there but magically appear two seconds later.
  • Give it up for Jaylin Williams who had an absolutely remarkable game in every facet. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting (2-of-3 from three), seven rebounds, two assists and just one turnover.
  • Six more blocks on defense for the Tigers. That is becoming a huge stat to watch and something other teams will be wary of when taking the ball into the paint.
  • I’m jealous of Pearl’s constant tan.
  • I am not extremely superstitious but the fact I was putting together a desk chair during the entire first half when Auburn put up 57 points on the board makes me think I need to take apart the chair and do it all over again the next game. Also, it took me way too long to put the chair together and I have screws left over.
  • Back to basketball. You know who has a great shooting stroke? Lior Berman. Great to see him get time off the bench and make two three-pointers.
  • Final thought: any time Auburn can shoot 51.9% from beyond the three-point line, chances are Tigers fans are going to come away happy.

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn at South Carolina

Auburn will try to break a one-game skid as the Tigers travel to Columbia to take on South Carolina on Saturday.

Opening statement…

“We’re preparing for a South Carolina team that’s played seven games compared to our 15 games. They’ve had three different interruptions in their season. Their head coach, Frank Martin, has battled and beaten COVID on two occasions. Of course, Frank Martin battling anything, you know he’s going to come out on top. So we’re praying and happy for his health. This is a typical South Carolina team. They’re physical. They play hard. They defend as a team very well. They lead league in offensive rebounding. They’ve always been a team that was very difficult to run your offense against because they extend so much. When we’ve been able to beat them, we’ve been able to beat them with great point guard play, and guys being able to drive downhill. Samir Doughty, Jared Harper, J’Von McCormick, Isaac Okoro, matchups that can turn corners to get to the rim. So for us, our creators off the bounce are going to have to be good because it’s hard to run your stuff against South Carolina. Lawson and Cousinard were all-conference preseason guys. I may remind my guys as we go into some of these matchups, first of all, South Carolina returns pretty much five starters, four for sure. They’ve got a lot of their guys back. We didn’t have anybody preseason all-conference, and that’s fine. But I want to mention that to my guys, in the sense that we’ve got a ton to play for, both individually and as a team. So I think South Carolina is a team that is going to wind up being right there in the middle to the upper division of our league battling for one of those last spots. That’s how I see it right now. I know they don’t have as much work under their belt as some, but I think they’ve got the pieces to be able to get there. We’ve struggled at South Carolina and we’ve had some great wins at home against them. Since I’ve been at Auburn, I don’t remember for sure, but I think maybe my first SEC home win might have been against South Carolina. It was either Missouri or South Carolina. I don’t remember. But I do remember that we won the SEC regular season championship at home when the confetti almost came out of the rafters too soon, causing us a technical foul in a close game. So we’ll see if we can put two halves of basketball together this this time around on the road.”

On the challenge of a short turnaround…

“It’s a tough turnaround for the kids. I think the interesting part of it is, look, the kids are resilient and they’ll be fine. We’ll be fine for the game Saturday morning against South Carolina. We’ve had plenty of time to prepare and rest. South Carolina played an early Tuesday game, and they play a home Saturday game. So they’ve had more time to prepare and rest. But, we have enough. You get home on Wednesday night at 1:30-1:45. Who knows what time the kids get to sleep? You got to 7:30-7:45 COVID test the next morning. There’s three-four, four-five hours of sleep for sure. Then you practice yesterday. You’re limited in what you can do in that practice, and here we are going to practice today at 1:30 we leave at four o’clock. It’s ‘ready or not, here it comes.’ But we will be fine.”

On Sharife Cooper in his first few games…

“He’s done a great job. He’s a great quarterback. He’s got ability to do whatever he wants with either hand off of either leg. I think teams are going to make him try to settle for the 3 ball. In my opinion, it wouldn’t be settling with Sharife. He can really shoot it. He’s hard to handle at the rim. You’ve got to referee him all the way to the basket because he’s got the ability to float and stay in the air. People have always been able to block his shot because he’s six-feet tall, but he’s able to kind of stay with his shot and score tough 2s. That is one great difference maker for him. So as it relates to what you do offensively, it’s hard to not put it in his hands because he could score it and get it to others. So obviously, I think he’s done a really good job. You know, the other night when we ran out of gas, he had to play 36 minutes again. Allen Flanagan was in foul trouble. Allen’s my backup point guard. That was too many minutes. From a coaching standpoint, with Allen having four, maybe we could have put Jamal (Johnson) in there who hadn’t played point guard since the Ole Miss game, and that was just because he had to. So that hurt us a little bit down the stretch. I think Sharife has done really well. He’s led in our locker room. He’s not used to losing and neither am I.”

On South Carolina being better than their record…

“I think South Carolina is very capable of making a run this year. They’ve got a lot of dudes back. Frank (Martin) is a great coach. I’m not counting them out. Like I said, I think they’ve got a chance to be an NCAA tournament team this year. They’ve got to win some games obviously, but there’s a lot of games in front of them that they can win. I like their team.”

On the leadership Sharife Cooper has shown…

“I’d like to think we’re carving out a little niche at Auburn for fast, small, quick point guards. Whether it be Tahj Shamsid-Deen my first year or Jared Harper or J’Von McCormick and now Sharife Cooper and then somebody in the years to come, it’s been a position guys have done really well. I put the ball in my point guard’s hands and let them go play. As far as Sharife being a leader, it’s called an Alpha dog. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how big you are. That’s who he is. He’s always had that Pied Piper effect to be able to lead both in his personality, in his friends, in his high school – they won a national championship at McEachern High School when he was a junior. He was a school leader. He was a community leader. The fact that he has only played four games with us and he missed 72 practices and a few months, he’s still stayed as connected to players as he possibly could, encouraging them and leading. It’s great to have him out there.”

On South Carolina’s AJ Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard…

“When those two guys are on, they win. When they score 80 points or more for Frank (Martin), they’re like 60-5. Those two kids, what do they do best? They score. So when they’re scoring, they win. We’ve got to do a good job of recognizing that and do the best job we can to make the other guys score and not let those guys go off. But if Couisnard and Lawson can see it, they can make it.”

On how Justin Powell is doing…

“The only time we see Justin is when we COVID test because of the concussion protocol. He’s day-to-day. They didn’t let him come to practice as part of the concussion protocol. I think he’s getting closer to moving again, but he’s not there yet. Mentally, he’s struggling because he wants to be out there. But you can’t be out there if you’ve still got symptoms and you’ve got headaches. He’s doing the best he can.”

On the game plan if teams trap Sharife Cooper…

“Arkansas did it a couple times, and JT Thor hit a 3, Jaylin Williams got it in the middle of the floor and gave a bounce pass for a dunk for Babatunde (Akingbola). If they do it, that means it’s 4-on-3. So you’ve got to be able to have the spacing to be able to attack out of 4-on-3. It bothered us a little bit against Arkansas, but it wasn’t the game-changer. I’m sure teams are going to try and trap the ball out of his hands, and that means there are four offensive players out there against three defensive players. But the key when that happens is to attack and take advantage of the numbers.”

On motivation with no NCAA tournament…

“You take Arkansas in the second half. Arkansas has to win that game almost (to make the NCAA tournament). I even said it before the game. They’re starting to look at, ‘We’ve got to get this one in order to go to the tournament.’ They played like it. That is an advantage for our opponents. Frank Martin has put it on (AJ) Lawson and (Jermaine) Couisnard – ‘If we’re going to the tournament, then this is what has got to happen.’ That’s a great motivator to play through pain, play through fatigue and do the things you’ve got to do to win. We’re not going to the tournament this year, and we don’t have that motivation. But the motivation for us is to be able to win, to be able to grow, to be able to improve. For me, it was a missed opportunity at Arkansas, to win at Bud Walton for the third time since I’ve been here. It could have been two in a row. We haven’t done that I don’t think ever. Making history. We haven’t won at South Carolina the last three times we’ve been there. We’ve got to play a Missouri team that’s already beaten Oregon. They’ve beaten Illinois. They’re ranked in the 30s in the NET. They’re going (to the tournament). They’re one of the best teams in our league. That’s going to be an opportunity Tuesday. Then we’ve got to go to Baylor and play the No. 2 team in the country. We’ve still got a lot to play for, but the one thing we don’t have is we don’t have the ability to go, ‘Hey, this is about seeding. This is about competing for a championship.’ We don’t have that opportunity this year.”

On teams getting more physical with Sharife Cooper…

“I thought he handled it great (against Arkansas). He doesn’t complain. He’s a tough kid. He gets bounced. He gets hit a lot. He’s always gotten hit when he’s played, so that’s nothing new for him.”

Bruce Pearl on Arkansas loss: ‘We kind of let one get away’

Auburn held a 19-point lead in the first half against Arkansas but couldn’t hold a Razorback rally back in a 75-73 loss.

[jwplayer 3JsSNKQu-er0jUifI]

Opening statement…

“Disappointing loss. We kind of let one get away. We played a great first 16 minutes on the road, played really well on both ends. The last three or four minutes of the first half, we took our foot off the gas and gave Arkansas some confidence, and they just kept that through the halftime. The starters were very poor to start the second half. Effort, energy, 50-50 balls, points in the paint, points at the rim. We showed some heart and some character getting back in the game late. We made some plays. We didn’t quit. From my standpoint, down one late, I probably should’ve let Sharife (Cooper) go quicker than that. If he goes quicker and he doesn’t score, we foul and we get another possession with more time. In a 1-point game, I should’ve gone quicker. A 2-point game, it doesn’t matter. That’s on me. I cost us a possession late.”

On the defense in the first half…

“Guys were down in their stance, made Arkansas make tough 1-on-1 plays, stayed at home, got backside rebounds, 50-50 balls and ran out. In the second half, they drove by us a little more. They back cut us. They killed us on the offensive glass. That was the difference. A tale of two halves, but it really started at the end of the first half.”

On if this game is a teaching moment going forward…

“I think you could learn from winning as easily as you could from losing. But, you can’t learn because we stopped guarding, having that same kind of intensity and physicality, and a sense of urgency. We talk about it all the time. So, we understand that. We’ll learn, but obviously learn the hard way.”

On if he was pleased with the shot selection in the second half…

“No. Arkansas turned up the defensive pressure and made it really difficult on us. They trapped Sharife (Cooper). The other guys, when the ball wasn’t in his hands, struggled to make plays and make some decisions – spacing, ball movement. We hadn’t seen that that much. It shouldn’t have bothered us, but it did.” 

Sharife Cooper, G, Fr.

On Arkansas double-teaming him…

“It wasn’t something we were expecting or game planned. Reacting to it and finding a solution a little quicker would’ve helped us.”

On what changed defensively throughout the game…

“We just got too complacent and too comfortable. We definitely can’t allow that to happen. Seeing success and taking plays off, I think that was a big, key factor in giving them back the lead. That’s something that I vocally have got to speak to my teammates to be better about. It’s early in our path together, so I don’t want to harp on it too much. But, it’s something that we definitely have got to get better at. I’ll take that to me, because I’ve got to lead my guys and make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

On what he saw with Auburn getting back into the game in the last few minutes…

“Desperation. We wanted to come here and get a win. Our back was against the wall and we fought to the end. I’m proud of that. We were one play away and we could’ve gone to overtime. I can take that and be happy with it that we didn’t give up. We fought until the end.” 

On what he saw on the last play…

“It was a high-ball screen. I think Jaylin Williams was setting it and he had Moses Moody on him. It worked the previous play and we went back to it. I just drove it down left and saw the big, (Justin) Smith, challenge the shot. I felt like I could’ve finished through the contact. I definitely wanted that one back. I feel like if I had a second chance, I would’ve finished that one. It’s over. We’re just getting ready for South Carolina and focus on them.”

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn vs. Arkansas

Auburn is riding a two-game winning streak into a trip to Arkansas on Wednesday night.

Opening statement…

“We are heading to Fayetteville. I still think Arkansas is an NCAA Tournament team. I still think they’re a team that will finish in the top six in our league. They have probably played the toughest schedule in our league so far. They’ve already played at Tennessee, at Alabama and at LSU. Those right now look to be three of the top five teams in the league. They’ve beaten us and Georgia and lost at home to Missouri, but Missouri is obviously really good. Obviously, it’s an important game for both teams, but I think they’re really good. They’re much better at home. They’re 9-1 at home, 1-3 on the road. They score it better. They turn people over more. They turned us over plenty. They scored 27 points off our turnovers. We played really hard that first game, but we wasted 15 3s. I don’t know what the numbers say, but we’re not going to make 15 3s at Arkansas. I can tell you that right now. We’ve got to do a better job of guarding them. They scored 97 points and went to the foul line like 31 times. We struggled to guard them.”

On where team has improved since first matchup with Arkansas…

“I hope our defense has improved. It has to. Devan Cambridge has been playing great coming off the bench. He’s really benefited from being able to play with Sharife (Cooper). We don’t have great depth at the guard spot, but we’re playing better there. They’re fast, they’re quick, they’re athletic, and I think the last couple of games where they’re at LSU and at Alabama, both those two teams played great. We’re maybe hopefully a little better defensively. We’ve still got to do a better job of not turning it over quite so much. Again, they scored 27 in transition.”

On how Sharife Cooper might have impacted first Arkansas game…

“I don’t know what the result would be. There are some things we obviously would’ve done better with him for sure. But that’s not going to help us too much in Fayetteville. They’ve got a game plan in how they’re going to guard him, and we’ve got to be able to get back in transition. They’re so good in transition. I really like their team. Their guards are experienced, they’re old, they get downhill. They got Justin Smith back who was hurt in our game. This would be our best win if we could get – at Arkansas, against an NCAA tournament team on the road. That’s what this is. We can’t make too many mistakes.”

On team’s improvement with Sharife Cooper back…

“It’d be like playing football without your quarterback. And now Allen Flanigan gets to play off the ball where he can be a more dominant player. Obviously, we are without Justin Powell right now – day-to-day with the concussion protocol – but Justin did a yeoman’s job at point guard. But obviously Arkansas turned him over about seven or eight times and challenged him, and everybody was attacking him. We’re better. We’re obviously better with our quarterback. He makes everybody better. He’s a pass-first, unselfish, high IQ point guard, and one of the best point guards in the league.”

On Sharife Cooper not showing too much rust in returning…

“He missed 72 practices, and he’s been with us now for about 10 days. He has a high basketball IQ, a really good leader. He’s been waiting and staying right and staying ready. It just tells you how hard he worked on his own. It tells you how hard he worked by himself to stay right and ready. A lot of kids would have opted out and done something different. He hung in there because he knew he was eligible and in good standing.”

On Sharife Cooper’s 3-point shooting…

“He can shoot it. I put the ball in his hands and trust him. That’s what I do with my players. I trust them. And if he’s open, he better shoot it.”

On the importance of rebounding vs. Arkansas…

“I just think the biggest thing is their quickness. They are fast, they are quick, they play hard. That’s going to be our great challenge. That will be an important factor for us. The motor has got to be running, and rebounding is important.”

On the confidence of the team now compared to four games ago…

“Obviously, we won a few games, so we’re happier. You can tell from my standpoint. I’m making jokes. I’m just happy for the kids. Losing wears you out. No matter how much we were prepared to have a developmental season – and we still are, this is a developmental year, we are the youngest team in the country to play a game this year, the youngest, the least experienced – losing takes its toll. We won a couple games against two teams, Georgia and Kentucky, that matter. You look at the schedule. We’ve got to play better to be able to win. So the attitude is good, and we feel good that we’re playing better. Is it good enough to keep winning? We’ll find out.”

On Arkansas guard Moses Moody…

“He’s a pro. He’s a big guard. He can score at all three levels. He’s a competitor. He’s as good as advertised. He was one of the top high school players coming out. Great get for Arkansas to keep him in state. He’s a kid that’s left home to go develop his game, so he’s paid his dues. Great size, athleticism, has got a really good feel. He’s a pro.”

On status of Chris Moore…

“(He’s) better. He could play against Arkansas a little bit. The last couple games he hasn’t played because he’s got that sprained wrist, and it’s on his right hand. He couldn’t even make a fist. So therefore shooting a ball, holding onto a basketball – he’s better.”

Everything Bruce Pearl said following Auburn’s 66-59 win over Kentucky

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl spoke following the Tigers’ 66-59 win over Kentucky on Saturday.

Opening statement…

“Beating Kentucky is historic. I thought we had a great team effort. I thought our post guys did a terrific job fronting the post and keeping it out of there. Allen Flanigan was a man out there in every which way – rebounding, defensively, attacking the rim, using his physicality, willingness to take big shots, 8 for 8 from the foul line. You talk about a warrior. But up and down the roster. Devan Cambridge has quietly put together three straight really productive games. JT Thor makes big plays late. Dylan Cardwell is out there against five-star kids, high-major transfers. He didn’t play high school basketball last year, and the year before, he played behind Kofi Cockburn at Oak Hill. Dylan Cardwell is a really, really good young prospect. I’m really proud of our team. Both teams played really hard, and offense was difficult this afternoon.”

On Devan Cambridge’s three-game stretch, coming off the bench…

“Nobody likes to step out of the starting lineup, but he knew Sharife (Cooper) belonged and he was AAU teammates on the Nike circuit with AOT. Jamal (Johnson), Al (Flanigan) and Devan all volunteered. I made the decision to let Devan really have the honor of giving his friend and one of our leaders an opportunity. To Devan’s credit, he’s come back from break and he’s been very focused. That’s why today when Sharife doesn’t have his best game – he still draws nine fouls, he still gets eight assists, he’s still got a great plus-minus – but he also sees, ‘I don’t have to carry us.’ I want him to carry us. But when he doesn’t, we can still win, and that’s a really good sign. It’s play from Devan Cambridge or Allen Flanigan or JT Thor or Dylan Cardwell or Jaylin Williams that makes all the difference in the world.”

On Sharife Cooper playing better in the second half…

“He did. Let me just say this. Think about Sharife Cooper’s week. He finds out on Saturday morning a week ago he’s going to play, and he plays Alabama in a four-point game. And then we travel Tuesday to Georgia, he plays Wednesday against his arch rival in his home state. Then he comes back and plays Kentucky? That’s a pretty tough eight days. I would imagine he’s tired. I would imagine he’s pretty sore because they were physical. And I think missing 72 days of practice – you couldn’t see it right away, but you can see it now.”

On winning the battle on the boards…

“Dylan Cardwell had four big ones (in the first half). JT (Thor) got three. If there’s traffic and there’s a bunch of bodies in there and the ball goes up, 22 in white (Allen Flanigan) is going to get it. Twenty-two in white? He’s going to get it. At the end of the day, it still boils down to defense, rebounding and 50-50 balls. And one of the things I told our team, that’s not where Sharife (Cooper) is going to make us better. We’ve got to grow up in those other areas – and to a certain extent we are – if we’re going to continue to get better.”

On beating Kentucky four seasons in a row…

“I think you’re judged by how you do against the best teams on your schedule, and certainly Kentucky is going to always be as good as anybody on our schedule. Beating Alabama is important, beating Georgia is important. So it matters. We want to make history. I think before I got here, they had lost 17 in a row or something like that. I’m not even sure.  But look, you’ve got to take advantage of your opportunity. We played Kentucky at home three years in a row, and the reason why we’ve got them at home is because TV wants the Auburn-Kentucky game because it is competitive. And our program has been one of the top-five programs in the SEC over the last four years or so. So it’s great to make history.”