Mar 17, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts with Auburn forward Horace Spencer (0) and his teammates as his hat is reversed by the team following the championship game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Auburn Tigers in the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Auburn won 84-64. Photo Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl may be college basketball’s version of the house-flipping guru Tarek El Moussa of the HGTV series “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.”
He did this earlier in his career at the University of Milwaukee where he took the Panthers to the Sweet 16 in his fourth season after the program had struggled to find its relevance. He had two NCAA appearances after the 13-13 start in season one.
Then, as he fit into Knoxville in 2006, he took Tennessee to the NCAA Tournament all six years with three Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight after Tennessee missed the postseason for five years in a row.
Sunday’s 84-64 rout of the Vols once again punctuated Pearl’s prowess in flipping college basketball houses. It took Pearl four years at Auburn to win a regular season championship and five for him to lead the Tigers to an SEC Tournament title.
Of course, there was good reason for that. The house at Auburn had to not only have a foundation, but Pearl had to literally take the shovel out of his coaching tool box and break ground on his vision for the Auburn program when he got there five years ago.
The Tigers had slumbered since Cliff Ellis had relevant teams in the 1990s and the early 2Ks. This wasn’t a quick-fix and Pearl did it the right way, brick-by-brick with all of his juices going into the program on and off the court.
In fact, Auburn’s 2019 tournament championship was the first since 1985 when Sonny Smith led Auburn to the title in Nashville as well.
Auburn set the tone with a 17-1 run midway through the first half as the Tigers’ quick hands were forcing waves of Vols turnovers and converting transition.
“They played terrific basketball, really from start to finish,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “We came out and have seven straight turnovers – gave a team like that who is explosive a chance to get down the court.”
Auburn scored 21 points off 17 turnovers and then – although the smaller team, the Tigers out rebounded Tennessee, 39-33, and scored 17 points off 13 offensive boards.
“The rule changes the last couple of years have really put a limit on full-court pressure and made trapping difficult,” said Pearl. “To try to stay within the framework of our defensive philosophy, we had to become more disruptive in the half court than what my teams have typically been.”
The fact that Auburn forced 14 steals on Sunday and 16 in a 65-62 win over Florida in Saturday’s semifinals speaks to that disruption. The Tigers use their quickness to get low on the dribblers with their ability to force so many steals.
The key is not going for the ball out of opponents hands on the bounce, but to deflect the ball when it gets down near the ankles or feet. There is no way to counter that because it is quickness and timing that has become such a disruptor.
On the flip side of the court, the three-point shot is the impetus for success. The Tigers average nearly 12 made three-point shots per game. They absolutely blistered Tennessee with the three-ball by making 15-of-40 in the title game.
Auburn tries to set the pace by making the triples early. One thing they have gotten better at is reeling in the three if it is not going early and then exploring their offense. It helps when you have a 6-8 athlete like Chuma Okeke, who can play all five positions and can consistently knock down the three-point shot. He also can consistently get the ball down inside and use his post moves to score off anyone in the paint.
Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke had five each from long distance as Okeke made four of his five throughout the early part as the Tigers took a commanding 54-32 lead with 12:41 remaining.
“I knew my teammates had a lot of faith in me and I had to step up,” said Okeke. “They kept finding me and giving open shots with the drive. I knew I had to come through for my teammates.”
As the Tigers used such a high level disruptive defensive approach and three-point shooting to play their best basketball of the season in winning four games in four days for the SEC Tournament title, they get back on stage in Salt Lake City on Thursday with as a 5-seed which includes a date with a really strong WAC champion in New Mexico State.
“We’re obviously going to celebrate this tonight and we will probably wake up in the morning feeling good about it,” said Pearl after the win in Nashville. “Then, we will try to take advantage if we can and represent the SEC in the NCAA Tournament.”
