Basketball Articles

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al.com

After second straight loss, Bruce Pearl says No. 8 Auburn’s guards need to shoot less

Published: Jan. 27, 2024, 6:27 p.m.

5–6 minutes

MISSISSIPPI STATE, MS - JANUARY 27 - Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara (10) during the game between the #8 Auburn Tigers and the Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum in Mississippi State, MS on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Throughout No. 8 Auburn’s 11-game win streak between a Dec. 3 loss to Appalachian State and Wednesday’s loss to Alabama, one of the strengths of this team had been its point guard play. Essentially splitting duties at point guard, Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson combined to form one of the most productive and efficient duos in the nation.

But that praise had turned to frustration as Auburn head Bruce Pearl reacted to his team’s loss to 64-58 loss to Mississippi State. It was the second straight loss for Auburn as it finished its two-game road trip 0-2. Auburn is now 16-4 this season and 5-2 in the SEC.

Pearl’s message shifted after the loss. He previously encouraged players to keep shooting, and he believed they would eventually hit the big shot.

“You gotta trust him,” Pearl said of point guard Aden Holloway after Auburn’s loss to Alabama. “Know that he’s gonna make a shot.”

After the loss to Mississippi State, he said his players need to be more selective, and for some, maybe not shoot the ball at all.

“We continue to struggle to shoot it on the road,” Pearl said. “And we continue to, unfortunately, take some of those same shots that we’re just gonna have to either have to make, or some guys are going to have to just put it away. Because it’s hurting our offensive productivity when we’re launching and missing like we are on the road.”

In previous road games, Pearl has said Auburn’s poor shooting performances could change over time, knowing that Auburn was just a few misses on open shots turned to makes from getting an ever-hard-to-come-by win on the road.

But now, five true road games in, bad shooting has become more of a trend. As a result, Auburn missed two chances at a Quad-1 road win this week. A Quad-1 win of any kind has continued to elude Auburn this season.

In Auburn’s three losses in true road games, Auburn has shot a combined 73-189. That’s 38%. Auburn shot 34% in the loss to Mississippi State, which was the lowest rate from the field in any of the three losses.

Separate it for just 3-pointers and the numbers are worse. Auburn is 14-76 in its three road losses.

That’s 18%.

Holloway and Donaldson struggled going a combined 7-25 from the field against Alabama and Mississippi State this week. K.D. Johnson took six attempts from beyond the arc this week. He made none of them. Denver Jones responded by shooting 2-3 on 3-pointers Saturday after going 1-5 against Alabama. Chad Baker-Mazara, who plays a blend guard/forward role, was 4-14 this week and 1-5 on 3-pointers. Jaylin Williams, a forward who had been arguably Auburn’s best player during the 11-game streak, shot 3-11 against Mississippi State including 0-4 of 3s and two missed layups.

“Yeah, more selective for some, put it away for others,” Pearl said when asked about the team’s guard play.

It’s hard to win, and nearly impossible to win on the road, with shooting numbers like that.

Auburn is now 2-3 in its five road games. When it scored 80 or more points, it won. When it didn’t hit that mark, it lost.

Poor shooting has been a common denominator in the losses, and that is in part due to poor decision-making, which Pearl now plans to work on curbing based on his postgame comments.

There are few things tougher in college basketball than winning on the road. Auburn lost to Alabama and Mississippi State by a combined 10 points this week.

Giving up opportunities with its own shooting makes that even tougher. So Pearl will look to help Auburn become more selective, and more efficient.

“I’ve got some guys that just are struggling to shoot the ball, and they need to stop,” Pearl said during his postgame radio appearance. “They just need to stop shooting if they can’t make it. As a result, the ball will move and maybe you’ll have a chance to get him more than seven shots. But we can’t, because the ball is just getting chucked up there.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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Why Bruce Pearl believes Auburn's recent road games were lost 'kind of the same way'

Updated: Jan. 27, 2024, 6:17 p.m.|Published: Jan. 27, 2024, 6:10 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Auburn Basketball

‘We lost both games kind of the same way’: Pearl identifies similar woes in Auburn’s pair of losses

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, right, instructs Dylan Cardwell (44) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/James Crisp)AP

Auburn was trailing Mississippi State by one point with just more than four minutes to play when Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard hurled up a deep 3-point attempt, which rattled off the rim and off the backboard.

Underneath Mississippi State’s basket was Auburn’s Johni Broome, KD Johnson, Jaylin Williams and Tre Donaldson. For the Bulldogs, Tolu Smith III was the only one under the basket, while the rest of Mississippi State’s players stayed scattered about the perimeter.

It was four orange Auburn jerseys to one white Mississippi State jersey.

Yet it was Smith in the white Mississippi State jersey who came down with the rebound, making for one of the Bulldogs’ 14 offensive rebounds against the Tigers Saturday afternoon from Starkville’s Humphrey Coliseum.

Less than 15 seconds later, Mississippi State’s Cameron Matthews found himself at the free throw line, where he went 1-for-2, missing his second attempt but gathering his own rebound and converting on a second-chance layup.

Matthews alone finished the afternoon with six offensive rebounds and three second-chance buckets as he led Mississippi State with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

On Saturday, that 15-second sequence alone helped paint the picture of what led to Auburn dropping its second-straight road game in a low-scoring, 64-58 loss to the Bulldogs, who out-rebounded the Tigers 45-30.

“When you get out-rebounded like we got out-rebounded, it was something,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said during the post-game radio broadcast.

Auburn’s struggles on the glass came just one day after Pearl harped on the matter.

During his press conference Friday, Pearl called the Tigers’ defensive rebounding efforts his “No. 1 concern.”

“I hate to be right sometimes,” Pearl said. “But my concern of where we were with our defensive rebounding — that’s a big part of it.”

Against Mississippi State, Auburn allowed the Bulldogs pull down 14 offensive rebounds while the Tigers logged 24 defensive rebounds — meaning Mississippi State gathered its own missed shot 36.8% of the time.

To make matters worse, the Bulldogs found scoring success after collecting their own rebounds as Mississippi State tallied 12 second-chance points — of which five came in the final 3:50 of play.

“In the second half, while we were better offensively, we gave up too many second-chance points,” Pearl said.

Conversely, Auburn managed to come down with a rebound on just 16.2% of its own misses and tallied a less-than-impressive three second-chance points.

And if watching Saturday’s performance on the glass felt familiar, it’s because it was familiar.

In its win streak-snapping loss to Alabama on Wednesday, Auburn also experienced rebounding struggles — particularly on the defensive end as the Crimson Tide tallied 16 offensive rebounds, which led to 21 second-chance points.

In the Tigers’ last two times out, they’ve allowed their opponents in Alabama and Mississippi State to come down with an offensive rebound 36% of the time, which has led to Auburn giving up 33 total second-chance points. All the while, the Tigers tallied just 15 combined second-chance points against he Crimson Tide and Bulldogs.

“At the end of both games, we didn’t get stops, we didn’t get rebounds,” Pearl said. “That’s what cost us at Alabama. And that’s partly what cost us at Mississippi State. Free-throw check out, we don’t get it. I think, in some ways, we lost both games kind of the same way.”

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Recap: Auburn loses second straight in Starkville

Brian Hauch

~2 minutes

The Plains weren’t the only thing that looked flat in Auburn on Saturday.

Bruce Pearl and the No. 6 Auburn Tigers barely showed up for their seventh SEC tilt against Mississippi State, losing 64-58 to the Bulldogs.

The Tigers shot just 35% from the field in the game.

Forward Johni Broome was efficient but overall not very productive on an afternoon where his team desperately needed him, as the junior finished with a team-high 14 points on just 7 attempts from the field.

Auburn’s backcourt struggled once again on the road, as Trae Donaldson, Aden Holloway, and K.D Johnson combined for just 13 points in the contest.

Mississippi State came into the game with a ferocious defense, especially at home, but Auburn’s inability to score the basketball for the second straight road came is definitely cause for concern.

As for Mississippi State, star forward Tolu Smith arguably outplayed Broome in this game. The senior not only shut down Broome on the defensive end, but also contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds in the game. He was a key cog in the Bulldogs defensive stand to hold off Auburn’s comeback attempt as well. Smith also helped Mississippi State out-rebound Auburn by 15 in the game.

Auburn’s second-straight loss drops the Tigers to 5-2 in SEC play. They’ll go back to the drawing board before returning to Neville Arena to host Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

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si.com

Takeaways: Auburn Basketball Loses 64-58 At Mississippi State

Lance Dawe

2–3 minutes

The Auburn Tigers lost their second-straight game on Saturday afternoon.

Auburn (16-4, 5-2 SEC) has now lost two SEC games in a row following their defeat at the hands of Mississippi State.

Here are takeaways from the loss.

Second-chance points

Mississippi state snagged 14 offensive rebounds and came away with 12 points. It's not a massive eye-catching stat, but compared to the Tigers' six offensive boards and three second-chance points, it proved to be crucial in a six-point loss.

Bruce Pearl emphasized the importance of keeping State off of the glass. They just couldn't do it in the biggest moments down the stretch.

That miss free throw putback with time winding down was devastating.

Lack of focus

Auburn seemed sluggish, careless with the basketball in important moments, and just tired.

The Tigers would gain momentum, cut the lead to one or tie the game, and then lose all intensity and toss the ball off of feet or out of bounds. Eight of their 11 turnovers came in the second half.

The biggest question throughout the season is whether or not Auburn can put together two really good halves. They've been extremely dominant at times this year, but not for an entire game.

Second half lull

Speaking of not being able to tie together two periods of play, Mississippi State whipped Auburn in the second half. The Bulldogs shot 57.7% from the floor and 44.4% from deep. Four of their five threes were in the second half. They had 12 fast break points in the final 20 minutes.

Here's a fun stat from Nathan King of 247Sports:

In the final 5:22 of Auburn's loss at Alabama, the Tigers allowed four offensive rebounds, leading to 6 second-chance points. In the final 4:03 of Auburn's loss at Mississippi State, the Tigers allowed three offensive rebounds, leading to 4 second-chance points.

Auburn has to focus up.

Is this a wake up call?

Maybe two straight losses is what Auburn needs to wake up. The Tigers feel like one of the better teams in the SEC. But when are they going to start showing up on the road against good competition?

It's a difficult thing to win on the road. It's another to sleepwalk through nearly an entire contest. The Tigers need to wake up.

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247sports.com

 

That was a classic rock fight as Bulldogs rock 8 Auburn 6458

David H. Murray

5–6 minutes

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STARKVILLE – A new-look lineup and an old defensive identity made Mississippi State a winner again.

The Bulldogs baffled visiting and #8-ranked Auburn into missing two-thirds of their shots, while making efficient use of a revamped offense for a 64-58 final. Mississippi State improved to 14-6 and 3-4 SEC, and quieted some questions of where this season was heading.

By taking down the Tigers, Mississippi State notched a second top-ten win on the season to go with an earlier upset of #5 Tennessee. Auburn dropped a second road game on the week and left 16-4, 5-2.

Though clearly underdogs, the Bulldogs gave this game added emphasis in terms of both SEC record and NCAA status beyond. Yes, it was that important to program plans.

“The way we prepared, the way we practiced, this was a must-win for us, for sure,” guard Shakeel Moore said. Their coach was saying similar things including to his son.

“I didn’t tell anyone else that, but it was a must-win in my mind,” Chris Jans said. “We need more Quad 1 wins, and this was a really good Quad 1 win because of how high they’re ranked.”

The preparation Moore mentioned was also unusual in that Jans relaxed actual practices after the road trip to Florida. He wanted to refresh the minds and bodies both. “I don’t know if that helped or not but I thought they played like we feel for the most part is how we need to play to win games.”

That way? Defend, rebound, and avoid playing to Tiger strengths in a fast-paced affair.

Because, as forward D.J. Matthews said, “Our identity is defense and toughness. That’s what we can always rely on.”

It worked. Auburn ended up shooting just 34%, beaten badly on both backboards, and all around frustrated by a Buldog bunch that got down and got dirty.

“That was a classic rock fight,” Jans said, adding later “It wasn’t for the meek.”

It was the right time to make a lineup move, too. Jans had considered guard Josh Hubbard everything but a starter up to now, with his minutes and scoring. This time, the freshman was told “about 90 minutes before the game” he would be on the tipoff team.

Hubbard wasn’t rattled or for that matter over-amped. “Not really. Coach Jans always tells me starting lineups are just getting started for the game. Only difference is I’m just getting my name called first.” Literally so in this case as Hubbard was announced first, the home crowd responding loudly before the name was even called.

The SEC’s top-scoring freshman rewarded everyone with a game-best 17 points, poised ball-handling, and even aggressive defense. His high point came on an inbounds pass he threw and got back, after Auburn cut State’s late lead to a lone point.

Falling off to his right with a defender on his left, Hubbard swished the off-balance threeball. “He looked at me like he’d scored on me!” Jans said. “It was pretty stone cold and made me feel good.”

Mississippi State had to feel good or at least alright with how the first half developed. Auburn tried rushing things against a gritty defense and ended up with as many turnovers than baskets early on. Bulldogs were forcing Tigers to start their offense farther out than even Auburn likes and this resulted in a couple of shot-clock violations.

But State’s offense wasn’t taking full advantage, missing 11 of 12 treys tried. Auburn was doubling up on Tolu Smith, which had the senior stepping out to take and make a ten-footer. Halftime showed a 21-21 scoreboard with top Tiger shut out entirely.

He took care of that to open the next half with a pair of buckets. But Hubbard, held out much of the second quarter by fouls, kept State on pace and better by hitting his shots. The Dogs were up 33-27 at 14:36 as Auburn’s Caldwell got his fourth foul. Even when consecutive Tiger treys evened the scoreboard, Hubbard had the outside answer of his own and then laid in a full-length inbounds pass.

Hubbard came out at 12:03 with a slight limp so in his absence Shawn Jones provided five fast points and a 45-40 lead. Nor was this only a slowed rock fight as Jans told the team just surviving Auburn’s pressure after made shots wasn’t good enough. “So a couple times we ran some home-run type plays and that helped alleviate some stress.” When Tigers did miss State was able to get the defensive rebounds out faster because Auburn was sending everyone to the glass.

Hubbard’s in-your-face trey slowed any Auburn rally, as did misses on their end. This time, too, a squad struggling at the stripe came through. Moore and Matthews made five free throws down the stretch to seal success.

Forward Cameron Matthews had 14 points for State but also 11 rebounds, and was key to steadying everyone else down in breaking the inbounds presses. “He’s our engine, our personality,” Jans said. Moore scored a dozen and while Jeffries only netted five points his 12 rebounds were crucial.

Auburn never led by more than a basket, and only by a point for 24 seconds of the last half. Broome got all his 14 points in the last half with seven rebounds, with 12 more from guard Jaylin Williams. The Tigers were 6-of-24 at the arc and whipped 45-30 on the glass.

“All this week (Coach) was talking to us about getting grounded, out-tough them and play defense,” Jeffries said. “That’s what we did.”

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247sports.com

PMARSHONAU Road trip leaves Tigers staggering

Phillip Marshall

8–9 minutes

Auburn entered the week as a top-10 team and 5-0 in the SEC, and now exits with consecutive losses for the first time all season — and a pair of missed opportunities for quality victories on the Tigers' resume.

In a rock fight of a game, Auburn was outmuscled on the glass and couldn't find much consistent offense against the best defense it's faced so far this season, falling 64-58 at Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon.

"They're both Quad 1 teams and we've lost to the best teams on our schedule," Bruce Pearl said postgame of Auburn's 0-2 week on the road. "There's something to be said for beating the people you're supposed to beat. We've done that. Not many people are going to come in and beat Mississippi State. Tennessee didn't. Alabama did, but there won't be many people that'll win in here. We'd like to think that we could have. We'd like to think we had a shot at it. But we didn't get enough step up. You have to step up and be able to make plays."

Here Auburn Undercover's five takeaways, as the Tigers are still without a Quad 1 win this season.

REBOUNDING PUTS AUBURN AWAY

Pearl admitted this week that his “No. 1 concern” about his team moving forward in its SEC schedule was on the glass. And Auburn’s opponent Saturday is one of the most physical squads in the SEC.

Mississippi State completely punished Auburn on the boards in the early going, with as large as a 21-8 advantage overall. But the biggest killer was the Bulldogs’ ability to crash the offensive glass. 

Cameron Matthews had five offensive rebounds all by himself in the first half, which led to a trio of second-chance baskets. 

Matthews was a bruiser late, too. Auburn tightened up a bit after Mississippi State’s early rebounding onslaught, not allowing an offensive rebound in the final 4:35 of the first half, and only three in the second half.

But the Bulldogs' first and second offensive rebounds of the second half, though, were brutal for the Tigers, as they put Matthews (14 points and 11 rebounds) on the line for two shots with 3:50 remaining. He missed the first, then got his own rebound off the second and put the ball in for an easy basket to put Mississippi State up by 4 points with under four minutes to play. Josh Hubbard (17 points) also had a big 3-pointer late for the Bulldogs. 

Mississippi State outrebounded Auburn 45-30 for the game.

"It was as physical as we thought," Pearl said on postgame radio. "They're a really athletic team. ... When you get outrebounded like we got outrebounded — it was just something."

Denver Jones' 3-pointer kept things a one-possession game, but Jones couldn't later convert a baseline drive to the basket, and the Bulldogs made 8-of-10 free throws late in a game where they shot just 9-of-18 from the line.

CARDWELL'S ABSENCE FELT

Adding to Auburn’s rebounding troubles was Dylan Cardwell’s foul trouble, as the backup center picked up two fouls less than eight minutes into the game. And when Cardwell came back in to spell Johni Broome for the final few minutes of the first half, he was almost immediately hit with a touch foul on a rebounding attempt, sending him back to the bench with three personals in four minutes on the floor. 

When he came in for the first time in the second half, his fourth foul come on his second defensive possession.

Broome is one of the most skilled big men in the conference, but Cardwell’s strength and physicality at the 5 position was missed by Auburn, as the Bulldogs continually skied overtop for offensive rebounds and putback points in the first half.

Broome had to play 35 minutes, his most in a game this season. In an anticipated battle down low against Tolu Smith, Broome limited the Mississippi State fifth-year senior to just 9 points, his fewest in eight games this season since returning from injury.

DEFENSIVE CLINIC ON BOTH ENDS

For most of the first half, Auburn shot the basketball poorly, and rebounded the basketball dreadfully. And yet, the Tigers were tied 21-21 heading to the locker room.

In a defensive clinic for both teams, Auburn’s making for tough shots by the Bulldogs was key while the Tigers slogged through their other issues.

Turnovers were key for Auburn to keep things close with its defense, scoring 16 points off 14 takeaways. A steal-and-score by Tre Donaldson, followed by a made free throw after the contact, gave Auburn a 46-45 lead with 7:51 remaining — its first lead in the game since the 14:56 mark of the first half.

With both teams in front of their bench after halftime though, Mississippi State was much crisper offensively in the second half, making 10 of its first 15 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers that helped keep Auburn at bay. 

Auburn opened the game shooting just 7-of-25 from the floor and were 33.9 percent for the game, its lowest mark all season.

"Obviously they played really good defensively," Pearl said. "We didn't do well. We didn't execute very well."

Coming off the bench for the first time in SEC play, Aden Holloway struggled a bit with three turnovers but had a couple timely 3-pointers — tying the game at 21-21 right before halftime, and 33-33 in the second half. Johni Broome had all of his team-high 14 points in the second half.

But it felt like every time Auburn was in position to take the lead, trailing by one possession, the Tigers either turned it over or were limited to a tough shot attempt. Auburn shot an improved 39 percent after halftime but had eight turnovers in the second half.

"Johni hung in there," Pearl said. "Again, Tolu Smith had 9 points. What kind of a job did Johni Broome do in there? Yeoman's work. Played great defense, played hard. They double in the post, so it was hard to get him touches on the inside. And I'm sure he was a little frustrated. He had some great baskets and some great plays himself on the inside. We probably could have done a better job of getting it to him — because he's 5-of-7, and the team is shooting 34 percent."

BRIEF LINEUP CHANGE FOR AUBURN

Pearl went with new starters in the backcourt for the first time since early in the season, with Tre Donaldson starting at point guard over Aden Holloway, and K.D. Johnson in over Denver Jones at the 2-guard.

According to the SEC Network broadcast, the lineup changes were due to a “violation of team rules.” Pearl confirmed as much postgame but did not go into details.

For Johnson, Saturday marked his first start since the 2022 NCAA tournament. 

Mississippi State also debuted a first-team starter in the backcourt, with the freshman Hubbard taking the place of Dashawn Davis.

Both Holloway and Jones checked in at the under-16 timeout, after Johnson grabbed two steals and Donaldson scored a breakaway basket.

PEARL DISPLEASED WITH SHOT SELECTION

Pearl has always been the type of offensive coach at Auburn who implores his players to shoot the ball when opportunities present themselves. So it takes a lot for Pearl to show the kind of frustration he did Saturday about his shooters.

Mississippi State is one of the best defensive teams in the country, so it wasn't going to come easy, but the Tigers shot just 25 percent from long range. And Broome shot 5-of-5 in the second half, but everyone else for Auburn was just 7-of-26 from the floor (26.9 percent).

Holloway, K.D. Johnson, Chad Baker-Mazara and Chris Moore combined to shoot just 4-of-22 for the game.

"I've got some guys that just are struggling to shoot the ball, and they need to stop," Pearl said. "They just need to stop shooting if they can't make it. As a result, the ball will move and maybe you'll have a chance to get him more than seven shots. But we can't, because the ball is just getting chucked up there."

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[phillyeagle 130]

We have a set where Broome sets a screen for Aden to the wing, and the defenders always go under the screen and leave room for Aden to shoot the 3 off the dribble, practically begging him to take the shot. On a miss, we're at a disadvantage because there's no one down low to get an offensive rebound, plus we're vulnerable to a fast break because our SG and SF are deep in the 2 corners. Aden has been missing way too many of those to keep trying them. We've got to find some motion off of this set that gets a good open look or stop running it altogether.