Bruce exclusive interview /Vandy presser

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How to break No. 16 Auburn’s Aden Holloway out of his mid-freshman year slump

Published: Jan. 31, 2024, 7:39 a.m.

5–7 minutes

NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 17 - Auburn's Aden Holloway (1) during the game between the #13 Auburn Tigers and the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

When No. 16 Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has talked about some Auburn players shooting less, he isn’t talking about Aden Holloway because Pearl trusts his freshman point guard. But now more than mid-way through his freshman year, Holloway is in a shooting slump — especially in road games.

It’s a slump where Pearl doesn’t want him to stop shooting but simply put, the ball has just got to find a way to get in the basket.

“He’s not shot the ball like he’s shot it his whole career,” Pearl said during a press conference Tuesday. “But guys are a little bigger, stronger, faster, getting to him, scouting is better. But he has to make the open ones. And he’s getting some open ones. And when he does, it makes us a lot better. I think it’s going in every time he releases it. I think it’s less about shot selection and a little bit more about just making shots.”

During Auburn’s two losses on the road last week, Holloway shot a combined 2-15 from the field including not making a two-point shot and going 2-12 on 3s. In Auburn’s last 10 games, Holloway is shooting 28% from the field and averaging 6.9 points per game. He’s scored in double-figures twice during that stretch. Holloway’s game is reliant on his shooting. Just under 70% of all the shots he’s taken this season have been 3-point attempts.

And yet, Auburn went 8-2 in those 10 games because Holloway is averaging three assists for every turnover.

Part of this is the normal track for a freshman, but Holloway’s track is different coming to Auburn with a resume donned with five stars attached to this name and a McDonald’s All-American accolade.

He’ll get to begin building confidence back during an 8 p.m. game Wednesday night against Vanderbilt in Neville Arena. Auburn (16-4, 5-2) has already beaten Vanderbilt once this season, winning 80-65 on Jan. 17 in Nashville.

That was the only true road game where Holloway has scored double-digit points this season. That was on the only true road game where Holloway has made more than two shots.

“So just being open and honest with him, just continue to put him in position to be successful,” Pearl said. “Like any player, he’s probably surprised by the jump in the level no matter how much you tell them.”

Holloway may be the most high profile, but the shooting struggles are not his alone.

As a team, Auburn shot 11-49 on 3-pointers in its two losses to Alabama and Mississippi State last week.

“There’s nothing special to it,” forward Jaylin Williams said Monday. “We all shoot the same ball, it’s just being more, I guess, confident in ourselves.”

“I am hard on myself so I’d say it is kinda a mental battle when you put in so much work and that shot’s not falling,” forward Chaney Johnson added. “I know as long as I put in the work, it’s going to show. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but it’s going to show eventually. That’s all that matters.”

That’s how Holloway and Auburn will respond to a slump: by continuing to shoot the ball.

Certainly, there were frustrations that followed Auburn’s first rough patch all season. Auburn’s two losses last week were its first losses of any kind since Dec. 3. Auburn had entered last week on an 11-game win streak and climbed up into the top 10 of the Associated Press top 25 poll. With two losses, it dropped down to No. 16.

And that frustration from fans had boiled over to the point where Pearl responded publicly to it.

“You know, I don’t often put out tweets about our whole season because our season sort of speaks for itself and we have press conferences all the time,” Pearl said Monday. “I’ve got a radio show, a TV show. There’s plenty of time for me to communicate with our fans. But I’m going to communicate with them again just about some of the noise over losing a couple games on the road this weekend, it’s important to me. We’re going to lose some more games. We’re probably going to lose several more games.”

Pearl has consistently said that while this Auburn team is better than he expected, it isn’t as good as the rankings may claim it to be. And when a shooting slump like this happens, a slump in the team’s performance will follow. The SEC is a very difficult league. Nine teams already have 14 or more wins. It’s brutal to win on the road in this conference. Sometimes, it can even be tough to win at home as South Carolina won at No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday.

But that’s why Pearl felt a need to tweet about his team. Two January losses do not mean time to panic. His players are confident if they just keep shooting, the ball will find the net. Pearl is too. And maybe facing Vanderbilt, one of two SEC teams winless in league play, comes at a good time.

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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