Auburn basketball’s dream season in the SEC continued on Friday as the top-seeded Tigers knocked off Ole Miss 62-57 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
The Rebels made things close throughout with their stingy defense and even tied the game at 46 late in the second half, but Auburn eventually pulled away to get the win. After the game, head coach Bruce Pearl went on the ESPN desk and couldn’t quite contain his excitement, dropping an NSFW line that was absolutely gold.
Bruce Pearl: “My guards aren’t pu***es.”
Do WHAT
pic.twitter.com/5PndFz3ivg
— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) March 14, 2025
“The key to our 3-point line defense is we’ve got bigs that can get out there and guard guards,” Pearl said excitedly about his Auburn squad. “I got bigs that can get out there and guard guards, and my guards aren’t p*****s. They’re willing to go down there and bang a little bit.”
Pearl does have some junkyard dogs in his backcourt, and he wasn’t about to hide that from anybody. Auburn’s defensive versatility is a primary reason that it has a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament just about locked up already, and that was on full display on Friday against Ole Miss.
Auburn held Ole Miss to under 38% shooting and just 4-for-23 from 3-point range, completely stifling an offense that hung 83 points on Arkansas just 24 hours earlier. Sean Pedulla, one of the best shooters in the SEC, didn’t make a single triple in five attempts during a very frustrating outing.
Ole Miss more than held its own on the other end, holding Auburn to just six 3s and forcing 15 turnovers. However, big man Johni Broome was the difference in the game. The SEC Player of the Year finished as one of just two Tigers in double figures (along with Denver Jones) with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting and 15 rebounds.
With Auburn clinging to just a three-point lead inside the final minute, Ole Miss had a chance to get one stop and go down to the other end with a chance to force overtime. Auburn dumped the ball down to Broome in the post and he went to his trusty left hand for the bucket to put the game out of reach.
The Tigers will now play a semifinal against wither Tennessee or Texas on Saturday in what should be an absolute battle. However, with Broome dominating and the backcourt displaying plenty of toughness — to paraphrase Pearl’s words — this Auburn basketball team will take its chances against anybody.
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