Auburn basketball accomplished many goals this season. However, their ultimate target of winning the NCAA Tournament came to an end Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas when SEC rival Florida erased a second-half deficit to beat the Tigers, 79-73.
After both teams played within one possession of each other for most of the first half, Auburn took a 46-38 lead into the locker room. The Gators then went on a 9-3 run over the first 3:20 of the second half to tie the game at 49-49. Florida's Thomas Haugh nailed a layup with 6:31 to go in the game to give the Gators a 64-63 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
Following the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl met with the media to discuss the factors that led to Florida's second-half comeback, the role that Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. had in the game, and much more.
Here is everything Pearl said after Auburn's tough Final Four loss to the Florida Gators.
Opening statement
"I want to start off by congratulating Florida on their victory. Wish them luck in the championship game. I'm really proud of my team, how these guys made history, the best basketball team in the history of Auburn basketball. They gave us a ride that won't ever be forgotten. They did so many great things both on and off the court that I'm extremely proud of. Played beautiful basketball in the first half. We were prepared. We had a great game plan. They executed it really well. We only turned the ball over twice. Second half, Florida's effort and energy, the fact that we're not as deep as what we normally are, was a factor. I thought fatigue was a factor. As a result, we weren't able to maintain control of the game, which I think if we had taken care of the basketball a little bit, not turned it over, not given them easy ones, we could have been in position to win the basketball game."
Issues with depth
"We got down to seven guys. That's not enough. We just did not have enough help off the bench. I think to take a little heat off of Johni, we scored great in the first half with our two-point baskets. We went through him, and he did great. I don't know whether we got away from it a little bit, but we only had a handful of two-point baskets in the second half. I'm going to give Florida credit defensively for stepping up. I just think that passing and catching and fighting for your real estate, getting your spots, not letting 'em push you out of position, I think that's why we didn't execute."
The role that Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. had on the game
"Well, he's a great player. He can go both ways. He can make tough shots. About the only thing, again, I probably should have done more is trap the ball out of his hands a little bit. Believe it or not, that was part of our game plan, but we just didn't execute it. Like just sort of you say all things are kind of equal. Clayton was the difference. He was just flat out the difference. We couldn't contain him down that end. Again, I take responsibility for 12 turnovers in the second half. It's just impossible to either explain or to think that you can win turning the ball over a little bit. We got a ...
