Auburn HC Bruce Pearl gets 100% real about Final Four opponents
Coach Bruce Pearl guided the top-seeded Auburn Tigers (33-5) to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament with a victory over the second-seeded Michigan State Spartans (30-8).
After the victory, Pearl spoke about reaching the Final Four in "The Field Of 68" podcast shared on YouTube on Monday.
"Yep, this is different than 2019," Pearl said. "In 2019, that team finished fourth in the league. We're a five seed, and the road to the Final Four was Kansas, North Carolina, the one seed and then Kentucky, to see the Kentucky team that had three pros and so but then we got to the Final Four.
"It's Texas Tech, Michigan State, Virginia and Auburn. I mean, there was a bunch of mutts there. And in some ways, I don't even know there was a one seed. So now this time, okay, we come in as No. 1 overall, and we don't end the season great, so we're not playing great, but we beat Creighton, Michigan and Michigan State on the road to the Final Four, all really, really good teams."
He continued:
"The difference would be okay. We were better than all three of those teams, not by a lot and no criticism at this thing. We had, we had better players. We had great plans. Okay, now I look at Houston, Florida and Duke. You could not ask for three more formidable opponents than those three." (Timestamp 1:33)
The Tigers defeated the Spartans 70-64 on Sunday in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Auburn led in the first half 33-24, but their second-half performance saw them lose 37-40, which did not affect the final result.
Johni Broome led the game with the highest number of points (25), adding 14 rebounds to crown his performance. He got injured with just 10 minutes remaining after landing awkwardly on his right elbow.
Bruce Pearl's team joins the likes of Florida, Duke and Houston in the 2025 Final Four, as it features an all-No. 1 seed lineup for the first time since 2008.
Bruce Pearl gives an update on Johni Broome's injury
Addressing the media after the game, coach Bruce Pearl spoke about star player Johni Broome's injury after the forward went straight to the locker room after an injury scare.
"I didn't get any diagnosis," Pearl said. When Johni came out of the locker room, I hadn't talked to the doctor, but I just asked him, are you good to go? He said, I am. I said, well, get your a** in there. Dylan was ready to come out. Dylan was kind of calling the bench.
"If Johni had not come out, I probably would have just called a timeout. I think we won't really know until tomorrow and see what that was. Whether it's a slight hyperextension or whatever it was, obviously, the doctors were able to examine it and determine that there was no damage. I bet you it will be pretty sore tomorrow, though."
Broome will be looking to return to the Auburn team ahead of their Final Four clash against No.1 seed Florida Gators (34-4) on Saturday at the Alamodome multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas.