“The overall No. 1 seed [Auburn] got screwed,” ESPN college hoops analyst Seth Greenberg had pointedly said talking about potential future matchups as March Madness inches closer. Exactly three days later, the Tigers pulled off an 83-63 win over South No. 16 seed Alabama State in the Round of 64 catapulting them into the actual March Madness battlefield, with some exciting/worrying matchups. The first of that? A March 22 clash against the Creighton Bluejays—the same team that upset Louisville earlier this week with an 89-75 win and a resounding statement to its opponents. So, as expected, insiders are worried, and one ex-NCAA head coach even took it up a notch with some worrisome truths…

But before we talk about that: Notably, Tigers’ head coach Bruce Pearl was hardly amused despite the team’s 20-point win over Alabama State. In a post-game conversation, the coach had admitted, “We won’t beat Creighton playing the way we played tonight.” At one point, the coach even called it the Tigers’ performance worse vs Yale last season (an upset loss that sent the Tigers home after the first round of the tournament). So what exactly went wrong, despite the numbers suggesting otherwise? For starters, the main issue was Auburn’s “lack of energy” and not valuing possessions on both offense and defense. What’s more worrisome is despite leading by 13 in the first half, Alabama State cut the lead to a single point with 1:27 left for intermission. While that isn’t too alarming on the surface, that’s now how a No.1 seed vs No. 16 seed game should typically go, isn’t it? But it’s not all bad either, with Miles Kelly matching Bryce Brown’s March Madness program record with seven 3-pointers, and finishing with a game-high 83 points.

No. 9 Creighton, on the other hand, continues to prove its worth. In their latest clash vs No. 8 Louisville, Greg McDermott’s team managed to lead 49-34 at the break, and didn’t let go of the double-digit lead for the rest of the game. While the opponents succeeded in cutting it down to 12 with less than five minutes remaining, Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey getting a technical foul with 4:41 to go sealed the win for the Bluejays. For the unversed: The HC was protesting a foul call on his team attempting to get a defensive rebound. All in all, it was day worth remembering for Creighton, and a day that intensified tensions in the Tigers’ locker room, especially after Matt McCall didn’t mince his words…

On The Field of 68: After Dark podcast on March 20, show hosts Rob Dauster, former NCAA head coach McCall, and Jeff Goodman discussed the high-voltage second-round matchup. And their discussion? McCall brought up Creighton’s strategy, which was to give Louisville deep shots in the midrange, forcing the Cardinals into no-man’s-land. “Auburn’s length, athleticism…those closeouts…you got to think a little bit better when they watch this [Creighton vs Louisville] tape…you got to think that they’re going to say, ‘Okay look we have Johni Broome. The only reason to double team is to keep them out of foul trouble.’ And if we do double team, then our rotations out of the double teams to take away three-point shots has to be on point.”

McCall further added, “They have the athleticism to do it. There’s no question about it. No doubt. Can Broome stay out of foul trouble?…Another thing, too, today. And we talked about it before the game even tipped off: How many two-point jump shots…which is what Creighton wants you to do…How many two-point jump shots did Louisville miss in the game? They missed hundreds, it seemed like. That’s what Creighton wants you to do. That’s what they’re going to make Auburn do. They’re going to make them take long two-point jump shots, and if you fall into the bait of taking them, you can lose just like Louisville did.” 

Not only that, Creighton’s offense is quite high-tempo! They have solid talent everywhere, from the perimeter to the paint, and a couple of their guys stepped up quite well in the first round. Goodman even went as far as to call Ryan Kalkbrenner “as good of an all-around big man that there is in the country.” The seven-footers’ dominance was well-known heading into March, but Jamiya Neal took the playoffs by surprise!

Neal’s 29-point masterclass on insane shooting splits was the game-changer for his team. “I just think right now, Jamiya Neal is playing at a different level and that changes Creighton.” Meanwhile, Auburn is presented with a myriad of questions ahead of their second-round showing. The Tigers dominated quite heavily in the regular season, but their troubles in March are well known. With Creighton’s next, Bruce Pearl is placed in a precarious position.

“I don’t know if there’s anybody in the SEC that runs offense and runs sets and have the shooters that Creighton had. I don’t know if Auburn has necessarily seen a team that’s going to do some of the stuff that Creighton’s going to do,” co-host Rob Dauster pointed out, prompting the former UMass HC to point out, “I mean the discipline defensively from Auburn is where Creighton possibly can take advantage of. Or the lack thereof of discipline.”

Notably, this comes days after Tigers alum Charles Barkley had expressed his disappointment in “Auburn’s energy level (in the first half), because, as I said earlier, in a one-and-done scenario, you can’t relax”. 

Anything less than a Final Four would be a disappointment after the season that Auburn had. However, Alabama State exposed a few gaps in Bruce Pearl’s team that he would like to fix going forward. What exactly were they? Let’s find out!

Bruce Pearl wants more out of his team after the first-round triumph

Not a single soul expected the Auburn Tigers to lose in the first round. Alabama State, although a very good team, lacks the sheer talent required to beat Johni Broome and his teammates. However, their victory felt empty as opposed to the margin they won by. The Hornets exposed a few glaring issues in Auburn’s style of play, but what exactly went wrong for Bruce Pearl’s squad?

After a twenty-point triumph in the first round, Bruce Pearl addressed the media, disappointed with his team’s performance. But first, he gave credit where credit was due.“They were a formidable opponent. We didn’t play our best, but I think they had a lot to do with it. So I just give them a great deal of credit.” 

Alabama State pointed out a few major flaws in Bruce Pearl’s team. For one, their free-throw shooting was atrocious! The Tigers shot about 56% from the foul line and missed a total of fourteen free throws. Pearl spoke a lot about valuing possessions on both ends of the court. “Did we value every possession on the defensive end? Did we value any offensive end scoring through contact? Did we just rely on the whistle? And then would we finish plays?” A lot of answers to give before they move to the second round. With head coach questions, he is surely not pulling any punches against his team.

After all, it all boils down to one game. March Madness is unpredictable, and Bruce Pearl knows that better than most. If Auburn doesn’t lock in for the game against Creighton, they could be facing a horrendous upset! Stay tuned for the action on Saturday as both teams go head-to-head for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.