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On Saturday night, Auburn's Final Four dreams ended in frustration as Florida pulled off a 79-73 comeback win to punch their ticket to the national title game. Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl wasn’t shy about where the blame should fall.
“Pearl takes responsibility for Tahaad's tough night saying ‘If he had a better coach he would've gotten some cleaner looks,’” tweeted Mike Gittens on X, formerly Twitter, capturing the brutally honest moment from the Auburn bench boss.
That level of accountability was consistent with Pearl’s tone postgame, as he faced the media after Auburn’s second-half collapse that saw an eight-point lead evaporate into a six-point loss. The Tigers coughed up 12 second-half turnovers, after having just two in the first 20 minutes.
“Again, I take responsibility for 12 turnovers in the second half,” Pearl said. “It’s just impossible to either explain or to think that you can win turning the ball over a little bit.”
Auburn falls, Florida advances to National Championship
Turnovers were the common thread in Auburn’s undoing, with players and coaches alike citing sloppiness and fatigue. Associate head coach Steven Pearl acknowledged both execution errors and Florida’s effective ball-screen defense.
“They did a better job of kind of pinching the lane between the ball handler and the roll man,” Steven Pearl said. “They had really active hands. They did a great job in the second half of just being more active defensively, and it bothered us.”
The loss was particularly painful considering Auburn’s first-half control. But the Tigers unraveled down the stretch, outscored 43-29 in the second half and committing their fifth-most turnovers in any game this season.
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Florida’s defensive pressure was only one part of the problem. The other was Walter Clayton Jr., who poured in 34 points in a jaw-dropping performance that left even legendary coaches like Roy Williams in awe.
“Clayton has been the best guard on the floor every single night,” Bruce Pearl had said Friday. “Clayton can’t be the best guard on the floor tomorrow.”
But he was — and then some.
Clayton’s shotmaking was relentless. Whether it was fading 3-pointers, tough layups through traffic, or clutch free throws, the Gators star was unshakable. Auburn defenders were draped all over him for much of the night, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“We’ll go back and watch the film and you’re going to see three or four highly contested, high-degree-of-difficulty shots,” said Steven Pearl. “But that’s why he is one of the best players in college basketball.”
For Auburn, the loss ends a season filled with promise and a tournament run that came up two wins short of the ultimate goal. For Bruce Pearl, it also served as a humbling reminder that the margins at this stage are razor thin — and when execution breaks down, the responsibility starts with him.
