When Bruce Pearl first arrived on the tarmac at Auburn University Regional Airport, he spoke directly to the crowd of students and fans waiting for him, telling them that he wanted that same reception when the team came back with an SEC Championship.
Now, he is the first Auburn coach to win three SEC Championships and is showing no signs of slowing down.
“Tampa is gonna be an opportunity for us to win another championship,” Pearl said in the postgame show on the Auburn Sports Network.
Auburn went wire-to-wire against the Frank Martin led Gamecocks (18-12, 9-9 SEC, defeating South Carolina 82-71. Jabari Smith led in scoring once again with 21 points, his third straight 20 point game, and KD Johnson was not far behind with 18.
“He’s an unselfish player, he’s a productive player,” Pearl said about Smith’s performance. “Every player on the floor is challenged in their matchup, Jabari Smith is gonna win his matchup every night.”
South Carolina started the game ice cold on the offensive end, with more turnovers than points through the first six minutes of action. The Gamecocks would bounce back and close the gap to 24-22.
Auburn was struggling from the field at that point, shooting just 36% from the field before the offense caught fire, finishing the half on a 24-9 run and taking a 17 point lead into the locker room.
The second half was filled with runs from South Carolina and Auburn having to hold-on and respond.
The Gamecocks opened the second half on a 9-2 run, closing the lead to 10 before the first timeout of the second half with 15:38 remaining.
KD Johnson struggled in the first half, but back-to-back buckets for Auburn’s psychopath ended the Gamecock run and put Auburn back up by 17.
The Gamecocks went on one more run at the end, closing the gap to 78-71 with 1:16 remaining, but Auburn weathered the storm once again and held on for the 82-71 victory.
Both offenses struggled overall from the field, with Auburn shooting just 41% and South Carolina shooting 39%. The difference in the game was at the three-point line.
The Tigers found their rhythm behind the arc, hitting 43% of their shots from three while the Gamecocks made only eight of their 25 attempts, good for 32% overall.
USC was led in scoring by a trio of players in double figures: Jermaine Coiisnard(22), James Reese V(18) and Erik Stevenson(13). The rest of the offense struggled, with just 18 points combined from the other seven players that saw the court today.
The Gamecock defense was focused on Jabari Smith throughout the game, with Bruce Pearl saying that Frank Martin had his team running a box-and-one. Despite this, Pearl said the freshman stepped up to the plate.
“He didn’t let it disrupt him, he got enough during the flow of the game, enough during transition,” Pearl said.
With the USC defense so focused on Smith, Auburn looked to its bench to step up and it did. The Tigers scored 19 points off the bench, which has been a consistent theme of this championship season. Pearl utilizes the depth of this team to wear out opponents, and he looked to do this once again today, using 11 different players in the first half and 12 overall.
Wendell Green Jr. led the bench in scoring again with 10, and the point guard led the team in assists as well.
The celebration lasted nearly an hour after the game ended with the nets being cut down and fans trying to grab whatever piece of history that they could.
"We're happy. I'll be happy tomorrow. I'll be happy in a month about this championship. ... It's historic," Pearl said on his third SEC title at Auburn.
Despite this, the focus has shifted already, with most of the team focusing on the next step. The SEC title was the first goal, but now they look ahead to the SEC Tournament and eventually, the NCAA Tournament. March Madness is on the horizon and the Tigers are ready for what lies ahead.
"That’s why I came here, was to win,” Smith said. “I felt like this was the place to put me in a best position to win a national championship and an SEC championship. I'm not surprised at all that we won it, but it feels good.”
As it stands right now, Auburn will be back in action on Friday March 11 at 12 p.m. EST to take on the winner of Texas A&M vs. LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
