Bruce Pearl takes shot at SEC Tournament referee during Auburn vs. Tennessee
Former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl had some pointed thoughts during the Tigers SEC Tournament game against Tennessee on Thursday. Pearl took to social media to air out his frustrations.
At one point in the second half the Volunteers had gone on a 22-2 run. During which, however, Pearl believes a call or two may have gone Tennessee’s way. His son, current head coach Steven Pearl, was even called for a technical foul down the stretch.
“There’s Rim Protection and there’s what’s been allowed to happen in the last 10 minutes,” he wrote on X.
After the game, Steven Pearl addressed his frustrations with the officiating during the second half.
“I thought a couple times, we did a great job of using shot fakes to draw contact,” Steven Pearl said. “I thought there was some contact on a few of those 3-point shots — and I don’t have a lot of issues with the calls that (Tennessee) got on the other end, because we fouled them. We’ve got to do a better job in those situations of not fouling.
“I just thought that there were a couple inconsistencies. But here’s the thing that’s, you know, (the officials) have a hard ass — they have a hard job. It’s a really physical game.”
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Auburn would go on to lose 72-62 following the run as the Tigers were outscored 47-30 in the second half. Tennessee’s Nate Ament scored 27 points as the Volunteers rallied back from an 11-point deficit.
Despite this, Tahaad Pettiford logged 28 points for the Tigers, including a 5-10 mark from the 3-point line. Keyshawn Hall also finished with 10 points.
According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the loss will likely keep Auburn out of the NCAA Tournament, effectively ending their season unless they are invited to play in another postseason tournament.
As it stands, Auburn is 17-16 and sit at No. 38 in the NET rankings. The Tigers finish their run in the SEC Tournament with a 4-13 record vs. Quad 1 opponents as well as 3-2 vs. Quad 2. Additionally, the Tigers also has one loss in Quad 3.