Auburn basketball HC Bruce Pearl reacts to Mississippi State’s dominance without Johnny Broome

Although Johnny Broom’s injury was a silver lining for Auburn basketballit didn’t help that head coach Bruce Pearl was without his star again. However, those worries were put to rest on Monday. The Tigers dominated Mississippi State, 88-66 at home.

Without Broome, Auburn basketball looked as great as it has all season. For Pearl he wanted they give credit to two of his players for stepping up and leading the Tigers to victory.

“I thought the defensive game plan was great,” Pearl said, via AL.com. “But more than anything, Chaney Johnson and Dylan Cardwell, their ability to stay down, be second off the floor, blocked all those shots. I just worked really hard on defense without fouling. That was the difference in the game,” Pearl said.

“That starting five is as good a defensive unit as you can put on the floor.” I think they just locked and bought. And when Mississippi State got away a little bit and we had different lineups, it was because we weren’t as locked down defensively.”

Bruce Pearl thinks Auburn basketball hasn’t reached its potential

Losing the best player on the team and still winning by 20+ is impressive. Not to mention, they were playing the 14th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Tigers have just one loss on the season. After that loss, Pearl was brutally honest after the Duke lossand explained that they weren’t playing their A-game.

Since then it has been just the opposite. They played well on both sides of the ball, as the Tigers have sixth in the number of foul points in the country. They are still in the upper echelon of defensive teams, but the margin of victory stands out. The Auburn basketball coach explained his mentality to his team during the game.

“I say basketball is a game of running,” Pearl said. “Teams are going to run, we’re going to run, but I feel like we’ve got to start putting the two halves together completely,” Johnson said. “I feel like sometimes we take our foot off the gas a little bit; start being a little more relaxed.

“And it just goes to show, you know, we’re going to go into the film room and watch film. And for a team that’s doing as well as we are, and is No. 1, I feel like we haven’t reached our full potential yet.”

The Tigers will head to Athens to take on No. 23 Georgia on Saturday. Pearl will be hoping to see the same level of dominance from his team in a hostile, road environment.