GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl is grateful he can joke about his last NCAA Tournament game three years ago in the Final Four, no matter how gut-wrenching the outcome.
“It doesn't flash in my mind very often,” Pearl said Thursday about Virginia's 63-62, drama-filled victory in the 2019 national semifinals. "Just every morning when I wake up, probably two or three times during the day, and when I go to bed at night.
“Other than that, I'm over it,” he said.
Comedy aside, Auburn (27-5) and Pearl hope to start another Final Four run when it opens play in the Midwest Region against 15th-seeded Jacksonville State (21-10) on Friday. No. 7 seed Southern Cal (26-7) faces 10th-seeded Miami (23-10) while the other Midwest Region games take place in Milwaukee, where sixth-seeded LSU (22-11) plays No. 11 seed Iowa State (20-12) and third-seeded Wisconsin (24-7) takes on No. 14 seed Colgate (23-11).
Pearl called it an honor to take part in
Auburn guard Preston Cook, one of two players left who were part of that defeat, said the loss still stings. “But it was a great time for us, for everybody to make to the Final Four,” he said.
The good thing for Pearl is he sees some similarities between that Final Four team and his second-seeded Tigers. He said this year's team defends like that group, but needs to get past the troublesome shooting droughts that have cropped up down the stretch.
The Southeastern Conference regular-season champions have gone .500 in their last six games, shooting less than 40% in losses to Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Auburn's Jabari Smith said Pearl doesn't talk much about the Final Four loss, only how difficult it is to make a deep run in the NCAAs. “He tries to focus on the present and focus on this team and focus on how to get back,” Smith said.
The Tigers don't have much NCAA experience in their lineup. Only North Carolina transfer Walker Kessler has played in the tournament before.
“For all the guys, we all understand there's a finality to a loss,” Kessler said. “We lose, we go home.”
. Its charter flight had to return to the airport when a warning light came on. The team took a different plane and made it here without further incident.
GAINING ATTENTION
Southern Cal coach Andy Enfield grew up in Pennsylvania and knows too well how difficult it is to get East Coast people to pay attention to West Coast teams.
“I understand that no one watches our games,” he said. “They're too late. People are asleep.”
Enfield acknowledged never watching a Trojans basketball game growing up. He doesn't believe it's intentional, just “a lack of awareness at times and a lack of understanding that the West Coast does have really good basketball players.”
The Trojans advanced to the NCAA's round of eight last year before losing to Gonzaga. They're ready to go further and know the attention will follow.
“I feel like when we start winning, people will like begin to respect us,” Trojans forward Isaiah Mobley said.
WELL TRAVELED
after a long journey in college hoops. The Hurricanes are Moore's fourth school in six years. He began at Cal in the 2016-17, then transferred to Kansas where he sat a season before making his tournament debut with the Jayhawks in 2019.
Moore left for DePaul for two seasons before heading to Miami for his final year. He said he never doubted any of his choices.
“I never really tried to worry about anything,” he said. “I just tried to take it one moment at a time. I feel like I did that.”
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