AUBURN, Ala. – When Bruce Pearl addressed the media Tuesday, he didn't reference Auburn's SEC Tournament title in his opening statement. On purpose.
Next Game:
vs. Yale
March 22, 2024
3:15 p.m. CT
TV: TNT
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
The Tigers have turned their focus to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm not going to talk about it much," Pearl said. "Our guys should have celebrated Sunday and probably even Monday. What we did Monday is we met, we got a stretch, watched a little bit of film of how we guarded because they could understand that's why we won, the way we guarded, and that was it.
"I think our guys will be excited about playing in this tournament, and we'll get them ready."
The players did celebrate Auburn's championship Sunday, but by the time they got back to the locker room in Nashville, they were already thinking about what's next and the possibility of winning another championship.
"I'm happy now," junior forward Chaney Johnson said. "We celebrated with the guys. But it's on to the next one. We've got something else to achieve."
For Johnson, fellow transfer Denver Jones and freshman Aden Holloway, this will be their first experience playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"Growing up, I always used to watch March Madness," Jones said. "That's the biggest tournament of the year. I feel like it's bigger than the (NBA) Finals to me. But I used to watch it growing up as a kid, and it's a real blessing to be able to play in it."
"Being on national television and playing the best of the best because you don't make it here unless you are one of the best teams. That's what I'm most excited for," added Johnson.
For Auburn, this will be the program's 13th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time and the fifth appearance in the last six tournaments. The Tigers have won their opening game in 11 straight tournaments, including last year, and will look to keep that streak alive this year as a 4 seed against No. 13 seed Yale in the opening round.
"I thought this was a good team that had a chance to be very good," Pearl said. "We thought we would be a team that shot it better than the year before. We talked about whether or not this team was going to be able to defend and be physical enough. We were right about the shooting, and we became a better defensive team and became physical enough to be able to compete. So, I think this team made a lot of progress.
"My staff did an outstanding job of player development, and I think the guys did a great job all year long of being unselfish and all being patient and all accepting less individually so that we as a team could achieve more."
Auburn and Yale will tip off at 3:15 p.m. CT on Friday from Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will have the radio call on 94.3 FM and on the Varsity Network App. The game will be televised on TNT with Lisa Byington, Steve Smith, Robbie Hummel and Lauren Shehadi on the call.
PLAYER TO WATCH: JAYLIN WILLIAMS
Graduate senior forward Jaylin Williams enters the NCAA Tournament as the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder averaging 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. The All-SEC Second Team selection has scored in double figures 21 times this season, including five times in the last seven games, and 63 times in his career.
In the age of the transfer portal, Williams is one of only three five-year seniors in the SEC to play their entire careers at the same school along with Josiah Jordan-James and Santiago Vescovi from Tennessee. Williams has played in the most career games (140) and won the most games (113) of any player in program history.
INSIDE THE SERIES: YALE
This will be the second all-time meeting between Auburn and Yale. In their first and only meeting, the Tigers prevailed with an 86-64 victory over the Bulldogs on Dec. 4, 2021, at Neville Arena. Five players scored in double figures for Auburn, led by K.D. Johnson with 19 points and Jabari Smith who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Auburn is 6-1 (.857) all-time against the Ivy League having played Columbia (2-0), Cornell (1-0), Dartmouth (1-0), Harvard (0-1), Penn (1-0) and Yale (1-0).
Friday's game will be AU's first-ever NCAA Tournament game against a team from the Ivy League. Yale is the 30th different opponent the Tigers have faced in the Big Dance.
TIGERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the 13th NCAA Tournament appearance for Auburn (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and the fifth appearance in the last six tournaments. The Tigers are 19-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 7-4 under head coach Bruce Pearl. Last year, they beat Iowa and lost to top-seeded Houston in the Round of 32.
For the second time in program history, Auburn is a No. 4 seed. In 2018, the Tigers defeated 13th-seeded College of Charleston 62-58 in San Diego, California, in the first round of the Midwest Region before falling 84-53 to No. 5 seed Clemson in the second round.
Auburn has won its opening game in the NCAA Tournament in 11 straight appearances since the fifth-seeded Tigers lost to No. 12 seed Richmond, 72-71, in the first round of the 1984 East Region in what was the program's first-ever tournament game.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Tigers are playing their best basketball of the season on both ends of the floor. They currently rank second in the country behind Houston (37.9%) in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting. In the SEC Tournament, the Auburn defense held each of its three opponents to a combined 35.2 percent from the field and 17.5 percent from long range while giving up an average of 62.7 points per game.