This is an opinion column.
_____________________
Bruce Pearl called it.
Auburn’s coach knew the deal here at the Alamodome before the teams even took the court in the Final Four.
Pearl said if Florida guard Walter Clayton, Jr., had a good game, then Auburn would lose. If Auburn could stop Clayton, or at least limit him, said Pearl on Friday, then Auburn would be advancing to its first basketball national championship in school history.
That’s the way it played out on Saturday and Auburn’s season is over.
Sweet-shooting Clayton, unstoppable throughout March Madness, scored 34 points. It was a stunning showcase on the game’s biggest stage. Ball game. SEC bragging rights. Bring on either Duke or Houston in the championship game. Meanwhile, Auburn’s best player faded in the second half of the Final Four and the Gators ended the Tigers’ season with a 79-73 victory in the national semifinals of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
“I’m really proud of my team,” Pearl said. “These guys made history. They gave us a ride that will never be forgotten and they did so many great things on and off the court that I’m so proud of … We played beautiful basketball in the first half.”
But the best team in the history of Auburn basketball came up 20 minutes short. Auburn led 46-38 at the break, but was outscored 41-27 after halftime.
The Gators’ Clayton was just too much, and Auburn’s Johni Broome couldn’t conjure his magic when the pressure was on and the season was in the balance.
He didn’t want to blame his injuries after the game — “My ankle was fine,” he said. — but Broome played valiantly through pain all season. Then in his Elite 8 masterpiece, Broome hyperextended his elbow and his knee.
Auburn didn’t have enough depth in the end and Florida’s frontline found its legs in the second half. Auburn was out-rebounded 23-13 after halftime, shot 33.3 percent from the field in the second half and accumulated 12 turnovers after the break.
“The fact that we’re not as deep as we normally are was a factor,” Pearl said, “and [Florida] was a factor, and, as a result, we lost control of the basketball game.”
On the turnovers, point guard Denver Jones contributed some of the lapses to fatigue. He only had one giveaway in 33 minutes, but freshman Tahaad Pettiford had three off the bench. Chad Baker-Mazara and Broome also had three turnovers each, and Broome’s offensive foul with 2:44 left in the game was a critical moment in a close game. Florida led 69-68, but then pulled away after a five-point burst from Clayton.
Clayton is the first player to score at least 30 points in a Final Four since Carmelo Anthony for Syracuse in 2003. Clayton also scored over 30 points in the Elite 8, making him the first player to drop at least 30 in the Elite 8 and Final Four since Indiana State’s Larry Bird in 1979.
Auburn ran into some history, in other words, and didn’t have enough of its own to match it.
“Careless turnovers gave them the extra spark to take the lead,” Jones said.
It was a special season by any measure, though, and solidified Pearl as one of the best college basketball coaches of his generation. He earned AP Coach of the Year honors and Broome was the first player in Auburn history to be named an AP First-Team All-American.
Broome finished with 15 points but only three of those came in the second half.
“To take a little heat off Johni, we scored great in the first half with our two-point baskets,” Pearl said. “Give Florida credit for stepping up.”
Auburn finished the season with 32 wins, a program record and two more than the team that reached the Final Four in 2019. This team loses the majority of its roster, but hopefully Pettiford does the smart thing and returns to Auburn for another year. He needs the seasoning and experience before going pro and his game blossomed under Pearl over the last couple months.
Pearl has a way of getting the most of his players. We’ve seen it year after year. Pettiford had an incredible season coming off the bench for the Tigers. In the Final Four, though, Auburn needed its freshman sensation to be at his best and he instead turned into a liability.
Tough but true.
That’s not really a knock on Pettiford’s game either. He’s young and he can only get better. But his inexperience showed up here in San Antonio and some of his mistakes were costly in the second half.
What is Pearl’s message to be Pettiford?
“He has been sensational all season long, and I know he’s going to be disappointed because he was not elite tonight like he always has been,” Pearl said. “Give Florida credit. There’s real size in their backcourt. There’s real size in their frontcourt. And, again, if he had a better coach, then he would have gotten cleaner looks, and he would have had a few more open shots and that probably would have helped him.
“If there are five top freshmen in college basketball this year, then Tahaad Pettiford definitely was one of them. I’m so incredibly proud of him and I know his teammates are. They trust him.”
It was a classy answer from Pearl, who has built Auburn basketball into a national power and tilted the balance of the SEC in the process. Auburn had the best team in the country for the majority of the season and the team that knocked the Tigers out of the Final Four is coached by Pearl’s protégé, Todd Golden.
Auburn basketball isn’t going anywhere, and this team will be cherished for all time for building a rock of a foundation.
BE HEARD
Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.
Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”
