Bruce Pearl reveals lesson after Auburn's tight win at Missouri

Auburn has been the best team in the college basketball throughout the 2021-22 season, but the Tigers sure didn’t play like it on Tuesday night.

Taking on Missouri in its first game since becoming the No. 1 ranked team in the AP Top 25 poll, Auburn struggled against Mizzou – escaping with a sloppy 55-54 win on the road in Columbia. The Tigers and Missouri were tied 31-31 at halftime, but Auburn was ultimately able to score one more point than their opponent in the second half to record the tight victory.

While Jabari Smith, Allen Flanigan and Wendell Green Jr. all unusually struggled for Auburn, the team had a player who took over and led them to the win: sophomore guard K.D. Johnson, who scored 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and recorded three steals. Johnson scored 10 of the Tigers’ 31 points in the first half.

Following Auburn’s win, head coach Bruce Pearl was asked what he learned about his team in the game – and he had one strong answer.

“Get the ball to K.D. Johnson and get the hell out of the way,” Pearl said.

With Auburn’s win over Mizzou, the Tigers are now 19-1 overall, 8-0 in SEC play and riding a 16-game winning streak. They’re back in action Saturday at home against Oklahoma, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Paul Finebaum discusses if Auburn can win national championship this season

ESPN analyst and SEC Network host Paul Finebaum joined the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning radio show and discussed whether or not the Tigers could win the national championship this season.

“Auburn can definitely win a national championship, and I think we’ve seen that for the last two months,” Finebaum said. “This is not like it’s Week 1 of the SEC and they’ve gone out on the road and won a big game; they haven’t lost since, what, November or December? … I can’t remember.

“They’re playing at a high level and I will say this: At the end of January, there are always a lot more teams that are capable of winning from when we see the bracket in mid-March. But anyone who doesn’t think this is the best team in the country … Auburn is the best team in the country.”