Bruce Pearl stresses the importance of finishing the season strong

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater02/02/23

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As we come into February, teams are starting to hunker down to close their campaigns on a high note. That includes down on The Plains as Bruce Pearl prepares Auburn for a battle down the stretch.

Pearl talked about the importance of finishing strong during his postgame press conference after the Tiger’s 94-73 win over Georgia. He said it’s of the utmost importance for Auburn to beat the teams they’re favored against. Then, from there, they have to find a way to steal some of the ones they’ll be underdogs in.

We’ve got to beat the teams that we can and pick off some ones,” Pearl said. “We’ve got nine games left and we’re probably going to be a dog in six of them. So we’ve got to win the ones we’re supposed to win, can win. And we gotta see if we can pick up a couple that are going to be really, really hard to get starting Saturday.”

The back half of the Tiger’s schedule is already hard enough considering it includes both of their home and home series against Tennessee and Alabama, the SEC’s pair of top-ranked teams.

However, Auburn also has a pair of road games at Texas A&M and at Kentucky, two of the league’s other Top-5 teams at the moment. That’s what makes getting wins over their other opponents in Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss so vital.

It’s not about how you start the basketball season in the fall. It’s all about how you finish your regular season in February and propel yourself into the postseason in March. With that in mind, Pearl is putting a major emphasis on Auburn’s final nine games. It comes against tough competition but, as a Top-25 team themselves, they’ve now got to beat the best in order to be their best to end the season.