Bruce Pearl: Officials' decision to eject Chad Baker-Mazara vs. Yale is 'going to disrupt us'
After starting Friday’s game against Yale, Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara had to watch the rest from the locker room. The officials called a Flagrant 2 foul on him for an apparent elbow against August Mahoney, leading to his ejection.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, though, thought the referees could’ve left it as a Flagrant 1. He spoke with TNT’s Lauren Shehadi during the first half and said Baker-Mazara shouldn’t have thrown the elbow, although he knows why it happened.
“Obviously – we just saw the replay – what he did was wrong,” Pearl said. “I thought it should’ve been a Flagrant 1. To remove him from the game after an entire season of work is something that, obviously, is going to disrupt us. He’s one of our very best players.
“And it was a retaliation. It was because he got hit in the throat a play before. He shouldn’t have retaliated.”
Baker-Mazara made contact with Mahoney, hitting him with an apparent elbow to the chest which led to a whistle. It was deemed a Flagrant 2, meaning Baker-Mazara was ejected with 16:59 to play in the first half.
To CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore, the officials got the call right.
“I think really, when you look – excessive in nature, completely unnecessary, not a basketball play,” Sterartore said. “When you see him starting up the court, he lines up his opponent, he looks and then he delivers … a strong elbow right to the chest of his opponent. There is nothing basketball-related with that one whatsoever. That’s why that rises to a Flagrant 2 foul and that activity we don’t want in basketball games. I think it’s a good decision by the officials.”
After his departure, though, Baker-Mazara posted his support for his teammates on social media.
“I believe in my boys,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “they got em!!”
Chad Baker-Mazara was making his ninth start of the season for Auburn on Friday. He has played a key role for the Tigers off the bench, entering the NCAA Tournament third on the team with 10.3 points while adding 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, as well. Baker-Mazara also appeared on the SEC’s All-Tournament team after some big games in Nashville, including 14 points in the title game against Florida.