Bruce Pearl compliments Cuonzo Martin, Missouri staff’s approach

Auburn snuck past Missouri Tuesday night with its first win as the No. 1 ranked team in the AP Poll, winning 55-54 after a scramble for a loose ball ended the game. While there was plenty left to be desired, head coach Bruce Pearl left happy with another win and another day as the No. 1 team in the nation.

During his postgame interview with the SEC Network, Bruce Pearl paid a great compliment to the opposing coaching staff, particularly head coach Cuonzo Martin for the way they prepare for each game.

“They play great here at home,” Pearl told SEC Network’s Pat Bradley in the studio. “Gosh, it was as physical a game as we’ve had all year long. I think Cuonzo and his staff does as good a job at game planning – they did a lot of things against us that they hadn’t done through the course of the year – so it was very difficult to prepare. They keep you off balance and I thought they did a terrific job defensively.”

While moral victories do little for job security, the knowledge that other SEC coaches see the work put in by the Missouri staff mixed with a handful of surprise wins over potential NCAA Tournament teams has held off the sharks despite preseason speculation that the hot seat could come into play.

Despite their 8-10 record, Cuonzo Martin’s team has gone 6-3 at home with an upset win over Alabama. The season got off to a rough start before the first tip-off however, as the Tigers lost key production to graduation and the transfer portal without finding replacements at the same level of the Smiths and Xavier Pinson.

Auburn defeats Missouri

K.D. Johnson led all Auburn scorers with 17 points on 6-of-13 from the field, coupled with three steals, one assist and two rebounds, and after a quiet first half, Johnson dialed it up when it mattered most. He poured in five straight in the final 90 seconds of the game, allowing Auburn to win its first game as the No. 1 team in the nation.

Walker Kessler also contributed quite a bit in the win, putting up 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers. Missouri, on the other hand, was paced by Javon Pickett, who had 17 points on 6-of-10 from the field, six rebounds and two steals, while Jaron Coleman added 10 points and three rebounds. Perhaps Missouri’s biggest contributor — and arguably the reason why the Tigers kept it so close with Auburn — was forward Kobe Brown, who scored eight points but pulled down a heaping 11 rebounds, along with three assists and two steals.

Mizzou trailed 55-51 with under a minute left in the contest, and Pickett nailed a clutch three-point shot to bring the Tigers within one of Auburn. Auburn then gained possession with 35.4 left on the clock and 30 seconds on the shot clock, but Missouri opted not to foul.

“It was little over five seconds on the clock, let’s get the rebound and push the ball up the floor. Let’s get stops and then depending on who got the ball whether we foul — we didn’t want to foul Wendell (Green Jr.),” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said after the game, explaining his decision not to foul with just five seconds separating the game and shot clock.

Auburn ran down the entire shot clock until Johnson heaved up a floater that was no good, but Missouri was unable to grab the rebound.