Steven Pearl trolls Tennessee fans after being 'barbecued' by Mississippi State
One of Saturday’s semifinal matchups is officially set in the SEC Tournament. Auburn cruised past South Carolina to advance to the next round, but the stunner came earlier in the day when Mississippi State blew out No. 1 seed Tennessee in an upset to keep its weekend going.
As Auburn associate head coach Steven Pearl – son of Bruce Pearl – headed to the game, though, he heard from some Tennessee fans attempting to troll. In an interview afterward on the Auburn Sports Network, he turned the tables.
“I mean, I was walking to the game today and some Tennessee fans asked me if I was going to a barbecue, trying to throw a little shade. And that’s what we watched. Mississippi State barbecued Tennessee,” Steven Pearl said. “A bunch of grown men went out there and just punked Tennessee, and Tennessee’s a hard team to punk.”
Mississippi State jumped out to a big lead early before coming away with the 73-56 victory. At one point, the Bulldogs went up by 23 points in the second half before starting Tennessee to claw its way back. Ultimately, the Vols’ struggles were too much to overcome.
SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht had a rough day, going just 4-for-17 from the field for 14 points, while Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee with 20 points. The normally stout Volunteers defense struggled mightily, as well, as Mississippi State shot 55.3% from the field with 42 points in the paint.
To ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, though, the Vols’ issues went beyond Knecht’s tough day. He said they fell at the feet of the rest of the starters – particularly on defense.
“They’re so reliant on Dalton Knecht at times, and they’ve got to defend,” Greenberg said on SportsCenter. “When they don’t defend, they’re not good offensively. When they’re not good offensively, they don’t defend. Three of their starters, absolutely no-showed today. [Jonas] Aidoo, he had five points. Josiah-[Jordan] James gets shut out, absolutely shut out. And Santi [Vescovi] goes for three. You can’t win at a high level – and Dalton Knecht, he struggled on the defensive end. They couldn’t defend the ball, they couldn’t keep it out of the post. They gave up 42 points in the paint. That’s not Tennessee basketball.
“When you look at Tennessee, when they win or when they lose, it’s real simple. It starts on the defensive end and it’s making three-point shots. In wins, they score pretty easy, 85 points a game. Losses, only 67. Opponents points per game … they’re not as connected, they’re not as active, they’re not as alert. And then, when they’re making shots, they run people off the three-point line because they’re playing with greater energy. When they don’t, you see what happens in their losses.”