VIDEO: Pearl Previews Kentucky

Auburn’s mid-week loss to Mississippi State now is history, but that doesn’t mean Steven Pearl is forgetting it.

The Tigers finished 5-of-14 on layups in Starkville — in a game with a losing margin of six points. Simply average efficiency at the rim could have changed the outcome and Pearl thinks there’s a straightforward solution.

“It’s because we played off one foot — and all we talk about is not playing off one foot,” he said Friday. “You’ve got to play off two (feet). I was showing them possessions yesterday. Every time we played off two, it was either a foul or a made layup. Every time you played off one, it was a missed layup or no foul. We got away from what we’d been doing.”

Auburn shot just 33 percent from inside the arc against MSU, which was the team’s second-lowest figure of the season. The Tigers will look to improve that significantly when Kentucky comes to town Saturday.

Here’s a full video of everything Pearl discussed during his press conference Friday:

OTHER NOTABLE THINGS DISCUSSED:

On this being the annual AUtlive game: “It’s a great cause. It’s unique because the funds are going, not to cancer research, but it’s going towards funds at the discretion of those that it’s being given to so it can help with a mortgage payment or a gas bill or grocery bills, utilities.”

On the team practicing with unusual spirit Thursday: “The things that I say … it’s not just lip service. They believe it, too. They believe that they’re capable of making a run and that’s where I think that energy comes from.”

On his seven-man rotation not being a problem: “If you look across the country, that’s kind of the norm now … 7- or 8-man rotations now. We would like to have nine because then I feel like we could fly around a little bit more defensively and be a little more effective on that end. We’ve got seven really talented players who can go out there and be impactful.”