GREENVILLE, SC (AP) — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl is grateful to be able to joke about his last NCAA Tournament game three years ago in the Final Four, no matter how heartbreaking the result.
“It doesn’t come to mind very often,” Pearl said Thursday of Virginia’s dramatic 63-62 victory in the 2019 national semifinals. “Just every morning when I wake up, probably two or three times a day, and when I go to bed at night.
“Other than that, I’m above it,” he said.
Comedy aside, Auburn (27-5) and Pearl will be hoping to start another Final Four run in the Midwest Region opener against 15th seed Jacksonville State (21-10) on Friday. The No. 7 seed Southern Cal (26-7) faces the 10th seed Miami (23-10) while the other Midwest Region games take place in Milwaukee, where the sixth seed LSU (22 -11) takes on No. 11 seed Iowa State (20-12) and third-seeded Wisconsin (24-7) takes on No. 14 seed Colgate (23-11).
Pearl called it an honor to participate in such a captivating game three years ago. The Tigers were moments away from the title game, up 62-60 with 1.5 seconds left when Virginia’s Kyle Guy was fouled on a missed three-point try. Guy hit all three free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining for the Cavaliers’ great escape.
Southern California head coach Andy Enfield shouts at an official during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA on Saturday March 5, 2022 in Los Angeles. UCLA won 75-68. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Mark J. Terrill
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Auburn guard Preston Cook, one of two remaining players in the loss, said the loss always stings. “But it was a good time for us, for everyone to go to the Final Four,” he said.
The good thing for Pearl is that he sees similarities between this Final Four team and his second-seeded Tigers. He said this year’s team was defending like this group, but had to overcome awkward shooting droughts that arose down the stretch.
The Southeastern Conference regular-season champions have gone .500 in their last six games, shooting less than 40% in losses against Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Auburn’s Jabari Smith said Pearl doesn’t talk much about the Final Four loss, only about how hard it is to make a deep run in the NCAA. “He’s trying to focus on the present and focus on this team and focus on how to get back,” Smith said.
The Tigers don’t have much NCAA experience on their roster. Only North Carolina transfer Walker Kessler has ever played in the tournament.
“For all the guys, we all understand there’s a finality to a loss,” Kessler said. “We lose, we go home.”
Auburn has already had a bumpy start to their NCAA experience. His charter flight had to return to the airport when a warning light came on. The team took a different plane and arrived here without further incident.
DRAW ATTENTION
Southern Cal coach Andy Enfield grew up in Pennsylvania and knows all too well how hard it is to get East Coast folks to pay attention to West Coast teams.
“I understand that no one is watching our matches,” he said. “They are too late. People are sleeping.
Enfield admitted never watching a Trojans basketball game growing up. He doesn’t think it was intentional, just “a lack of awareness at times and a lack of understanding that the West Coast has some really good basketball players.”
The Trojans advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 last year before losing to Gonzaga. They are ready to go the extra mile and know attention will follow.
“I feel like when we start winning people will start to respect us,” Trojans forward Isaiah Mobley said.
SAY WATT?
Defensive end and former Arizona Cardinals JJ Watt, Wisconsin football star contacted the Badgers as they prepared for their Friday night first-round game with Colgate.
“We got a lovely little message from JJ Watt this morning giving us encouragement and advice, saying the state of Wisconsin is behind us, college is behind us, go ahead and enjoy every moment,” said said Wisconsin guard Brad Davison. “Take it all.”
The Badgers enter the NCAA Tournament on a two-game skid but remain as confident as ever.
“The realistic goal is not to lose another game the rest of this season,” All-America guard Johnny Davis said. “I’m not really going to sugarcoat this or anything.”
WELL TRAVEL
Miami’s Charlie Moore is back in the NCAA Tournament after a long journey through college hoops. The Hurricanes are Moore’s fourth school in six years. He started at Cal in 2016-17, then moved to Kansas where he served a season before making his tournament debut with the Jayhawks in 2019.
Moore left for DePaul for two seasons before heading to Miami for his senior year. He said he never doubted any of his choices.
“I never really tried to worry about anything,” he said. “I just tried to take it a moment at a time. I feel like I did that.”
GO HOME
Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger hopes to make a triumphant return Friday when his 11th-seeded Cyclones take on No. 6-seeded LSU in Milwaukee. Otzelberger grew up in Milwaukee and went to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
In his freshman season at Iowa State, Otzelberger pulled off an extraordinary turnaround. Iowa State is 20-12 after going 2-22 last season.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Otzelberger, who previously coached South Dakota State and UNLV. “Anytime you play in the NCAA Tournament, it’s a special honor. To do this in Iowa State, a place that I love, that my family loves and that has treated me so well, with so many great friends, means so much And then coming home where I played a state championship game just a few blocks from here – I grew up playing on the playgrounds in town – everything falls into place.
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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee contributed to this report.
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