The Auburn basketball team started their 2025 NCAA Tournament run in a lackluster way. The Tigers faced off against the Alabama State Hornets in the first game, and they did not look like the No. 1 overall seed.
Auburn escaped with a victory after a terrible first half, but assistant head coach Steven Pearl and senior center Dylan Cardwell made sure the Tigers did not escape without taking accountability for the poor performance.
Pearl called out Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara, two of the team's leading scorers, for coming out with a lack of energy and intensity, and Cardwell revealed that he "cussed out" the team during a meeting ahead of the matchup with Creighton on Friday morning. Then, after being one of the most vocal critics of his teammates, Cardwell came out and played one of the best games of his life against the Bluejays and led his team to an 82-70 victory.
Cardwell had four rebounds and three assists with only two fouls, and he stuck to Creighton star Ryan Kalkbrenner like glue, holding him to only 18 points and mostly keeping him out of the paint. The 7-foot-1 All-American was a challenge that Cardwell was prepared for, thanks to his time spent playing with former Auburn basketball star Walker Kessler.
"My boy Walker Kessler kind of prepared me for these moments," Cardwell said, per Auburn Undercover. "They're the same exact height and length. They got the same wingspan. Just coming in the game with a chip on my shoulder. … I thank God for blessing to be able to move how I move. He's a great player. He averaged 20 points per game. I just took the matchup personally because they were just in our way to making history."
Auburn basketball returns to action this Friday at 8:39 p.m. central when they will take on 5-seed Michigan in Atlanta in the Sweet Sixteen.