The Auburn Tigers are ready for the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, but things weren't easy for them on Friday against Ole Miss. The Rebels gave the Tigers everything they could handle, but Auburn was able to escape with a 62-57 win.
It took a lot of fortitude for Auburn to pull away and prevent the biggest upset of the week from being posted. As it turns out, the Tigers guards showcased serious toughness down the stretch that Pearl knew they would. However, the veteran head coach raised plenty of eyebrows with the message he delivered to the ESPN crew shortly after the final whistle to describe their play:
Bruce Pearl on ESPN: ‘My guards aren’t pussies’ pic.twitter.com/xl2wEoo9in
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 14, 2025
Bruce Pearl used NSFW quote to describe the toughness of his Auburn guards
"I got bigs that can get out there and guard guards and my guards aren't (expletive)," Pearl said. "They're going to go down there and bang a little bit."
Well then, tell us how you really feel, Bruce! His comment surely was something that no one was expecting, but he was pretty dang fired up after his team was able to escape. Plenty of Auburn haters were hoping that Ole Miss would send them home from Nashville early, but that didn't happen.
Next up for Auburn will be a matchup with the winner of Tennessee vs. Texas, as a showdown with Pearl's former team in the Vols could be in the way. If things go to plan, we could see Auburn take on either Florida or Alabama in the SEC title game too.
Pearl is going to be ready for everyone, not only his guards, to be at their best the rest of the way. This team is focused on winning the conference tournament and then going on a deep March Madness run too. Pearl will be ready for his guys to showcase a lot of toughness, something they're already doing.