The Auburn basketball team didn't play their best game on Saturday but took care of business in their first conference matchup of the season.
The Tigers welcomed unranked, two-loss Missouri to Neville Arena on Saturday afternoon, and it took most of the first half for Auburn to pull away from their foes. They maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half but played sloppy basketball as the clock wound down, allowing turnovers and some easy points for the opposing Tigers.
Still, it was a strong 64-68 win to kick off conference play, and head coach Bruce Pearl was proud of his team, especially with their improvements from last season.
"I thought we did a pretty good of defending Missouri and trying not to foul — because those guys do such a great job of getting to the line and driving into contact," said Pearl, per Auburn Undercover. "I thought we did a pretty good job — again, that's been a factor for us. We're not fouling as much as we did a year ago. And yet, we're still able to be aggressive."
But Saturday's win was a big accomplishment for Pearl's resume, too. With the win over Missouri, Pearl is now tied with Joel Eaves for the most wins in Auburn basketball history.
"Honestly, nobody enjoys winning more than me," said Pearl. "Nobody hates losing more than me. I'm a really bad loser. And when I win I get out to the next one. I will celebrate whatever we accomplish this year this summer. I'll celebrate with my friends, my family, the Auburn Family, on the boat at Lake Martin out there on a golf course. Nobody will enjoy it more. But you know me, you have to know I'm on to Texas and on to the next one. And the only thing I'd rather do on that is go. Let's talk about Joel Eaves, or let's talk about Sonny Smith, or Cliff Ellis, or some of the other great coaches that I get an opportunity to join because I'm the coach at Auburn right now. So, it's great."
The Tigers will return to action this Tuesday when they take on new conference opponent Texas in Austin.