The Auburn Tigers have suffered their first loss on the court this season, and it came at the hands of No. 1 Houston, which dropped in the rankings this week after the close call. The Tigers have been through a lot this year, and it started before the season even started with head coach Bruce Pearl leaving the team, and his son Steven Pearl took over.
Pearl certainly is still figuring things out with this team, and one of those things is how to deal with some questionable calls or no-calls from the officials. Of course, everyone thinks they can be a ref, and Pearl certainly wasn't happy with the ones that are actually refs, but he did something no coach should do.
After the Tigers lost and handshakes were done, Pearl absolutely lost his mind and was yelling at the refs as they left he court, and it wasn't a good look for the first-year head coach.
Steven Pearl needs to learn to let it go and move onto the next game
Steven Pearl was irate with the officials after Auburn's 73-72 loss to No. 1 Houston in Birmingham pic.twitter.com/32qV7AOAq3
— Auburn Tigers | AL.com (@aldotcomTigers) November 16, 2025
Auburn head coach Steven Pearl has every right to be frustrated with refs after the Houston game, but he can't let it show. It is one thing to talk about officiating in a post-game press conference, but it is another thing to practically charge at the refs when they are leaving the court, showing all kinds of emotion to everyone in the arena.
In the final seconds of the Houston vs. Auburn game, the Tigers were trying a Hail Mary play where KeShawn Murphy was lobbed an in-bounds pass in an effort to tip the ball in before time expired, but the Houston defense defended it well and avoided the upset loss.
Pearl felt it was a clear foul on the Cougars and wanted it called, and he made sure everyone knew it, especially the refs. Now, a foul could have been called on the play, but Auburn also could have done more throughout the game so that it didn't come down to a tip-in basket and leaving a call in the hands of the officials.
The biggest thing that Pearl needs to learn from here on out is not to let anyone, especially the officials, see you sweat.