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Postgame Pod: Alabama defeats Auburn 96-84 · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:07
  Welcome on in everybody here to the
• 0:08
  postgame pod at Auburn Undercover.
• 0:11
  Nathan King joined here by Patrick
• 0:12
  Bingham inside of Coleman Coliseum late
• 0:15
  late here on uh Saturday night. I think
• 0:18
  it's pouring rain outside. I'm told that
• 0:20
  we haven't known that for hours because
• 0:21
  we've been in a
• 0:22
  >> Yeah, I walked outside like probably an
• 0:25
  hour before tip off cuz I wanted to get
• 0:26
  a shot of like the exterior of the
• 0:28
  building and it was like it was the part
• 0:31
  like right before it starts raining
• 0:33
  where the like wind is like going all
• 0:35
  around and I was like, "Oh, one of
• 0:37
  those."
• 0:38
  >> Well, uh it was uh it was also a
• 0:40
  blustery day for uh for Auburn's defense
• 0:43
  as well. Um a 96- 84 defeat here to end
• 0:47
  the regular season against Alabama.
• 0:50
  Number 16 Alabama. They fall uh Alabama
• 0:52
  completes the series sweep. Obviously
• 0:53
  the Crimson Tide have now won three
• 0:55
  straight games in the series going back
• 0:57
  to last year's um result that was also
• 0:59
  on the end of the regular season.
• 1:00
  >> That one in Auburn Patrick. This one
• 1:02
  starts on uh on defense for the Tigers.
• 1:05
  I mean there were moments in this game
• 1:06
  where Auburn got back into it in the
• 1:08
  second half. I say back into it. They
• 1:10
  got it down to 12 at one point kind of
• 1:12
  late in the game. down to 16. That
• 1:14
  sounds a little silly to say, but it
• 1:15
  Alabama really was cracking this game
• 1:17
  wide open and it felt like maybe a a 30
• 1:19
  or a 40point win was coming, but all of
• 1:21
  that stemmed from the fact that Auburn's
• 1:24
  defense was on it was on its heels right
• 1:25
  away. I mean, they looked like they had
• 1:27
  no answers. Um, Alabama just worked its
• 1:29
  way into the paint. Leberon Phylon for
• 1:31
  the second basket of the game quite
• 1:33
  literally walked to the basket cuz
• 1:35
  Keshan Hall and Todd Pedford
• 1:36
  miscommunicated on a switch.
• 1:38
  >> That story of the season basically. And
• 1:40
  uh Leberon Fallon came away laughing
• 1:42
  because he had a easy layup at the
• 1:45
  beginning of a very crucial SEC
• 1:46
  basketball game. And uh that's not a
• 1:48
  good sign. And uh it ended up being that
• 1:50
  way for for the entirety of the night.
• 1:52
  Him and Naden Holloway uh the former
• 1:54
  Auburn guys of course one of them a
• 1:55
  commitment one of them a transfer had 21
• 1:57
  points a piece. But the standout stat in
• 1:59
  this one, Patrick, 58 points in the
• 2:02
  paint for Alabama. It didn't really
• 2:03
  matter who was doing it. Didn't really
• 2:04
  matter who was driving in there. Didn't
• 2:06
  matter if it was a guard. Didn't matter
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  if it was a big guy. Didn't matter if it
• 2:07
  was in in transition. Auburn just could
• 2:10
  not stop Alabama getting to the basket
• 2:12
  tonight.
• 2:12
  >> Yeah, I got a text at one point and it
• 2:14
  was like they had 42 points in the paint
• 2:17
  and Auburn had 44 points in the game and
• 2:20
  it it again it was you we had talked
• 2:22
  even just on the drive up here of like I
• 2:24
  don't know how they're going to be able
• 2:26
  to limit Phylon and from the first like
• 2:29
  snap of the g I mean from the tip off I
• 2:31
  mean it was just very clear that he was
• 2:33
  going to have his night. There were a
• 2:35
  lot of those laughing moments that you
• 2:36
  talked about, but yeah, again, it was
• 2:38
  just like even when Auburn would like
• 2:40
  earlier in the game when it was like a
• 2:42
  10-point deficit pretty early and they
• 2:44
  would get it to seven and then would go
• 2:46
  back to 12. Like they just could never
• 2:48
  get consistent stops against Alabama
• 2:50
  without like fouling and then missing um
• 2:52
  free throw shots, which did happen a
• 2:53
  couple times, but that's if that's your
• 2:55
  best option, that's not a good sign.
• 2:57
  >> Yeah, it ends up being only a 12-point
• 2:58
  defeat, but this never felt competitive.
• 3:01
  >> No, no. Like I mean I was kind of
• 3:02
  surprised when I looked up in the second
• 3:03
  half. I was like, "Oh, it's like at 15."
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  Cuz I mean, we got to 28, I think, was
• 3:07
  the biggest Alabama lead. And it just
• 3:10
  honestly from the beginning was over,
• 3:12
  which is like I mean, like there was
• 3:14
  just no doubt. And I mean, props to them
• 3:16
  for not quitting after everything
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  they've been through the last month in
• 3:19
  this environment to not just completely
• 3:21
  fold. But at the same time,
• 3:24
  >> that's never a result you want to see
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  against anyone, much less your arch
• 3:28
  rival.
• 3:28
  >> Yeah. the the biggest uh the biggest
• 3:30
  helper there down the stretch. Kevin
• 3:32
  Overton scores 22 of his 24 in the
• 3:34
  second half. I I had a stat about it
• 3:36
  after the game. Uh Todd Pedford and
• 3:39
  Keshan Hall end up having a I think they
• 3:41
  they combined for 11 field goals made in
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  this game. Uh but they only had five
• 3:46
  baskets until 450 were remaining. So
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  it's like they you just didn't have I
• 3:51
  think Auburn's offense ended up they
• 3:52
  scored 53 points in the second half,
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  ended up kind of getting it together,
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  but you just didn't you were not on the
• 3:56
  right page until it was kind of too
• 3:57
  late. Like that's the thing is I think
• 3:58
  if you did not watch the game and just
• 4:00
  check the box score you'd be like oh
• 4:03
  okay like they scored 80 something
• 4:05
  points a lot of the usual suspects
• 4:07
  scored but that was the thing is just
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  like watching the game so much of it
• 4:11
  like happened late and it kind of skewed
• 4:12
  a lot of those big stats I think I mean
• 4:14
  I think the quote of the night at least
• 4:16
  for me was I forget which one of the
• 4:18
  head coaches said it but it was like I
• 4:19
  think it was Stephen he was like they
• 4:21
  beat us at our own game. game. It was
• 4:22
  Auburn was so like persistent with we're
• 4:25
  not going to let them shoot a bunch of
• 4:27
  threes and they guarded the line and
• 4:29
  Alabama just kept driving and I mean the
• 4:31
  50s something points in the paint. Tell
• 4:33
  us the story.
• 4:33
  >> Yeah, I mean you you obviously this is
• 4:36
  Auburn's defense has a lot of problems.
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  Alabama is also one of the best offenses
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  in the country. You kind of pick your
• 4:40
  poison. Auburn to your like to your
• 4:41
  point Auburn did a good job defending
• 4:43
  the three-point line. Um Alabama shoots
• 4:45
  seven of 27 from deep. That is their
• 4:48
  lowest three-point percentage in an SEC
• 4:50
  win in more than two years. So they just
• 4:53
  and Stephen said it after the game. He
• 4:54
  was like, "I bet if you looked and when
• 4:55
  Alabama shoots,
• 4:57
  >> what is that? 26% from deep and 65% at
• 5:00
  the foul line, like you mentioned, they
• 5:01
  miss some free throws." He was like,
• 5:02
  "I'm willing to bet when they do that,
• 5:04
  they don't win a lot of games." He's
• 5:05
  right. It's just not a winning formula.
• 5:07
  But when you just let them get to the
• 5:08
  paint over and over again, that was
• 5:09
  obviously the uh the story of this one.
• 5:11
  And it uh Alabama felt in control all
• 5:14
  night. Steven Pearl said after the game,
• 5:15
  and I I mean I don't really know what to
• 5:17
  make of this. I don't know agree or
• 5:18
  disagree. period probably doesn't matter
• 5:20
  that he didn't think the effort was
• 5:21
  lacking. And I and to add on to that, we
• 5:24
  were looking at a stat of all the bubble
• 5:25
  teams that lost today. Um it was
• 5:27
  something like all of them
• 5:29
  >> the last four and the first five in or
• 5:31
  whatever and Joe Lonard's thing like all
• 5:32
  nine of them lost
• 5:34
  >> and it kind of you can't
• 5:36
  >> All nine of those teams didn't not care
• 5:38
  about going to the NCAA tournament. They
• 5:40
  weren't all like well they don't they
• 5:41
  don't care about being here. I think
• 5:43
  that's probably sort of an overblown
• 5:44
  point at this uh at this point in the
• 5:46
  season. kind of an overblown talking
• 5:48
  point. I think more so this was just
• 5:51
  >> kind of the perfect situation to take
• 5:52
  advantage of an Auburn defense like
• 5:54
  this. Like we knew this had the
• 5:55
  potential of happening, especially in
• 5:57
  this building,
• 5:58
  >> but at the same time, we say in this
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  building, Alabama scored 96 points when
• 6:01
  they played him in Neville Arena um as
• 6:03
  well. And so Auburn will will now try to
• 6:05
  flush this one as fast as possible and
• 6:08
  uh and move on to what they hope can be
• 6:10
  an opportunity in in Nashville. And
• 6:12
  that's where we'll kind of move this
• 6:14
  conversation. and they will play
• 6:14
  Mississippi State on Wednesday in uh in
• 6:18
  Nashville at the SEC tournament. That'll
• 6:19
  be at approximately 2:00 Central time.
• 6:22
  It'll be the second game of the entire
• 6:23
  SEC tournament. You'll play Josh Hubard
• 6:25
  again who's uh who's who's probably
• 6:27
  licking his chops after he went for 46.
• 6:29
  He's been pretty bad since that game,
• 6:30
  though.
• 6:31
  >> Yeah. Which Stephen said, I think in one
• 6:33
  of the availabilities, he was like, I
• 6:34
  saw that in like
• 6:35
  >> I think it was like the game after he
• 6:37
  had like six points or something. It was
• 6:38
  like I literally almost threw up.
• 6:41
  >> Yeah. He's not been very good.
• 6:42
  Mississippi State lost five straight
• 6:43
  games to close out the uh the regular
• 6:45
  season. So, Auburn will really be
• 6:46
  looking for I mean, that's a game
• 6:48
  >> you you you don't want to play Josh
• 6:50
  Hubard again, but at the same time, if
• 6:52
  there was ever a game that this team is
• 6:54
  motivated to go out there and get one
• 6:55
  back, it'd be them or miss. You and I
• 6:57
  were talking about it earlier, like one
• 6:58
  of the Mississippi is the one you would
• 7:00
  want to see.
• 7:01
  >> Um and then the winner of that game will
• 7:02
  play Tennessee, the who is the number
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  five seed. That is a no doubt quad one
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  game. And now the conversation begins
• 7:10
  and Steven Pearl made his case. I would
• 7:11
  encourage people to go to our YouTube
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  channel, watch his uh
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  >> his comments. You know, he said,
• 7:16
  >> you know, they're two and two against
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  and he named off four different
• 7:18
  conference champions. Obviously, the two
• 7:19
  wins there being Florida SEC champion,
• 7:22
  St. John's, Big East champion. Steven
• 7:24
  said, you know, he said, "Look, we have
• 7:25
  enough quality wins to be deserving of a
• 7:27
  spot in the tournament." And that is
• 7:30
  that's what Auburn is going to continue
• 7:31
  to latch on to, the wins, but as we know
• 7:34
  in sports, Patrick, uh you win, there
• 7:37
  are also losses. And uh and Auburn
• 7:39
  obviously racked them up this season. um
• 7:41
  really over the better part of the last
• 7:42
  month last month finishing seven and 11
• 7:45
  in league play and so now Patrick we
• 7:48
  will be it it all kind of comes down to
• 7:50
  the SEC tournament
• 7:53
  we won't really know how much it matters
• 7:54
  we tell people over and over again the
• 7:56
  SEC tournament doesn't really matter
• 7:57
  this could be a very rare instance
• 7:59
  because the bubble margins are so razor
• 8:01
  thin right now
• 8:02
  >> yeah and I think we were talking about
• 8:03
  this also driving up here not to share
• 8:05
  our entire conversation but I mean it
• 8:07
  was I I think so much of it yes like you
• 8:09
  need to You cannot lose to Mississippi
• 8:11
  State. Of course, right? You need to
• 8:12
  take care of business. But I think a lot
• 8:14
  of it is going to depend on what other
• 8:16
  teams do. I think more specifically, of
• 8:18
  course, the classic case of you don't
• 8:20
  need a I know there's been a bunch of
• 8:22
  the Miami Ohio drama with uh Bruce
• 8:25
  Pearl, but like you don't need Miami
• 8:27
  Ohio to lose. So there's another
• 8:28
  conference champion that takes a bubble
• 8:30
  spot that wouldn't already get it. And
• 8:31
  so that's true for a lot of the smaller
• 8:33
  conferences. I think we're going to be
• 8:34
  doing a lot of watching some other
• 8:35
  teams, but of course that all begins
• 8:37
  with Auburn has to take care of business
• 8:39
  on Wednesday
• 8:40
  >> and it may not matter like all of course
• 8:43
  we just don't know. Yeah, I
• 8:44
  >> it's worth monitoring because you maybe
• 8:46
  you're maybe keeping that conversation
• 8:48
  alive,
• 8:49
  >> but we have no idea. The committee could
• 8:51
  be out on this team. They could be like
• 8:53
  that's way too many losses. We don't
• 8:54
  care how many quality wins you have.
• 8:55
  You've lost way too many games. We don't
• 8:57
  care if you will go win two games in
• 8:58
  Nashville. Your your your bet is made
• 9:01
  and and you did that with what is it?
• 9:03
  you know, losses in 80 or last 10 games
• 9:04
  or whatever. Um, but there's no way of
• 9:06
  knowing that. And so now we can only
• 9:08
  look at Auburn as a team that is
• 9:11
  is out of the field right now. I mean,
• 9:12
  there's no way this is a tournament team
• 9:13
  at the moment, but what can change
• 9:16
  between now and selection Sunday? Things
• 9:18
  can change around you. Number one, like
• 9:20
  you're just saying, and honestly, not to
• 9:22
  be people don't want to hear this right
• 9:23
  now, but like all those bubble teams
• 9:24
  losing today is good for Auburn. Like it
• 9:27
  can only be good. It can only help you
• 9:29
  out to potentially bounce those teams
• 9:30
  from the bubble conversation. And then
• 9:32
  you have to do as much as you can.
• 9:34
  Obviously, a win over Mississippi State.
• 9:36
  It feels like if you don't get that one,
• 9:38
  I
• 9:38
  >> mean, it doesn't feel like if you don't
• 9:39
  get that one, you're we're not even
• 9:41
  talking about this at all. Um and then
• 9:44
  Tennessee, that feels like another
• 9:46
  opportunity for this team because that
• 9:48
  would be a quad one game. Um the
• 9:49
  committee has said things before about
• 9:50
  like the bracket being set around
• 9:52
  Friday. That's a Thursday game, so like
• 9:55
  maybe would be enough time to sneak in
• 9:56
  another quad one win if the bubble
• 9:58
  margins are razor thin between teams.
• 10:00
  And so, uh, we'll have to see. It's
• 10:02
  another opportunity now for this team.
• 10:04
  Maybe is not dead just yet, but, uh, if
• 10:07
  if they're still hanging on, Patrick,
• 10:09
  they are hanging on
• 10:10
  >> by a single thread.
• 10:11
  >> By a single thread and and for dear
• 10:13
  life. And, uh, you obviously maybe, you
• 10:15
  know, you weren't expected to win this
• 10:16
  game here today. I don't really think
• 10:17
  there was anything overly surprising
• 10:18
  about this one. Um, but at the end of
• 10:20
  the day, your defense just hasn't
• 10:22
  figured it out all season and it led to
• 10:23
  way many way too many easy opportunities
• 10:25
  for for
• 10:26
  >> and I think that that's the thing I keep
• 10:28
  coming back to is I'm like you look at a
• 10:30
  lot of the stats and it's like oh it's
• 10:32
  kind of what you thought like oh Auburn
• 10:34
  lose by 10 plus whatever but if you
• 10:36
  watch the game it was a different story.
• 10:39
  >> Yeah, there has to be context and and I
• 10:41
  think as well the simple fact that it's
• 10:44
  Alabama it's always going to feel bad.
• 10:46
  um the you know the the heightened
• 10:48
  feelings that people may have about
• 10:50
  Steven Pearl or about this this season
• 10:52
  just being completely a wash and done
• 10:54
  for at this point. I think and and
• 10:56
  probably most Auburn fans would agree
• 10:59
  those are heightened a little bit
• 11:00
  because it's Alabama because you lost on
• 11:02
  the road because they were able to just
• 11:03
  have a jubilant night here while you
• 11:06
  looked like a team that is nowhere near
• 11:07
  ready to play in the NCAA tournament.
• 11:09
  And so maybe a little bit of a different
• 11:10
  story if you lost at Texas A&M or
• 11:12
  something and it's like okay well that
• 11:14
  that doesn't really matter to anybody.
• 11:15
  you go lo by double digits to them and
• 11:16
  so uh obviously never a great feeling
• 11:18
  for Auburn to uh to lose to Alabama.
• 11:20
  They've now lost three straight in the
• 11:22
  series um overall something
• 11:24
  >> six of the last Alabama's won six of the
• 11:26
  last eight as well.
• 11:26
  >> Six of the last eight. Okay. Yeah. So so
• 11:29
  for all the success Bruce Pearl was able
• 11:31
  to have um against this team went
• 11:33
  downhill a little bit. The the the one
• 11:35
  versus two game here last year is sort
• 11:38
  of the shining achievement for Auburn
• 11:40
  side of the rivalry right now. But Nate
• 11:42
  Oats in Alabama have had control over it
• 11:44
  really for the better part of the last
• 11:46
  three years. And so 96 to 84, head over
• 11:48
  to auburn undercover.com.
• 11:50
  Uh me and Patrick will be in Nashville
• 11:52
  on Tuesday. So so the team will practice
• 11:54
  on Tuesday. We'll talk to everybody. Uh
• 11:56
  we Patrick will practice footage and
• 11:58
  everything like that. And so uh get
• 12:00
  ramped up. You'll hear from Auburn
• 12:01
  players, hear from Josh Hubard and
• 12:02
  Mississippi State players as they're
• 12:04
  getting ready to uh to rematch the
• 12:06
  Tigers. Get to talk to them in
• 12:07
  Nashville. And so uh it's time for
• 12:08
  postseason basketball everybody. I know
• 12:10
  this team has limped to the finish line
• 12:12
  is an understatement. They have they
• 12:13
  have barely even made it to the finish
• 12:15
  line with dragging their entire body by
• 12:18
  uh by one arm, but somehow we are still
• 12:21
  having this NCAA tournament conversation
• 12:24
  and I don't think it's completely
• 12:25
  invalid. I think there is a little bit
• 12:27
  of merit to it. Maybe they're not to the
• 12:29
  level that Steven Pearl says they are
• 12:31
  where they deserve to be in. Maybe they
• 12:33
  don't.
• 12:33
  >> But I'm also like, you know, and
• 12:34
  everyone was kind of like
• 12:36
  >> everyone grown but it's also like what
• 12:38
  do you expect? the head coach of the
• 12:39
  team. Surely he's going to campaign for
• 12:41
  like what coach is going to walk in.
• 12:42
  Yeah, we don't deserve it. Take us out.
• 12:44
  >> Some could some could, but but I I yeah,
• 12:46
  I for one was was going to be stunned if
• 12:48
  we didn't hear that from Stephen after
• 12:49
  this game. And so, um, should be
• 12:50
  interesting that this, uh, this team
• 12:52
  continues to, uh, to to have an
• 12:53
  opportunity here to play in the NCAA
• 12:55
  tournament and, uh, it's going to start,
• 12:57
  that opportunity is going to start in
• 12:58
  Nashville as they'll look Stephen said
• 12:59
  after the game like, you know, making a
• 13:01
  run in Nashville would make a really big
• 13:03
  difference, but obviously a lot of teams
• 13:05
  would love to make a run in Nashville
• 13:06
  and so Auburn's going to have a lot of
• 13:08
  competition there. So, for Patrick
• 13:09
  Bingham, I'm Nathan King. Head over to
• 13:10
  auburn undercover.com. Thank you guys so
• 13:12
  much for joining us on the postgame pod,
• 13:14
  and we'll talk to you'all soon.