Auburn basketball’s Steven Pearl gets real on loss to Tennessee – ‘They punked us’

On Saturday, the Auburn basketball program dropped to 14-8 on the 2025-26 season with a tough road loss at the hands of the Tennessee Volunteers, by a score of 77-69. The Tigers got a good game out of forward Keyshawn Hall, who scored 21 points in the loss, but overall, Auburn’s offense did not play up to par against a tough team on the road.

After the game, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl got 100% real on what went wrong in the loss to the Volunteers.

“They beat us at our game. They pushed us around. They punked us… They didn’t continue to settle for threes like we did… Our four best 3-point shooters combined for 7-for-31. Not gonna win when you do that on the road,” said Pearl, per The Next Round on X, formerly Twitter.

Indeed, Auburn struggled to match Tennessee’s physicality throughout this game, and also did not have a good game from beyond the three-point line, which is not a recipe for success in a tough environment on the road.

Pearl is in his first year as the head coach of the Tigers after his father, Bruce Pearl, departed the program last year on the heels of Auburn’s loss in the Final Four. Auburn lost not only their head coach but a considerable amount of talent in the ensuing offseason, and now, the team is out of the rankings altogether as the SEC portion of the schedule continues into full swing.

Still, Auburn has time to turn things around this season, but it will start with bringing the physicality and assertiveness that Pearl referenced early and often, particularly in games where the three-point shot is not falling, as was the case on Saturday in Knoxville.

Auburn will next take the court on Saturday at home for a rivalry game against Alabama. Tipoff for that game is set for 4:00 pm ET.

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