SALT LAKE CITY — Bruce Pearl downplayed fatigue questions when asked Wednesday.

He backtracked on that a bit Thursday.

Auburn's last week has been a blur. The Tigers traveled to Nashville and played four games in four days. They returned home for a day before flying all the way across the country to Salt Lake City. One "regular day" Wednesday was all Auburn really had to recuperate from the SEC Tournament run.

Then, it was back to game action in the third-earliest tip-off of the NCAA Tournament.

"Our guys have played five games in eight days," Pearl said. "They're popped."

Auburn's players dismissed the notion they were fatigued.

To Pearl, it was obvious.

Late in the game, he noticed Auburn's struggles to get a defensive stops. His high-volume minutes guys — Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke — seemed to be a step slow. The Tigers' defensive problems weren't exclusively due to exhaustion. Some of it was New Mexico State's quickness, something Auburn hadn't experienced much of this season.

But the fatigue, at least in the eyes of Pearl, didn't help matters.

"I think it showed," Pearl said. "We only had so much effort and energy. We weren't very good defensively, and I think that had a lot to do with fatigue. They beat us to 50-50 balls and out-rebounded us. Again, five games in eight days."

Pearl's comments should give some insight into what Auburn practice will look like Friday.

The Tigers have closed practice Friday. There will be a media availability session for a couple of players and Bruce Pearl. Aside from that, however, Pearl hopes to get his team as much rest and relaxation time as possible before the Saturday matchup against Kansas.

"I’ll tell you right now: They won’t be on their feet much before Saturday. A lot of film, not much walk-through," Pearl said. "A long afternoon [Thursday], getting that early game out of the way, a full days rest [Friday]. I’m hoping we can get back on Saturday and maybe get a later start time and get some recovery. Our team is tired."

Pearl got his wish. Auburn and Kansas will tip-off Saturday night at 8:40 p.m. CT, the latest tip of the day.