LEXINGTON | Steven Pearl was blunt about the team's effort, calling Auburn out after its so-so effort in the first-round win over Alabama State when the No. 1 overall seed Tigers slept-walked through a majority of the game.
Dylan Cardwell, the fifth-year senior, took it upon himself to have a heart-to-heart with his teammates, saying there was some serious slacking going on by a team that had lost three of its last four games entering the tournament and played with no sense of urgency against the Hornets. It was concerning for a team with many players returning after the first-round loss to Yale last season.
Pearl and Cardwell knew that if the fight that had been there all season didn't return, the Tigers would go home early for the fourth year in a row, not making it to the tournament's second weekend after coming in with high expectations.
The Tigers weren't playing Alabama State anymore. They were facing a talented Creighton team that finished second in the Big East and just took down Louisville in front of 15,000 Cardinals fans in Rupp Arena two days earlier. If the light didn't go back on for the top overall seed, the season would be considered a disappointment despite all that was accomplished beforehand.
The fight returned. Even with the Bluejays draining threes from every corner of Rupp in the first half, the Tigers stayed in it. Had the energy been the same as against Alabama State, Auburn might have fallen behind big, pointing fingers at each other and sensing the season coming crashing down.
Not this time. This Auburn team wasn't going out like that. Not after Cardwell and Pearl had a come-to-Jesus moment with them. Down two at the half despite nine threes from Creighton, you had a sense that the Tigers were ready to pounce once the first Bluejay three bounced off the rim, and Greg McDermott's team went from invincible to human, with fatigue and doubt settling into their minds.
Everybody's favorite lightning rod, Chad Baker-Mazara, took it upon himself to get Auburn's offense rolling after halftime, scoring 12 of the first 16 points with drives to the basket, a three and at the free-throw line.
Denver Jones, quiet on the offensive side of the floor in the first round, started Auburn's march to the Sweet 16 off with a three at the beginning of the half.
And then there was Tahaad Pettiford, a freshman who plays like anything but. Shot after shot came out of his hands, and you knew it was going in.
After Creighton had cut Auburn's lead to four with 11:44 to go, one wondered how the Tigers would respond. Would they fight back like the team that won the historically loaded SEC, or would they bow down to the pressure?
We all know what went down. A 10-0 run that seemed to zap all of Creighton's bodies was caused by an in-your-face, you-are-not-going-to-beat-us defense that became the calling card for Bruce Pearl's squad. No shot was open—every ballhandler was under constant pressure. Jones had Stephen Ashworth locked up, holding the guard to two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the final 20 minutes.
So it was appropriate that Jones, who made life a living hell for the Bluejays' guards, put the dagger in the casket of Creighton's season. With the Tigers up six and 1:11 to go, Jones drove to his left, got fouled and somehow got up a shot that was crazy and amazing at the same time. After it went in, some of the Tigers did Stephen Curry's patented "Night Night" motion.
Auburn was itself again. A team that had gone missing since its win against Kentucky on March 1 in the same environment was having fun, playing with the fight that makes them great.
If the Tigers continue to march toward the program's second Final Four and first-ever national title, put an asterisk on Friday, March 21, as the day that turned it around. Cardwell knew he and his teammates were better than they were playing. Pearl, as well.
The fight returned.
