Overview
- Auburn fell 73-72 to top-ranked Houston in Birmingham, marking the Tigers’ first defeat of the season under new head coach Steven Pearl.
- The game ended on a last-second stop at the rim that snuffed out Auburn’s potential go-ahead basket.
- Steven Pearl set an uncompromising tone postgame, saying moral victories are for losers and that his team expected to win.
- Bruce Pearl, who retired in the offseason, was courtside and visibly vocal as he watched his son coach against the nation’s No. 1 team.
- Despite heavy roster turnover with only one returner from last season’s Final Four team, Auburn showed it can match the physicality and level of an elite opponent.