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Bruce Pearl highlights key challenge of Michigan State matchup
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Bruce Pearl and Auburn have shown they can finish off games with impressive flurries down the stretch. However, their opponent in the Elite Eight, Michigan State, also holds that ability.
In the Sweet 16, Tom Izzo’s Spartans trailed Ole Miss, 58-57, with 5 minutes left to play. Michigan State then rode some clutch baskets and a 6-for-6 stretch at the free-throw line to ice a 73-70 win over Chris Beard’s squad.
On Saturday, Pearl admitted that Michigan State plays with impressive confidence late in games, believing they will hit the necessary shots to win. Combine it with their free-throw-shooting, and the Spartans are tough to tangle with in close games.
For Auburn, it will particularly be a tough matchup when it comes to guarding Michigan State’s smaller players. The Tigers were able to out-physical Michigan’s 7-footers Friday night, but the free throws for MSU typically come from the guards.
“The challenge is this. Michigan’s front line, big, physical, and our bigs were able to be big and physical with their bigs. Typically what happens in officiating is they let the bigs play. There’s more contact down in the post,” explained Pearl. “The challenge with guarding Michigan State is their guards are the ones that shoots all the free throws.
“Like for us, Johni Broome shoots more free throws than anybody else on my team because we go inside, we post-up, and we do some inside offense, but they let the bigs play on the inside. Then you get out on the perimeter, and those guys are turning corners, and they’re driving and getting hit. And because that action takes out away from the perimeter, a lot of times that stuff gets called more than the contact on the inside.”
At a different point, Pearl hammered on the need to hang with Michigan State’s athletes on the perimeter when they try to turn corners:
“But one of them will be, Michigan State does a great job of turning corners. They do a great job of initiating contact. I know in the game last night against Ole Miss, it was a very even game, but they doubled them up in going to the foul line,” Pearl admitted. “So we’re going to have to do a good job of defending without fouling.”
In spite of those challenges, Auburn still heads into the matchup as a 4.5-point favorite at ESPN Bet to win and advance to its first Final Four since 2019. We’ll see if that plays out when things tip off in Atlanta.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
