AUBURN — It's Steven Pearl's team now, but has Auburn basketball's first-year head coach leaned on his father and predecessor, Bruce Pearl, for any perspective?
The pair talk routinely, usually on a weekly basis, the younger Pearl said, but communications haven't picked up just because the Tigers have dropped five consecutive games.
"Whenever I need him, I'll reach out to him," Steven Pearl said Friday, Feb. 20. "It hasn't been where I've had to confide in him for counsel over this tough stretch. It's just part of it. The biggest thing is, we just have to stay consistent with what we're doing, and we can't panic. If I ever need him, he's there. He's not reaching out to me, because he knows what we're in right now; what we're dealing with, what we're going through. He knows when I need him, I'll reach out to him."
Auburn's latest streak isn't something the elder Pearl never faced on the Plains. The Tigers dropped six and seven consecutive games, respectively, in his first two seasons, though he was rebuilding a program in disrepair at the time.
After Auburn's loss to Mississippi State on Wednesday, it extended a season-worst losing streak to five games. At 14-12 on the season, and 5-8 against the SEC, the Tigers sit in a tie for 11th place in the league. However, they're still in the NCAA Tournament field, appearing in 111 of the 118 projections listed on BracketMatrix as of Friday.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Is Steven Pearl leaning on Bruce Pearl amid Auburn basketball skid?