College hoops world roast Bruce Pearl's crew as Auburn's losing streak continues: "Bama broke Auburn"

The Auburn Tigers lost their second consecutive game when they traveled to Starkville on Saturday and encountered a well-drilled Mississippi State Bulldogs, who put them down 64-58.

Before the Jan. 24 matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide, in which they lost 79-75, the Tigers had won 11 straight games and were featured in the AP top 10, but with the latest loss, they have dropped to No. 16.

During his postgame news conference, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl did not spare his players' woeful shooting.

“I've got some guys that just are struggling to shoot the ball, and they need to stop,” Pearl said. “They just need to stop shooting if they can't make it. As a result, the ball will move, and maybe you'll have a chance to get [Broome] more than seven shots. But we can't because the ball is just getting chucked up there.”

College basketball fans, and among them, Bama fans, took glee in the struggles of the Tigers and trolled them relentlessly on their Instagram page.

"Bama broke Auburn," a fan commented.

Image via Instagram

Image via Instagram

Image via Instagram

Auburn has a rebounding problem

The Auburn Tigers lost the battle of the rebounds in Tuscaloosa against the Crimson Tide almost a week ago, and Bruce Pearl pointed that factor out as significant in his team's loss.

Against the Bulldogs, the Tigers again lost the battle at the glass. Minus ten was their worst rebounding margin of the season against the Texas A&M Aggies, but against the Bulldogs, that margin was -15.

During his postgame news conference, Pearl was livid when speaking about his team's deficiencies.

“You know what? This is very interesting: Who do you have out there at the end? I'm looking at my best defensive players,” Pearl said. “Some of those guys can be solid, but they won't make plays. Some of them can make plays, but they're not solid.

“At the end of both games, we didn't get stops, we didn't get rebounds. That's what cost us at Alabama. And that's partly what cost us at Mississippi State. Free-throw check out, we don't get it. I think, in some ways, we lost both games kind of the same way.”

Pearl's team now stands 4-2 in conference play and 16-4 overall, with no Quad 1 victories on its resume.

Up next for the Tigers is a matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores in a chance to reverse a slide that is starting to look precarious for Bruce Pearl and his team, and it has to start with winning the rebounding battle.