Auburn's Bruce Pearl Compares Michigan's Bigs to Former Celtics Legends

The Michigan Wolverines run their offense through a pair of seven-footers, and Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is impressed by what he sees.

The Auburn Tigers will have their hands full with Michigan Wolverines' Danny Wolf (1) and Vladislav Goldin in the Sweet 16 / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers were the No. 1 team in the country for much of the 2024/25 season and earned the No.1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They proved they could win games in a variety of ways from a gritty 53-51 win over Tennessee to dropping 106 on Ole Miss.

However, the fifth-seeded Michigan Wolverines pose a different sort of problem in seven-footers Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf. Michigan runs their offense through them, and they lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. Wolf is also second on the team with 3.6 assists per game.

When asked about the unique challenge of stopping, or at least slowing down Michigan's bigs, Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl made lofty comparisons to the Boston Celtics of the 80's and three Hall of Famers.

"I haven't seen this since I watched (Kevin) McHale and (Robert) Parish, right? These two guys are special," said Pearl on Thursday. "Goldin, in the Big Ten he was the best player on the floor almost every single night.

"And Wolf, there's not another 7-footer in college basketball that resembles him. He's got Larry Bird type ball handling, passing, feel. He's just a gifted, gifted player. Obviously they work beautifully together."

Goldin has scored in double digits 15 of his last 16 games and is averaging 18.5 points in Michigan's first-two tournament victories on 52.2% shooting. He's an excellent free throw shooter, hitting 13 of 16 (81.3%) in the tournament.

Auburn has length and depth in the backcourt to harass Michigan's guards, making entry passes harder, but Pearl knows the Tigers' big men are going to have to step up.

"They're going up against Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson, those three guys are going to be the focus of our defensive attack," said Pearl. "Our ability to defend those two guys as well as No. 42 (Will Tschetter) comes off the bench and shoots it a little bit for them, is going to be really the difference in the outcome."

The Auburn Tigers have plenty of weapons on their own and can throw waves of players at the Wolverines. Auburn is comfortable in the half-court with Broome and spacing three-point shooters around him, but they're also lethal in transition.

Auburn's best defense against Michigan's twin towers may be offense. Make them work up and down the floor chasing the smaller, more athletic team.

The Tigers have proven they can slog through victories when needed, but in this case, they might be hoping for a track meet in Atlanta on Friday night. Tip off is scheduled for 8:49 p.m. CT on CBS.

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