What Did We Learn From Auburn's 73-72 Loss to No. 1 Houston?

The Auburn Tigers fell just short in their first real test of the 2025-26 season on Sunday against No. 1 Houston, but there were many encouraging takeaways that emerged from their battle with the top-ranked Cougars.

Auburn may have lost 73-72, but it showed promising signs that give fans hope for the rest of the year. The Tigers showed great fight and resilience against one of the nation’s best programs and a Hall of Fame head coach, and considering the circumstances of both squads, the Tigers will only continue to improve.

"Obviously, proud of my guys and the effort they gave. It showed. We expected to win the game,” head coach Steven Pearl said after the game. “Moral victories are for losers. So don't ask me a question if I feel — no, I don't. Because I told our guys I thought we were the better team. I have elite confidence in this group. But for us, it's what we do from here."

While there are no moral victories, as Pearl said in the postgame press conference, there are still various aspects of the game that can be built upon for the future.

Auburn’s roster boasts 10 new additions, as it returns just one player from last year’s Final Four team, and the Tigers are doing it without the best coach in Auburn basketball history. Considering what Pearl was thrust into just weeks before the season started and how far the Tigers have come in just the last two weeks, they will be just fine.

Houston is one of the most physical teams in the country in many different facets, especially on the defensive end and on the glass, and Auburn did a solid job of limiting those areas where the Cougars are normally dominant.

They only out-rebounded Auburn by three (40-37), and both teams had the same amount of offensive boards with 14. The Tigers are smaller at multiple positions, but they competed extremely well against and held their own.

“Thought our guys played their tails off. Thought they did a really good job of limiting their turnovers,” Pearl said. “Houston only had six offensive rebounds in the first half. For them to have 14 offensive rebounds in a game where they missed 37 shots — you know, I thought our guys did a pretty good job in that area. I just thought we had too many live-ball turnovers that led to transition. You know, I think if we make our free throws, it's a different ball game.”

In addition to matching Houston’s physicality, there were multiple occasions in which the Cougars punched Auburn in the mouth in the late stages of the game, but the Tigers were able to respond. The Tigers didn’t fold in the face of adversity, which is a healthy trend to see early in the season.

“To be down seven or eight points four different times, and for that team to find a way to come back and put themselves in position to win the game, was tremendous. Obviously incredibly proud of their effort in that area,” Pearl said.

Obviously, Auburn wants to win those types of big-time matchups with elite programs, but there’s no doubt that Pearl and company learned a lot about their squad against the Cougars.

In terms of areas for improvement, Auburn needs to make its free throws, especially down the stretch in close games. The Tigers shot just 64% from the charity stripe, missing 12 free throws on the night, which is something that has to be fixed if they wish to legitimately compete for championships moving forward.

Overall, fans learned that Auburn may not have the vast dropoff that some were expecting after last year, and it’s apparent that the Tigers have the potential to become a dangerous team by March. Their 10 new pieces will only continue to gel, mesh, and learn to play together, meaning there’s no telling what this squad could achieve when they hit their stride.

“There's still a lot of room for improvement and a lot of room for growth. My guys do what I thought they would do,” Pearl said. “I'm not going to sit here and ooh, ra, ra. That's what I expected, and they delivered on it. But from here, what do we do next? Are we going to pout about this, or are we going to get together on Monday and be ready to get better?”

“One win doesn't define a season,” Pearl continued. “This is why you play these games, right? We learned a lot about ourselves, you know? We learned that we have a chance to be pretty good if we continue to do the things that I know we're capable of, and they know that they're capable of, and just continue to build and trust each other. And if we do that, we'll be okay."

Auburn has a multitude of tough non-conference battles in the near future, with Oregon, No. 7 Michigan, No. 4 Arizona, No. 1 Purdue ,and NC State all on the docket. If they can find a way to snag a few quality wins, the Tigers would have a great amount of confidence and momentum heading into the conference slate.