Which player will step up for Auburn in the NCAA Tournament?
In the NCAA Tournament, one player always seems to step up for teams who make a deep run.
The question for the Auburn Tigers is who will be the player who really steps up in the postseason to hopefully lead the Tigers deep into the tournament.
There are a few names who stand out to be this player for Auburn, with Chaney Johnson being one, but the player who could be the difference for Bruce Pearl's squad is Aden Holloway.
The freshman point guard has had an up-and-down season, but he has been doing some really good things of late. Against Missouri on Tuesday, Holloway scored nine points and dished five assists. You will take that from your starting point guard all day, especially since he was efficient from the field.
If Holloway can get going from deep, Auburn has a good enough team to make a run all the way back to the Final Four. Holloway making shots from deep could be the difference for this team as guard play wins in March.
Tre Donaldson got hot for Auburn at the right time a year ago and if Holloway can do the same thing this Auburn team can be dangerous.
Pearl had this to say about Holloway after his big performance against the Georgia Bulldogs where he made five three pointers, "We started Aden Holloway, just to see if we could kinda get him going," Pearl said. "Two things on that: One, nobody is harder on himself than Aden. Aden is one of the best freshman point guards in the country. He is. When he hasn't played well, hasn't shot it well, for a bunch of games — that could have a young man lose his confidence. You spend time on social media, and you're disappointing lots of people. Nobody's more disappointed than Aden. But, to his credit, he has stayed in the gym. He's kept his attitude, really, pretty good, considering the lack of success he's had. But the team was still having success without him, and he was OK. It speaks a lot to his character. He stayed in it. He stayed in it. If we can get him to be in a situation where he's feeling better about himself, that's a real positive thing."
If Auburn makes a run in the NCAA Tournament Coach Pearl staying confident in Holloway will be a big reason why.
