Auburn Coach Furiously Confronts Referees After Close Loss to Houston
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With elite defense and clutch play in the waning seconds of the contest, the Houston Cougars took a hard-fought 73-72 win over the Auburn Tigers Sunday afternoon in Birmingham.
But the biggest play came on the very last one of the game, where Auburn power forward KeShawn Murphy was thrown a lob pass in an effort for a game-winning tip-in, but was very aggressively defended by Milos Uzan, who prevented the tip-in from happening and preserved the Cougars' win.
And simultaneously sent Auburn head coach Steven Pearl into a frenzy.
Pearl Lays Into Officials Following No-Call In Close Loss
Livid after the buzzer sounded on what he believed was an obvious foul call, Pearl stormed over and let his thoughts be known to the officials as he motioned towards his power forward sitting on the court.
Nothing physical occurred, but Pearl simply wanted to let the official know that he wasn't going to sit back and watch one of his players not get a call that was right in front of said official.
Here is a full video of the final play, which includes the supposed foul, and an irate Pearl stomping across the court and giving his two cents to the referee.
Steven Pearl was on the court and FURIOUS after the no-call on Auburn's final possession 😳pic.twitter.com/cpf6wBzKPG
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) November 16, 2025
Pearl, the son of longtime Auburn coach Bruce Pearl and his successor following his retirement last season, was not asked about nor did he talk about his reaction in his postgame press conference, instead opting to commend his players on their execution throughout the day.
“So, I thought the execution was really good late in the game where, you know, with eight seconds, we’re able to get all the way downhill to the rim, right, play off two feet, shot fake him in the air like we talked about all week, right, and create contact," Pearl said. "And then, with one second left, to be able to get our hands on the ball to have an opportunity to make a shot? I thought our guys did a really good job of executing in a difficult situation.”
Whether you're a Houston or Auburn fan, you can't fault Pearl for getting heated after what was a very evenly matched ball game that ended up being separated by only a point.
Then again, a brand-new coach running across the court and screaming at an official isn't the best look for that coach or the program, regardless of the reason.
After the hard-fought victory, the Cougars are now 4-0 on the season and will retain their No. 1 ranking atop the AP Top 25 as they continue to rule the Big 12 Conference on the collegiate hardwood.
