What Bruce Pearl said about Auburn basketball's last possession vs Arkansas in SEC Tournament loss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Down by three points with 12 seconds remaining in a loss against Arkansas in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday, Auburn basketball guard K.D. Johnson attempted to drive toward the basket.

The Razorbacks forced the junior away from the hoop, which caused him to dribble around the 3-point arc for a bit before coach Bruce Pearl signaled for a timeout. The officials granted his request with 3.5 seconds left. Pearl drew up a play to get Wendell Green Jr. a look from 3-point range, but he couldn't get the shot to go.

Pearl broke down his thought process postgame:

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"With 11 seconds, maybe, I thought if I could get the ball to K.D. and get him downhill really quickly, I'd take the two. We'd take the two. But they did a great job of kind of walling him off, and I knew I was going to call a timeout to set up a three-ball if I couldn't get the quick two.

"And we just didn't get a quick two. We got a good look (on Green's shot)."

Johnson finished with a game-high 20 points on 70% shooting. He was joined in double figures by Allen Flanigan (15), Johni Broome (13) and Green (11).

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bruce Pearl on Auburn basketball last shot vs Arkansas in loss