BIRMINGHAM — It's easy to think this year's Auburn basketball squad won't live up to the success of last season's team. To repeat conference championship and Final Four runs is difficult for any program, especially so when it's replacing 10 players and one of the most successful coaches in the sport.

Somehow, the Tigers' first loss of the 2025-26 season provided more hope than doubt for the sequel. No. 25 Auburn came down to the wire in a 73-72 loss to No. 2 Houston on Sunday, Nov. 16, at Legacy Arena, and Steven Pearl went toe-to-toe with a surefire Hall-of-Famer in Kelvin Sampson in his fourth game as head coach. FULL RECAP, HIGHLIGHTS: Auburn basketball can't complete comeback, falls to Houston in final seconds

Was it a surprise to some? Certainly. But it wasn't to Pearl, who

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