Auburn fifth-year senior guard Lior Berman was navigating his way through a crowded lane en route to the basket on Saturday against Mississippi State when he crumpled onto the floor and grabbed at his left knee before smacking the hardwood in frustration.

Sunday morning, the Auburn program announced Berman suffered a season-ending ACL injury to his left knee.

Come Monday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl went on to provide additional details on Berman’s injury and what it means for the 13th-ranked Tigers as they look on towards their final two regular season games, followed by the postseason.

“So disappointed for Lior. He had worked his way into a really good spot in the regular rotation. We had such great confidence in Lior,” Pearl said to open his press conference Monday.

After spending four seasons as a walk-on, Berman was awarded a scholarship ahead of this season and had been playing some of the best basketball of his career before Saturday’s injury.

In the first 13 games of the season, Berman combined for 18 points. Meanwhile, leading up to his injury, Berman had logged 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting in Auburn’s last three games.

“I probably should’ve been playing him more sooner almost every year that he’s been in the program,” Pearl said. “It’s hard to understand. To miss March… he’s worked so hard to put himself in this position.”

Pearl went on to add that Berman suffered a “complete ACL tear.”

And while that sounds like the worst case scenario for Berman, it’s actually good news, Pearl says.

“He’s going to be fine. He’s going to recover,” Pearl said. “There’s no other damage, the knee was really solid.”

Berman will be consulting with Auburn orthopedic surgeon Dr. Benton Emblom, the program said in Sunday’s release.

While Berman’s college career is over, Pearl believes Berman will still play professionally next year in Israel.

Now, as Auburn looks to polish off its regular season and head towards the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, who’s next in line to replace Berman’s underrated production?

The answer is senior guard Chris Moore, who was a staple in Auburn’s starting lineup to start the season, but has recently seen a significant drop in minutes.

“I think Chris brings a strong voice and leadership to our team. He’s our best defensive communicator. We’re better defensively with Chris on the floor,” Pearl said. “Just gotta get him to play with more confidence offensively and I think he will, knowing that he lost some minutes in the rotation and he knows why. He understood. That’ll probably be the adjustment that we make.”

In 28 appearances this season, Moore has finished with double digit scoring just once in a 10-point effort against Notre Dame on Nov. 16.

Against SEC opponents, Moore hasn’t had a game in which he’s made more than one field goal.

“He’s one of the toughest guys out there. He’s a physical player, he’s hard to keep off the offensive glass,” Pearl said of Moore. “I just think he’ll be really, really hungry to learn from the fact that he was getting minutes starting every game, and not taking full advantage of it. I’m confident that he will.”

No. 13 Auburn is set to return to action Tuesday night as they draw a road game against Missouri, which is still looking for its first SEC win. The Tigers-on-Tigers matchup will tipoff Tuesday at 8 p.m. from Mizzou Arena in a game that will be televised by SEC Network.