Auburn wasn’t happy with how it played against Alabama State Thursday.

The Tigers beat the Hornets by 20, but there was an understanding that a similar performance would not be enough against Creighton, and a historic season could go to waste.

Dylan Cardwell bluntly delivered that message to his teammates Friday morning, going as far as saying, “if you’re not gonna do whatever it takes, then get out.”

Auburn got the response it needed Saturday, beating Creighton 82-70 to clinch the program’s first Sweet Sixteen berth since 2019.

“We talked a little bit about game one and not giving the kind of effort and energy that was required and not really trusting one another, sharing it, and the sacrifices that need to be made,” head coach Bruce Pearl said after Saturday’s game. “Tonight, we put all that behind us and the guys did a phenomenal job on both ends of the floor.”

The difference in defensive intensity was on display early on, despite Creighton getting hot from 3-point range. Auburn forced a handful of early turnovers and forced Creighton to oftentimes take tough shots near the end of the shot clock.

Offensively, it took Auburn longer to heat up from the field, but the Tigers were dominant inside and on the glass. They finished with 19 second chance points to Creighton’s six and 42 points in the paint to Creighton’s 24.

The advantage inside is impressive considering Creighton is the seventh-tallest team in the country, per KenPom, and have Ryan Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot-1 paint defender at center.

Auburn even did it on an off night from Johni Broome. The National Player of the Year contender finished with just eight points on 4-for-13 shooting, but grabbed five offensive rebounds and 12 boards overall.

“When I’m not scoring the ball, I gotta try to affect the game some way,” Broome said in the locker room postgame.

Cardwell, who was the most vocal player after the Alabama State win, had one of his most effective games of the season. He didn’t necessarily stuff the stat sheet — scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds — but he was +24 and affected the game on both ends.

One of his biggest plays was a thunderous dunk on Kalkbrenner in the paint, igniting the Auburn crowd and extended the lead to eight in the second half, forcing a Creighton timeout.

For someone who was critical of the team’s energy in the first game, he definitely seemed to bring it himself. When asked how he was able to get the team to follow suit, his answer was simple.

“Them boys got cussed out,” Cardwell said. “I had to cuss them out.”

Cardwell delivered the passionate message Friday morning for a number of reasons, but he said he was proud of how the team responded Saturday.

“I wanted that to propel us into the next few weeks and allow us to get hot. We’ve been slacking thinking we can show up to games and beat people,” Cardwell said. “We were No. 1 for eight weeks in a row and I think we kind of lost that fire and desire, but now it’s like — I had to lay in to them so they could respond, they responded really well. Everyone was on time to every single thing and showed me that they cared.”

That response brought Auburn to the Sweet Sixteen, something that may be expected for the No. 1 overall seed, but a feat Cardwell and his teammates aren’t taking for granted. The Tigers haven’t made it past the first weekend since 2019 and no one on the current roster has played in a Sweet Sixteen before.

Next Friday will be their opportunity to do so. Auburn will face Michigan, a team that won the Big Ten tournament and features former Auburn guard Tre Donaldson.

It will be another stiff test, but one Auburn fans probably feel a lot better about now than they did before Saturday’s game.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m