Bruce Pearl took Auburn to South Dakota to put it in front of a large TV audience. He said Monday that would help Auburn maintain relevance in a deep and improved SEC.

He left frustrated after an 88-82 loss to No. 20 Baylor. His team had led for 25 minutes, and held a lead as large as nine. It controlled the majority of the game before it all fell apart late.

“It’s a missed opportunity,” Pearl said Tuesday night. “This hurts the SEC, it hurts our league. Come Selection Sunday, games like this matter. We did not do what we came here to do.”

In the first half, Auburn showed flashes of what it can be. It played fast and physically. It scored and did so efficiently. On an injured ankle, freshman point guard Aden Holloway showed every bit of his potential on this team. And for a team that had been maligned for its defense, the first half showed Auburn can be successful against an opponent with an efficient offense of its own.

It’s the type of high-paced style that often defines a Bruce Pearl team.

Auburn led 43-34 at halftime, its largest lead of the game. The Tigers then maintained the lead as the second half began.

But it’s the final 14:43 that Pearl will remember from the game. It was in that stretch where much of what Auburn had done well in the first half and beginning of the second began to fade. It was the stretch where what was looking toward a statement Auburn win to begin the season instead turned into a collapse that will live on Auburn’s NCAA Tournament resume.

So what led to the breakdown? It begins with foul trouble.

With about 15 minutes to play, Baylor was already in the bonus. It would thus be shooting free throws for the remainder of the game. In the final 14 minutes and 43 seconds, Baylor shot 20 free throws. It made 17 of them.

In the same time, Auburn only made it to the free throw line six times and made three.

Coming down into the game’s final minutes, Auburn had four key players with four fouls: Johni Broome, Chris Moore, Tre Donaldson and Chad Baker-Mazara. Donaldson’s foul trouble led to extra minutes for Holloway who played a spectacular game in his college debut leading Auburn with 19 points. But Auburn didn’t necessarily want to overuse him as he returned from an ankle injury.

Auburn finished the game with Broome fouled out and five other players with four fouls.

Officials whistled Auburn for 32 fouls in the game and Baylor for 22. The free throws wound up a significant separation between the teams. During the final 15 minutes, Auburn and Baylor had relatively similar shooting statistics. But Baylor picked up 14 points over Auburn at the free-throw line.

It certainly bothered Pearl.

“Baylor went to the line 21 times in the second half, they were in the bonus after five minutes of basketball,” Pearl said. “It’s a high-level game, and too much of fouls. We were in foul trouble in the second and obviously didn’t play nearly as well in the second half as we did in the first.”

Those final 15 minutes were a stretch where Auburn’s defense as a whole broke down. Baylor’s 5-star freshman Ja’Kobe Walter was the best player on the floor for either team scoring 28 points. But before Baylor’s comeback, Auburn had done a good job keeping the rest of Baylor shut down. Before the comeback, Walter had accounted for roughly half of Baylor’s offensive output.

By the game’s end, four other Baylor players had scored in double figures. After Auburn allowed only 34 points in the first half, Baylor scored 54 in the second half. It shot

In the crucial 15-minute stretch, Baylor outscored Auburn 40-29. Baylor forced six Auburn turnovers in that span. Fit into that time was an 11-0 Baylor run. That run put Baylor into the lead and the was the ultimate dagger in Auburn’s chance for an upset.

Largely Auburn passed the eye test Tuesday. But it did so inconsistently. Statistically, the two teams played such similar basketball. Auburn shot 44% for the game and Baylor shot 43%. Each team made nine of 19 3-pointers. Each team had 38 rebounds and that includes each team have 14 offensive rebounds and 24 defensive rebounds.

It was the inconsistencies late on defense that let Baylor close back into the game, and the differences at the free throw line.

Baylor shot nine more free throws total than Auburn and made 10 more. Baylor shot 79.4% from the line and Auburn 68%.

“Our second-half defense, having them in the bonus in five minutes of basketball in the second half, putting them on the foul line 21 times,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to do a better job of staying in front, a better job of moving our feet. I just thought – it’s a big game. It’s a big game. I just didn’t expect Baylor to go to the foul line 34 times.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]