For so many weeks at the beginning of this season, Bruce Pearl repetitively fielded questions about the quality of his point guard play, how it didn’t matter whether it was Aden Holloway or Tre Donaldson on the court, how Auburn was just getting efficient and elite leadership from its primary ball-handler. They were at the forefront of an Auburn attack that has a top 10 assist-to-turnover ratio in the country.

And in a Bruce Pearl offense, that’s essential.

Yet then Pearl sat down after Auburn’s 70-59 loss to Kentucky last weekend and it was clear exactly where a key problem had been.

The guard play just wasn’t good enough.

So what happened?

Against Kentucky, it starts with foul trouble. Donaldson had four fouls, K.D. Johnson had three. Pearl said that greatly limited his guard rotation and led to other guards like Denver Jones playing 28 minutes, six more than his season average.

Donaldson’s 11 minutes were a season-low. Neither he nor Holloway had an assist. That’s not a formula Auburn can win with.

Because of foul trouble, Auburn didn’t get the time on the floor or the production from its guards that Pearl wanted against Kentucky, but the rotational changes have stemmed from beyond just the Kentucky loss and beyond foul trouble.

That starts with Jones. He has been added in to make a two-man point guard rotation between Holloway and Donaldson into a three-man group.

“I know as of late, Coach BP told me that he wanted to get a few reps at point, just because of defense, really,” Jones said after the loss to Kentucky. “Tre in foul trouble did kinda move me into the point guard position a little bit longer than expected.”

Jones may be Auburn’s best pure defensive guard. Johnson may be the defender causing the most havoc. Certainly, Jones brings better defense at point guard than Donaldson or Holloway, but he’s entering that rotation for his offense, too.

“Denver is a very versatile guard and I think the issue there was simply K.D. Johnson and Denver both playing well and needing more than just the 40 minutes at the two spot,” Pearl said.

Holloway has struggled mightily since the start of SEC play. He has continued to be reliable for Auburn at point guard with a good assist rate and low turnover numbers, but his scoring has majorly fallen off the point where Pearl recently flipped his starting lineup to Donaldson over Holloway over the last seven games.

It’s been a month since Holloway scored double-digit points in a game. In SEC play, he’s averaging 5.5 points per game and shooting 25% from the field. Over Auburn’s last three games, Holloway is 2-13 from the field and has scored six total points. Pearl has emphasized his confidence in the freshman, but has clearly reached the point where he’s had to make rotational changes at the position.

Nor has Donaldson given consistent scoring production since becoming Auburn’s starting point guard. Since Jan. 27, Donaldson has made two 3-pointers. But he’s been far more effective and efficient inside the arc shooting 49% from the field in SEC play.

And for the most part, Auburn has not been impacted even without its point guards at their best. That’s because Auburn’s forwards have played so well. Auburn’s three leading scorers this year are all forwards.

But with the injury to forward Jaylin Williams (knee), there’s now more onus on the guards to step up. Before Jones made three 3-pointers in Auburn’s loss to Kentucky, Williams was the second-leading 3-point shooter on this team. Holloway is still the leader, though doing so with nearly double the attempts of any other Auburn player.

Losing 13 points per game in Williams during whatever undefined period he may be out for is a huge hole in this team.

Forward Chaney Johnson will likely step into Williams’ spot, but is unlikely to exactly replace the scoring production of his teammate. That slack must be picked up elsewhere. It will likely have to be a guard, especially with how well and how consistently Williams was willing to shoot. Centers Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell will pick up what’s lost on the interior.

Because of Williams’ injury, Auburn will see several rotational changes. Because of how versatile Jones plays, his role will expand to play multiple positions. He’ll be one of several Auburn players expected to be more interchangeable parts because of Williams’ injury.

Late February isn’t the time of year to experiment. Auburn may lack a choice.

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