"Bruce Pearl is such a child on the sidelines smh": College hoops fans react to Auburn coach expressing anger after earning a technical foul

Bruce Pearl and the No. 4 Auburn Tigers reigned supreme at the Maui Invitational, beating the Memphis Tigers 90-76 in the championship game on Wednesday.

Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl in action on the sidelines against the Memphis Tigers in the first half at Lahaina Civic Center. Photo: Imagn

Nevertheless, the game featured another flare-up from Pearl, who was called for a technical foul late in the first half for arguing a shooting foul on Tahaad Pettiford. Memphis' Colby Rogers scored four straight free throws after that incident to cut the deficit to 14 points, but that didn't stop Auburn from cruising to the victory.

Pearl's antics drew the ire of college hoops fans, who expressed their thoughts on X (formerly Twitter). Some of them compared Pearl to UConn coach Dan Hurley, who also had some heated moments with the referees in the Huskies' games against Memphis and Colorado in Hawaii.

Below are some of the reactions.

"Bruce Pearl is such a child on the sidelines smh."

"Is Bruce Pearl the most unlikeable coach in College Basketball? Have him right ahead of Dan Hurley."

"Really. Bruce Pearl now & Auburn bench getting T'd up. THIS IS ABUSE! I'm so done with this sport until everyone starts being nicer to each other AND THE REFS! They are people too."

Here are the other tweets:

"T up Bruce Pearl. You up 20 chill out," one fan wrote.

"What else can you expect from a Bruce Pearl player!? Of course he kicked a player in the face on purpose," another fan posted.

"Bruce Pearl is still screaming and yelling from the sidelines like a nut! It’s like chill out. You can coach these days without acting like that," one fan chimed in.

"We went from one world class a**hole, Dan Hurley, to another in Bruce Pearl," another fan tweeted.

Bruce Pearl, Johni Broome lead Auburn to first Maui Invitational title

All's well that ends well for Bruce Pearl, though, as his team concluded its run in Maui with a resounding win over Memphis. Auburn opened with a 9-0 run and never looked back, leading by as much as 22 points at one stage.

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome (4) reacts after scoring against the Iowa State Cyclones during the second half of their NCAA game. Photo: Imagn

Johni Broome starred for Auburn, recording 21 points and 16 rebounds to post his fifth consecutive double-double. He did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 boards to help Auburn take a 47-31 lead at the break.