The mood was celebratory in Auburn men‘s basketball’s locker room Saturday night, and for good reason.
The Tigers had just knocked off No. 4 Houston 74-69, the highest-ranked nonconference win in school history. The win also saw Auburn jump up to the No. 1 spot in the KenPom rankings.
After the game, Auburn forward Dylan Cardwell went live on Instagram in the locker room and made a comment that seemed to reference a reported incident the day before.
“When you lock a bunch of dogs up on a plane, what did you expect to happen?” Cardwell said during the livestream.
The day before the game, Auburn’s team plane reportedly had to divert back to the airport after an altercation between players took place shortly after departing.
Freshman guard Jahki Howard and senior forward Ja’Heim Hudson were the two players reportedly involved and neither traveled with the team when it left again for Houston Friday night.
Bruce Pearl was asked about the incident during Auburn‘s pregame radio show, but didn’t elaborate much.
“It‘s an unfortunate situation. We‘re dealing with it head on, but I’m not going to comment on it any further tonight,” Pearl said.
After the 74-69 win over Houston, Auburn will next be in action Wednesday for a home game against Kent State.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com
