MINNEAPOLIS _ Bruce Pearl wants to dance with what brought his team to the Final Four.
Auburn has won 12 in a row by turning defense into offense. The Tigers rank second in the country in turnover margin (plus-5.5) and third in steals (9.4 per game). During the winning streak, those numbers have surged to plus-7.3 and 10.1.
But Virginia, the Tigers' opponent Saturday in the first Final Four semifinal game, could put an end to that strategy.
"The more you try to turn them over," Pearl said, "the better you make their offense.
"So the challenge for me is do we do what got us here, or do we play them the way you need to play them in order to be able to contain that system?"
Fifth-seeded Auburn (30-9) made history by taking down No. 4 seed Kansas, No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Kentucky in succession in the NCAA Tournament _ averaging 87.7 points in those three wins that secured the Midwest Regional title.
But how about beating the No. 1-ranked scoring defense as a fourth act? Virginia (33-3) has held 11 teams under 50 points this season, including Oregon in the Sweet 16, and 27 teams under 33 percent 3-point shooting.
Then on the other end of the court, despite the Cavaliers' methodical game plan, they rank No. 2 in the country in KenPom's adjusted offense metric.
"We haven't played a team like that all year where they slow the ball down," Auburn guard Bryce Brown said. "They even have times where they have a bucket in transition and they simply just swerve the ball back out and just run their sets. They have a good half-court offense and it will be challenging to guard."
Among players with 10 or more attempts, Auburn has three players shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament: Brown (15 for 32, 46.9 percent), Danjel Purifoy (6 for 14, 42.9 percent) and Anfernee McLemore (4 for 10, 40 percent). Auburn hit 43.3 percent of 3s in the 89-75 win over KU and 45.9 percent in the 97-80 win over North Carolina.
"They put good pressure on the ball, but they also pack that three-point line, and they just don't let you get clean looks off. They've got great length. They know when to jump out and hedge, and they know when to zone," Pearl said.
"They build a wall, and they just don't let you see over it. Their greatest strength as a defense is our greatest strength as an offense."
For McLemore, the Tigers want to make Virginia adjust to their speed.
"Our thing is not gamble, not make any cheap fouls," he said.
