'We'll miss him': Auburn's Bruce Pearl reflects on Lior Berman's legacy after knee injury
AUBURN — After working his way into the rotation as an offensive threat off the bench, Auburn basketball senior Lior Berman suffered a torn ACL in his left knee against Mississippi State on Saturday.
Berman, in his fifth year with the Tigers, averaged more than 10 minutes over his last three games, totaling 14 points on 75% shooting.
"He meant a lot to our program over the last five years, both on and off the court," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Tuesday. "So disappointed for Lior. ... He’s such a great example of when you don’t always get what you deserve, stay with it. I probably should’ve been playing him more sooner almost every year that he’s been in the program.
"It’s hard to understand (why the injury happened). To miss March, he’s worked so hard to put himself in this position. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to recover. It was a complete ACL tear, so that’s going to be good for the repair. There’s no other damage, the knee was really solid."
Berman, who has plans to play professionally in Israel next year, is a former walk-on. He earned a scholarship ahead of the 2023-24 season.
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"I can’t emphasize enough (that he is) one of our hardest workers, highest-character guys, tremendous student-athlete, tremendous person," Pearl said. "We’ll miss him, but I’m also very confident the rest of our guys will pick it up."
The Tigers have two regular-season games remaining ahead of the postseason. They're vying to secure a top-four seed in the conference, and with it a double bye to the third round of the SEC Tournament. Auburn will have to try to get that done without Berman.
"He's of the highest character," Pearl said. "He does it the right way on and off the court. He is going to be incredibly successful in life because he's incredibly successful in everything that he does. He's great for all the guys to kind of learn from. Just be like Lior. At the same time, if you're not being like Lior, you recognize that you're going to have challenges on and off the court.
"Just from a basketball standpoint, Lior can get downhill and make a tough 2(-point shot). He's shown that. Lior is a great 3-point shooter, Lior is a tough, physical defender. Lior is really good. He's really, really good, and was playing his best basketball."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball: Bruce Pearl reflects on Lior Berman's impact
