If Auburn basketball has any aspiration of punching its ticket to the second round of March Madness, it will come without one of its key players.

Early in the first half of Friday's first round of the NCAA Tournament game against 13 seed Yale, Tigers junior guard Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected from the game after being called for a Flagrant 2 foul. The foul, which removed him from the game, was after Baker-Mazara elbowed Yale senior guard August Mahoney.

REQUIRED READING: Chad Baker-Mazara ejected in Auburn vs Yale first-round game of 2024 NCAA Tournament

Shortly after the ejection during a media timeout, Pearl was interviewed by TNT's Lauren Shehadi and defended his player when asked about the call.

"Obviously, we just saw the replay and what he did was wrong," Pearl said. "I thought it should've been a Flagrant 1, not a (Flagrant) 2, especially in a game after an entire season of work. (It is) something that's obviously going to disrupt us. He is one of our very best players. It was a retaliation. He had just got hit in the throat the play before and shouldn't have retaliated."

Auburn, a 4 seed, led 13 seed Yale 41-34 at halftime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Baker-Mazara left the game with one rebound and an assist.

Baker-Mazara retalition play

As aforementioned, Pearl said Baker-Mazara's Flagrant 2 foul was a retaliation to a previous play earlier in the game. Here is a video of that play, where you can see Baker-Mazara taking a hit at half court himself by Mahoney:

Baker-Mazara Flagrant 2 foul

Here is a look at the foul that got Baker-Mazara ejected:

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bruce Pearl on Chad Baker-Mazara ejection: 'Should've been a Flagrant 1'