At the NCAA Tournament: What Bruce Pearl said as Auburn prepares for Iowa

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl met the media on Wednesday afternoon as 9-seed Auburn prepares to play 8-seed Iowa on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:50 pm CT, with the game being televised on TNT.

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Here’s what Pearl had to say in full from the podium inside Legacy Arena:

THE MODERATOR: Coach Pearl will give an opening statement, and then we will take your questions. Remember, no videoing is allowed at all. When you are called upon, please state your name and affiliation.

COACH PEARL: Well, it’s great to be in Birmingham, Alabama. I remember when — having worked with Mike Slive when I was at Tennessee and then when the opportunity at Auburn came open, Mike had been working really hard along the Greg Sankey and then Dan Leibovitz to have men’s basketball be as competitive as all the other sports were in the SEC. And he knew he had work to do. And I’ve always taken some level of pride in the fact that both at Tennessee and at Auburn, I have been able to be at two great programs and have those programs will competitive in men’s basketball. And then, you know, to now see the city of Birmingham get rewarded with a regional coming back, and being a host site, there’s great history and traditional of NCAA Tournament basketball in this building, in this town. It’s been a few years. And so what a great reward for the folks in the State of Alabama to have, you know, two great teams, two great programs be able to be here and competing for a National Championship.

Q. Bruce, how confident are you that Auburn fans will be creative enough to buy enough tickets to get in this building. Alabama knew for some time that their team was likely to be here.

COACH PEARL: I would imagine they are going to find a way to get tickets. I know it’s been really difficult. My phone has rung off the hook. And I have had to say no to a lot of friends and a lot of people who wanted to get tickets because they are just hard to come by. Our fans have traveled. You know, for the last several years — it’s not been like Kentucky Blue but it’s been pretty close. Neville Arena has been sold out for the last five or six years. Hard sellout. You cannot buy a ticket to a game at Neville Arena, period. Unless you have a season ticket and — so our fans have then begun to buy tickets all around the SEC. So our fans have traveled. And I’m sure they will travel here to Birmingham.

Q. Coach, did you have a guess to where they might send you for this regional going in, and how happy or lucky did you feel to be so close?

COACH PEARL: Two things. One, I felt like we were somewhere between and 8 and 10 based on the math. Our analytics had us around 32 in most of the categories. And the body of work was clearly what mattered most to this committee. What you did in November mattered. And, you know, Auburn was the only Power Five school to have five true road game against Power Five opponents. Only three teams played more — had more games and more appearances against teams in this field than Auburn. Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State. We were right there. We scheduled really hard, put our kids in challenging positions, so we got rewarded. Regarding being in Birmingham, I’ll answer the question even before it’s asked. In ’18 when we win the Championship of the SEC we went out to California. In ’19 when we won the tournament and got to the Final Four it was through Salt Lake City and Kansas. And so, you know, the pod system was going then, and you know, just the way it worked out, we had to travel. And so now the fact that it’s worked out, we’re able to be, you know, couple hours from campus is great. That’s why the pod system was created. It’s great for our students and great for our fans and those that can get into the game. It won’t have a huge effect on the game much because it’s a neutral site in every way. But we’re happy to be here. We feel fortunate to be here.

Q. Coach, so coming off of last year, you have been in this tournament, you have coached and had the experience. Coming off of last year as the No. 2 seed that confidence coming in, not having to be so, I guess, mentally into that first match up as you are in this one especially with the closer seeding. What do you learn from that and what’s the mentality change possibly in this situation this year?

COACH PEARL: You know, I think the only change is just when you walk out of the Auburn basketball locker room there’s an AU on the wall, and then it says “make history”. It’s unlike any AU symbol on our campus. And I asked the guys, I said tell me a little bit about Auburn basketball history. They talked about Charles Barkley and some of the coaches and players. Talked about number one in the country a year ago and some of our championships. I asked them, I said, “This is not going to be easy. It ain’t going to be easy to beat Iowa.” Our guys know that. Iowa’s really good. Houston is the No. 1 seed, they have to play Northern Kentucky. It’s going to be really hard to win that one if we get a chance. Let me ask you a question, where would this team rank historically if we could win two games this weekend? And so all you can do is work really hard to put yourself in a position to make something really special happen. We have to make something special happen. We have to be able to stop the number two or three offensive efficiency team in the country in Iowa. Who is bigger in us in every single position, taller, longer and so forth. We’re going to have to hang our hat on our defense, keep them off the offensive glass, make some shots, play some special, and survive and advance.

Q. Coach, that trip last night, you had a steak dinner. Is that something that happens a short trip? I know you have been across the country, across the world. How does that help to have a shorter trip? Does it really make an impact?

COACH PEARL: I don’t know that it does. Whether you get on a plane for an hour and a half or a bus for two and a half, it doesn’t really make any difference. But I will tell you, driving to Birmingham on 280 was never so much fun as with a police escort. I am telling you. I mean, it was awesome. We went through every single red light and I tell you, we got here in about an hour and a half. Everybody knows what a ride that can be.

Q. Bruce, so I know you and Charles are really tight. Have you given him some grief for picking Alabama to win it all?

COACH PEARL: Let me tell you something, Charles Barkley loves the State of Alabama. He loves Auburn first, no question about that. He has been pretty loyal to our state. All I have to say about Charles Barkley is he’s going to tell you what he thinks, whether you like it or not. If he said he thinks Alabama is going to win the tournament, he’s not doing it for any other reason than Charles thinks they’re going to win it. I Played played against them a couple times, and they are good enough to win it. Nate Oats is one of the best coaches in the country. Done an amazing job with this team. They are talented, they are deep, and they play the right way.

Q. On that note, just how special is it to get Auburn and Alabama, I know this is unique setup to have them here in this first round. How does this speak to the growth of basketball here in this state. And what are expectations for fans just in general and around right here in around Birmingham for basketball?

COACH PEARL: Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves. And you know, I believe that in the last five out of the last six years either Auburn or Alabama has won a championship. We won it three times, and they won in two years, they won championships both regular season and the title. Auburn and Alabama have represented and been a factor in the growth of the SEC. And as far as our fan base has been in Birmingham, will it remind them of the Iron Bowl and the festivities around it? I’m sure it will just add to the history and to the rivalry.

Q. Bruce, CBS has ranked this game as the third-best matchup of all of the matchups. So here’s what they wrote. They said, “If you’re into seeing coaches act like children, you’ll love this one. We’ll set the over/under on coach technicals at a cautious 1.5.” My question is, should I take the over or the under, and can you talk about the passion that you and Fran coach with?

COACH PEARL: I can only speak for myself as far as acting like a child, you know. But, you know, I’ve got a couple grandkids. And I love their energy, and I love their passion. And every now and then they throw a fit. And so, you still love them. I think it’s one of the best matchups because of the quality of the teams and how competitive the game, you know, could be. We’re going to have to play well for it to be competitive, I can tell you that. And you know, Fran wears it on his sleeve also. But we respect the game. I’ll take the under on the technical fouls.

Q. Bruce, what are some of the things you love about Lior?

COACH PEARL: I love that Lior is one of our hardest workers. You know, Lior has been — he’s played the last two years and had we not taken the NCAA scholarship penalty the last two years, Lior would have been on scholarship. So he’s like a scholarship player for sure. He’s a great teammate. You know, he’s grateful for the opportunity that he’s been given at Auburn. And he goes to work everyday trying to reward Auburn for giving him the chance. I don’t know that because he wasn’t heavily recruited out of Mountain Brook High School that he wouldn’t get the chance to play on this stage. He’s truly grateful for the opportunity and wants to make the most of it.

Q What makes Fran McCaffery’s offense difficult to guard? Is it the motion offense? What can you say just about the consistency that Iowa’s offense has brought for the past decade or so?

COACH PEARL: A real commitment to u- tempo basketball. A lot of fans or people that profess to know the game, think the only brilliant offensive minds are the ones that control everything. That’s a good shot. Wait. They got it to both sides of the floor. That’s a beauty. I love when I hear that. If I can get the ball on one side of the floor and get a good look, I’m going to take that look. Shot it too quickly. That’s a bad shot. Fran gives his players freedom and gives them confidence. And I think great offensive coaches that are willing to play with some tempo don’t get enough credit for being as good coaches. We know sometimes they are going to take a bad shot or early, whatever. It’s that commitment to the break. It’s the spacing. He does a great job utilizing his personnel, putting his personnel in positions to be successful. They play unselfishly. They don’t turn the ball over. They will get a shot off before they turn it over. He’s been doing it a long time. He knows what works.

Q. Coach, what do you say about the matchup with Chris Murray that you are going to have in this game? Do you think it’s something that’s going to be super challenging in this game?

COACH PEARL: Yes, Murray is a tough matchup, he’s a 6’9″ that’s longer. I don’t know if he’s 6’9″ or 6’10”. But he plays longer than that. And he’s a guard. He’s a guard. That makes him a real tough matchup, and potentially the way they use him, a mismatch. We’ve played against Brandon Miller who also was a tough matchup. Chris has ability more inside. We played — and we’ve got — we’ll have our hands full because he can do things inside and out.

Q. Coach, of course we know the special run this team had in 2019 and maybe not the best record as far as conference play goes. Have you or any of the former players from this team shared with this current team how to maybe make another special run like that?

COACH PEARL: I know the guys are in touch. Walker and Jabari text me a lot. They are proud of our guys for being here again without them. Again without that – and, you know, heard from Sharife Cooper and heard from several of the former players. It’s kind of crazy to think that, you know, Jabari would be a sophomore, Walker would be a junior, Sharife could be a junior, Isaac could be a senior. We’ve had some pretty good guys who run through this program who didn’t stay very long. And those guys have all reached back out. They are around in the summer time. They are still close to a lot of our players because they were teammates.

Q. Coach, what makes Johni so special, and how do you see him making an impact in this game tomorrow?

COACH PEARL: He’s an old school center. Can score with his back to the basket. He is going to be and at times he has shown the ability to stretch with his three-ball. He’s a very willing passer. He understands, you know, the game. And, you know, he was probably one of the more newcomers to any program in our league. Doesn’t get talked a lot about. But where would we be without Johni Broome? When you lose, you know, two NBA first-rounders who are both being dominant rookies, that’s a lot to lose. And Steven Pearl led the recruiting on Johni. He came in and answered any of the questions that whether his game could transfer from mid-major to high-major, and it has. Being second team All-League, All-District. This is a great start to him. And next year he could be an even more dominant player.

Q. Coach, you guys are in the top ten of 3-point defense against percentage from opponents. What’s behind that, and how do you think it might help you against Iowa, who shoots a lot of three’s?

COACH PEARL: A lot of it has to do with ball pressure. The interesting thing is when some of our guards have got both hands up, we may reach their letters. I don’t think that a hand up, well you might get into their chin let alone their eyes. They are long, they are tall, and — but that’s probably — ball pressure has been a function of our defense, and hopefully that can help our 3-point field goal percentage defense, because that will be important tomorrow.