My Two Cents: For Auburn's Bruce Pearl, 'Indiana Was My Dream Job'
ATLANTA, Ga. — The drubbing was complete, and so were the postgame press conferences in the bowels of State Farm Arena. On the way back to his Auburn locker room, coach Bruce Pearl shared a moment with Indiana coach Mike Woodson, and received congratulations from a few others after the impressive 104-76 win.
I spent a few minutes alone with him, too, because I was curious about Pearl's comments all week about his admiration for the Indiana program. He has ties to the state of Indiana, because he was very successful as a head coach at Southern Indiana in Evansville from 1992 to 2001, winning a Division II national championship along the way.
He left there for Milwaukee, where he coached until 2005, when he was hired at Tennessee. He coached there until 2011, and has been at Auburn since 2014, taking the Tigers to the Final Four in 2019.
Pearl — who will be 64 in March — has had some controversy in his career, but he's also been a well-respected coach who plays an aggressive style of basketball. Auburn loves him, giving him an eight-year, $50.2 million contract extension in 2022. He's won 655 career games.
I asked Pearl if coaching at Indiana had ever been an option for him. During his time as a head coach, Indiana has searched for a replacement after firing Bob Knight (2000), Mike Davis (2007) Kelvin Sampson (2009), Tom Crean (2017) and Archie Miller (2021).
But the two sides never connected.
"Indiana was my dream job, it really was,'' Pearl told me. "I love everything about Indiana basketball, really loved and admired Coach Knight as a young coach myself, and it's one of the great programs in America.
"The timing was never right, I suppose. I guess, what, I was at Tennessee and really enjoying that and I love Auburn now. So nothing ever really aligned, but it would have been a dream come true to coach Indiana. That's how much I love and respect that program.''
This neutral-site game in Atlanta was a big deal. Pearl and his players took it seriously, and the blowout win meant a lot to them. They celebrated on the court afterward, which sort of bothered a lot of Indiana fans who looked on as Auburn acted like they had just won an NCAA Tournament game instead of a mid-December regular season game.
The truth is, though, that it did feel like an NCAA environment — and Pearl made sure to point it out in his postgame press conference.
"It didn't surprise me, but how about those Hoosiers? They showed up,'' Pearl said of the Indiana fans, who accounted for at least half of the 8,623 in attendance in downtown Atlanta. "How about those fans? It didn't surprise me because they love IU basketball. I did a little bit of media on that before the game. I was at Southern Indiana for nine years, and I feel so blessed to have won a national championship for Indiana basketball in 1995. They don't care that it was D-2, D-3 or whatever. They love their basketball, and I will always cherish that.
"This was a really good environment, like an NCAA Tournament game. This was very special. I thought being down 22-10, that will shake your cage a little bit, but they hung in there. That's a big win for our league, the SEC, because Indiana is such a great program and Coach Woodson is such a great coach. He was very, very gracious during our handshake.''
Pearl made everyone laugh when a reporter asked him about getting his team to play that way every night. They were nearly perfect, making a season-high 14 threes and committing a season-low three turnovers, which was really two.
"If Coach Knight was answering that question, he would wear your ass out,'' Pearl said with a laugh. "You can't. That was the best we've played all year, and a lot of kids really played well. They all put in a lot of effort and energy.
"We made shots today. These are NBA rims, and maybe they're a little softer. Even though we haven't shot well lately, I feel like we are a good shooting team. We are capable of making shots, and we did that today. We also did a great job of taking care of the ball. We only had three turnovers and one of them that shot clock violation at the very end of the game.''
Pearl's team trailed 22-10 early, but then got hot and stayed hot. Their full-court pressure made a difference, as did their aggressive approach in guarding Indiana's big. They pushed them out of the blocks and made them catch the ball much further from the basket than they wanted.
"That's a historic program, and we played really well. I wouldn't be so hard on IU on this one because I don't know that we could play much better,'' Pearl said. "Everyone played at a high level up and down our roster. It was the best two-guard play we'e had all year.'
"And I think because we recognized these were two elite front lines, and they let them play. We had a good scout, and I thought our kids were really prepared. I also think it helped that we played Sunday and they played, what, Tuesday night. Those extra couple of days of rest and preparation made a difference. ''
This SEC-Big Ten showdown was very one-sided, and it says something about where the two leagues are right now. Both of these teams were picked to finish around five or six in their respective leagues, but Auburn was clearly better on Saturday.
And the SEC is probably a better league top to bottom this year. Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M are all ranked right now, Alabama has been, and Ole Miss, Arkansas and South Carolina are all receiving votes now. Mississippi State was ranked last week, too. That's a good, deep league.
"You see some of the SEC speed and athleticism, and that was a factor (against Indiana),'' Pearl said. "We like to play fast, and the key to that is turning your opponent over and not giving them second shots. Without (sixth-year senior point guard) Xavier Johnson, they are thin at guard and it takes a cumulative effect.
"They turned in over four of five times there late in the first half, and I think fatigue was definitely a factor. You could see it, you could feel it. We play 10-11 guys, and that's why. We wear people down. I think we did that in a great environment.''
This is not a great Indiana team, but it was still a win worth celebrating in a big way. Pearl knows what Indiana basketball means, and he knows that beating them — any time, any year, in any city — is a big deal.
This, for Bruce Pearl, was a big deal. That's how much Indiana basketball means to him.
Related stories on Indiana-Auburn
- GAME STORY: Indiana got off to a quick start but then completely fell apart in an ugly 104-76 loss to Auburn on Saturday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. They gave up 14 three-pointers and got pushed around all game, with Auburn dominating them in every phase. The Hoosiers are 7-2 now, but clearly can't hang with top-tier teams. CLICK HERE
- JACK ANKONY COLUMN: Auburn controlled Saturday’s game against Indiana with a deep and talented guard rotation that kept everyone fresh and able to score at every level. Indiana was missing its best guard, Xavier Johnson. The disparity was obvious. CLICK HERE
- WHAT MIKE WOODSON SAID: Indiana got clobbered by Auburn 104-76 on Saturday in Atlanta. Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson met with the media afterward. Here is the full video from his press conference, plus the full written transcript in the story. CLICK HERE
- ATLANTA HOMECOMING FOR WOODSON, BANKS, NEWTON: Indiana's game against Auburn on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga. represents a homecoming of sorts for Mike Woodson, who coached the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-10, as well as Georgia natives Kaleb Banks and Jakai Newton. CLICK HERE
- PEARL PREVIEWS INDIANA: Heading into Saturday's game against Indiana, here's what Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said about the Hoosiers, as well as a few memories Pearl has of Bob Knight while he was coaching Southern Indiana. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA 2023-24 SCHEDULE: Here is the 2023-24 Indiana basketball schedule with game times and television designations released for all games. We'll update this file throughout the season as well with links to the stories from all of the games played so far. CLICK HERE
