Opening Statement
Pearl: “I just want to start off with, it’s a great win for our program. Tom has breathed life into the program and energy. He just happened to be coming into the league when its possibly the best it’s ever been. This is our fourth straight over Georgia. That hasn’t happened since 1979. That’s a significant accomplishment for our program. This [Georgia] is a really good program and obviously, the future is bright, but it’s a real sign that we're building something at Auburn. We were in deep foul trouble. Austin Wifey was not here, Malik Dunbar was here but he pulled an ab muscle in Monday’s practice. He traveled with us and tried to warm up, but he just couldn’t go. He could have gone, but the trainer said only in an emergency and I just didn’t want to play him in those circumstances. So we had eight guys and obviously got into some serious foul trouble and yet battled. I thought Horace Spencer showed great leadership as a senior coming off the bench. Georgia’s bench usually outscores and outplays their opponents because they're deep and obviously it hurt them not having Rayshaun [Hammonds] as well so it’s a great win for Auburn.”
What's your take on Tom Crean and the job he is doing?
Pearl: "I think Tom [Crean] has a different expectation for his programs. He has a championship expectation for his program. He’s got champagne taste, so he’s going to recruit Champagne players, which means he’s going to recruit higher-ranked players and tougher players to get it. He’s got a good team. He’s got really, really good pieces. His Georgia team, perhaps in another year, would have a much different looking record. This year’s team is good enough to beat Texas, beat them pretty good, if that tells you anything about how good our league is."
On the last play of the game and second chance points
Pearl: “Horace [Spencer] had some tremendous second-chance points, some great runs at the board. Chuma [Okeke] kept a lot of balls alive, Samir [Doughty]. It was big for us, great effort energy plays. The last plays is kind of a no brainer, you have three seconds on the shot clock, it’s a one touch possession. But the only thing we did different is we flip flopped Chuma [Okeke] who always inbounds with Samir [Doughty] who’s always on the ball side block, we just inverted them. The reason why I did that is I wanted size on the catch in the sense that I wanted a guy like Chuma [Okeke] or Anfernee [McLemore] to look over a smaller player to get a clean look. He could have ripped and gone to the basket but I told him if you like your catch, shoot it.”
On the players on the team from Georgia and the importance of the win
Pearl: “I think a couple of things, first of all this is a great rivalry. You live in the area and I live over near the area of Auburn and that game matters. A lot of respect between the two programs but the game matters. It’s pretty close to the Alabama series. Its huge for us in recruiting because there are so many great players in Atlanta and it’s only an hour and 15 minutes away from Auburn’s campus. With the exception of Chuma [Okeke], who Georgia recruited really hard, a lot the Georgia players weren’t recruited by Georgia. So, Georgia got players ranked ahead of them so it means something to them I guarantee it does.”
