What first-year Auburn coach Steven Pearl said about facing Tennessee on the road Saturday (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Food City Center in Knoxville:

Opening Statement

“Back on the road. It’s our third in four games on the road. Obviously playing at a really tough spot. Tennessee is obviously really tough at home. They’re really good in general this year. They’ve only lost one at home. coming off two huge wins, both on the road — at Alabama and at Georgia. Had a lot of step-up in those games. Kind of like us last week when we won two on the road — it kind of changed the trajectory of their season, and they physically went in there and punked both teams. That’s what they’re capable of doing. They have some really good pieces. Ja’kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament are an absolute handful. They’re combining for, like, half their points in conference so far this year. Both bring different dimensions to what they do, so we’re going to have our hands full trying to guard those guys.

“They’ve got a bunch of guys who just know what they’re supposed to do. They do a great job at it. Best offensive rebounding team in college basketball. In their SEC wins, they’re averaging 20 offensive rebounds per game, which is nuts. While Florida was a battle, this one is going to be that, and then some to keep these guys off the offensive glass. 

“Then, historically, we’ve had a hard time scoring on Tennessee. I told our guys, ‘If you want to do something last year’s team couldn’t do, score more than 50 points on Tennessee.’ We just couldn’t do that last year. 

“Coach Barnes has done an unbelievable job with everything they’ve accomplished. They play with a different level of toughness, physicality and grit, and it’s served them well. It’s another phenomenal opportunity for our guys to try and beat one of the best programs in our league over the last 10-11 years.”

The reasons Auburn has won four straight games

“I think we’ve just been really consistent in our routine as far as what we’re doing after every game. That’s as far as learning from our mistakes and learning from the good things that we did. All that means nothing if you don’t apply it to the next game. Our guys have done a good job of applying it to the next game for the most part. 

“After we started 0-2 — we were 1-3, but we were getting better. No one wanted to hear that, and everybody thought I was crazy for saying it. I saw what practice was like every day. We had great energy in practice, and the guys were just locked in, and just stayed consistent with our film preparation, what we did in film, our preparation in scouts. Ultimately, it’s led to four-straight, and five out of our last six. I just think, more than anything, through ups and through downs, we’ve been consistent in conference play in everything that we’ve done, and we’ve got to continue to do so if we want to keep trying to get better.”

Auburn rebounding against Tennessee

“If winning is important to you, and that’s what matters, then you’ll check out every possession. If you don’t, they’re going to make you look stupid. They had 26 offensive rebounds at Georgia. If they get one less offensive rebound, Georgia probably wins the game. It’s not just offensive rebounds. In their SEC wins, 20 offensive rebounds, and they’re scoring, like, 18 second-chance points off those. It’s turning into points. If Georgia could have just held them to one less, they’d probably win that game. 

“It’s a really important part of the game, and they do such a good job of just physically crashing every single possession. They have multiple bigs that can just kind of come in droves and be effective. They had two guys that had seven offensive rebounds in the last game, which is nuts. So, yeah, if winning is important to our guys, we’ll physically check out every possession. If it’s not, then we’ll look silly.”

Auburn’s offensive production in recent games

“I mean, it’s, one, a testament to Mike (Burgomaster) and making adjustments at halftime, but two, I think our guys have done a good job of understanding that early in games, teams are fresh, and teams are going to guard you a little bit differently than they will in the latter 20 minutes. As long as we trust what our game plan is, and just continue to do those things, ultimately, teams will break down. And when teams get tired, what do they do? They foul. And that’s what’s kind of happened in the second half of games this year.

“Mike’s done a great job making adjustments, and our guys have done a great job of just being locked into the things that we need to continue to do in order to attack what they do.

“Tennessee historically has been one of the best defenses in college basketball every single year, and they’ve given us a ton of fits on the offensive end, and we’ve struggled to manufacture points. It’s going to be another challenge tomorrow in Knoxville, because they do such a great job of, one, plugging gaps, making you pass the ball. And we have a team that has – we have a bunch of guys – not a bunch of guys. We have guys that can go get their own, you know? We’ve got to do a really good job in this game of being willing to share the basketball and get off it once we draw multiple defenders, because that’s what they’re going to do.

“They just make multiple efforts, and they fly around. It’s going to require guys to knock down shots, and we’ve just got to stay consistent with the things that we’ve been doing.”

Returning to Knoxville as a head coach against Tennessee

“I don’t want to make it about me. I’ve been there before as an assistant, so I don’t think the emotions will be much different. I played five years there and gave all my blood, sweat and tears to that university, and had a lot of great times and won a lot of games.

“You know, everything’s connected. I don’t meet my wife if it wasn’t for the University of Tennessee, because I went to Nashville to visit a former teammate, Jordan Howell, and a buddy of mine, Bubba South — whose parents might be sitting right next to our bench actually on Saturday, which will be cool. He was the one that was working out at Brittany’s gym, and he was like, ‘You need to come meet this girl.’ So, like, if I didn’t play basketball at Tennessee, I don’t meet my wife, I don’t have my daughter. It’s all connected. From that standpoint, half of my groomsmen I went to Tennessee with. Like, that was the best thing that ever happened to me, was being in Knoxville.

“And then, if they hadn’t fired our asses, we wouldn’t be here. So, like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me is being in Auburn, too. I mean, I can’t thank them enough for everything that happened in Knoxville. Best years of my life.

“Did medical sales for three and a half years. I learned from one of the greatest sales reps in medical sales history, Ron Barczak. I know I’m giving you a lot of names you don’t give a shit about, but that all correlated to me understanding how to recruit, you know what I mean?

“There’s so many things that happened at Tennessee that have shaped my life to what it is today, so I’m eternally grateful. I would like a Letterman’s jacket at some point, because I still haven’t gotten that, but my years there were some of the best of my life personally, because it shaped the man I am today and a lot of things kind of fell in place for me to be where I’m at, in this chair.”

Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament

“Coach Barnes and his staff have done such a good job with him. Early in the year when you watched him, he was upright and he didn’t really get in a stance and play physically offensively and people were kind of knocking him off a spot. And as the year’s gone on, you can just kind of see his progression of being way more aggressive and way more physical in what he does. And there was no better game to look at than the Alabama game. He was a monster in that game.

“And he’s just gotten way more confident and way more aggressive in what he’s doing offensively. And that’s a testament to the coach and his staff, just continuing to work with him every single day. They’re going to have that kid ready for the NBA Draft come June and he’s going be a handful. So we got to do a great job of just trying to be physical with them and not let him get to his spots on the floor because when he does, like, you know, he’s legit 6’10, 6’11. He’s going to shoot right over the top of you. So, if you were going to compare him to somebody, he’s not as good of a shooter as Jabari (Smith), but like he’s got a lot of that in his game. That’s what makes him such a tough matchup because if you put a guard on him, he’s just going to post them. You put a big on him, he’s able to drive around you. So he’s a great player and you know, I know our guys are excited about the matchup.”

How Nate Ament is similar to former Auburn forward Jabari Smith

“He’s a super talented player. Doesn’t shoot the same volume of threes that Jabari did. But, his mid-range turnaround jump shot that Jabari had was so good. He has that. So, special player and big-time talent.”

The importance of being in gaps defensively against Tennessee

“Deflections are more stuff on the ball. Being in gaps is more just about offering help to the guy that’s on the ball. Tennessee does such a great job of assisting the basketball, that could be a challenge. Because anytime teams are in gaps, they do a great job of getting off it to the next guy, and they make shots. But what we’ve been doing as far as loading the ball, since we don’t have great rim protection, it’s been the reason why we’ve won five out of the last six. We’ve just really offered help, low to the ball, and made teams settle for contested threes. While teams are shooting a good percentage against us from three, you got to kind of trust what it does over a 40-minute game. It burned us at Missouri because they made seven in the first half, but I think for the most part, it’s been really good. And it’s given our guys more confidence guarding the ball if they know there’s somebody to their right and to their left just in case their guy does drive by. It’s been the identity of this team and it’s one we’ve got to continue to build on.”

Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie

“He leads them in points. He leads them and assists. He leads them in steals. He does everything for them. He’s their best volume 3-point shooter. He’s really shifty with his handle. He can go either direction. Does a great job of setting the table for the rest of those guys, getting other guys involved. One of the best guards in our league. He’s going to play the entire game. So our guys have to do a great job of defending him without fouling, and try to wear him out with the things that we’re doing defensively. You’ve got to make him cover a little bit. But he’s just another guard that Rick’s brought in that’s just seamlessly fit into that role, and he’s done a great job for them. So really good player, and just has such a big impact on what they do as a whole.”

Auburn freshman forward Sebastian Williams-Adams’ defense

“That’s great because you can get in film and just watch 30 seconds of Sebastian guarding Jordan Pope 1-on-1 and be like, ‘That’s what it looks like.’ So if you guys want to play in the NBA like he is one day, guard like him. It makes everyone be more accountable for their 1-on-1 defense. He covers up so many mistakes just because he makes multiple efforts. And he’s just a willing learner. While he made some mistakes as well, he’s the first one to try and figure out what he’s got to correct and how to be better at it. A lot of his impact doesn’t show up in a box score. But man, as a freshman, him and Isaac are two of the most impactful freshmen that we’ve ever had. And he’s the difference between winning and losing. He’s been great. And I just know he’ll continue to improve as the year goes on.”