Bruce Pearl reflects on mindset toward tying Auburn record as all-time winningest coach

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl became the winningest coach in the program’s history on Saturday night, tying Joel Eaves with his 213th win.

Pearl has accomplished the feat in 11 seasons on The Plains, quickly turning Auburn basketball into a powerhouse. Still, Pearl didn’t have much time to spare to reflect on the accomplishment in the immediate aftermath.

“Honestly nobody enjoys winning more than me, nobody hates losing more than me,” Bruce Pearl said. “I’m a really bad loser, and when I get to the next one I will celebrate whatever we accomplished this year this summer. I’ll sit with my friends and my family, the Auburn family, on the boat at Lake Martin, out on the golf course, nobody will enjoy it more.”

For now, though, Bruce Pearl is on a mission. Auburn is 13-1 overall and ranked No. 2 in the country.

There is so much to play for, from seeding in the NCAA Tournament to the potential to make history with one of the best seasons at Auburn ever.

To that end, Pearl was simply ready to focus on the next game.

“But you have to know me, I’m on to Texas and the next one,” Bruce Pearl said. “The only thing I’d rather do on that is let’s talk about Joel Eaves or let’s talk about Sonny Smith or Cliff Ellis or some of the other great coaches that I get an opportunity to join because I’m the coach at Auburn right now. It’s great.”

Auburn has now won six straight games, dating back to the lone loss of the season at Duke. But the SEC schedule will get daunting in a hurry.

The first of 11 games against currently ranked teams comes in a little over a week, against Mississippi State.

First, though, a pair of road games… first against Texas and then against South Carolina. The Texas game will tip off at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday with a broadcast on ESPN2.