Pearl remains unimpressed

“I told our guys – every now and then they were asking me, ‘Coach, are you impressed yet?’ I really haven’t been. Part of it is we haven’t played that many ranked teams yet," said Pearl.

Auburn has faced two ranked teams this season: an 88-82 loss to then-No. 20 Baylor Nov. 7 and Saturday night’s 82-59 win over No. 22 Ole Miss.

AU is also 0-2 in Quad 1 games with the loss to Baylor on a neutral court and a loss at Appalachian State. Five of the next six games, however, are Quad 1’s including Wednesday night’s matchup at Alabama.

‘We were already confident in who we are. I think everyone's question mark is that we haven't played anybody, our strength of schedule,” said senior center Dylan Cardwell.

“But, at the end of the day, we just approach every game like it's another game. We could care less what the critics say. We've just got to make sure we're the best, most physical, most excited team to play every game.”

Following the Alabama game, AU plays at Mississippi State Saturday, hosts Vanderbilt Jan. 31, plays at Ole Miss Feb. 3, hosts Alabama Feb. 7 and plays at Florida Feb. 10.

The Tigers enter the stretch 16-2 overall and 5-0 and in sole possession of first place in the SEC. Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky are tied for second at 4-1.

“So far they're having fun in spite of me,” said Pearl of his players. “We are still not as good as they think we are right now. We're not. We're better than they thought we were.

“We'll just see. We'll just keep playing it out. This was a very good win tonight because of the margin against against a good team. We'll see what this week brings.”

Tip-off at Coleman Coliseum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.