AUBURN | Steven Pearl makes his collegiate head coaching debut on Tuesday when Auburn hosts North Alabama, but it isn't the first time he's ever been the head man in charge of a team.

"You know, a couple years ago, I was the head coach of the sixth-grade boys basketball team, so I feel like that was getting me really prepared for this moment right now," Pearl jokingly said.

He will now lead the Tigers in Auburn Arena against a tough-minded Lions' team that gave Mississippi State all they had and trailed Iona – who defeated Alabama earlier this season – by only three at halftime. He's filling in for his father, Bruce Pearl, who is serving the second game of his two-game suspension after the NCAA's ruling last week. Like Wes Flanigan, who coached Auburn to a victory over Nebraska on Saturday, taking the lead chair will not be much different from other games.

"There's really not a lot that changes because Coach gives us so much of a voice in practice and in games that really the only difference is you'll be standing up and calling the plays," Pearl said. "We really approach things with a team mentality on this staff."

The changes come in small but essential things like managing timeouts when you are the head coach. There's also the almighty pregame speech. The elder Pearl usually gives those talks to the players, but now Steven must come up with the words to inspire the team before taking the court.

It helps that Flanigan laid out a mapwork of handling it on Saturday.

"I thought Coach Flanigan did an amazing job in the Nebraska game just summarizing it like this: You're playing a two-game season at this point, without BP," Pearl said. "We've got to win two games. What do we have to do to win those two games? I thought that was really well done. I thought the guys really bought into it."

On Saturday, Flanigan joked that he was now the leader in all-time winning percentage for Auburn coaches. Pearl can match that with a win against North Alabama.

"​​I hope it doesn't last long," Bruce Pearl said of Flanigan's record. "I hope Steven Pearl gets to tie him with that after tomorrow night, but that's not going to be an easy game."