Auburn is heading to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. The No. 5-seed Tigers turned in one of the most surprising performances of this year’s NCAA Tournament, thumping No. 4-seed Kansas 89-75 in the Round of 32. Not only was it a double-digit win for AU, but Bruce Pearl’s squad jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. We normally don’t see college basketball bluebloods like Kansas get blown out in March, but it was Auburn’s night Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Pearl spoke to reporters after the game and talked about how it compared it to Auburn’s second round game a year ago, Jared Harper’s performance and more. Here’s the transcript from the press conference:

Q. Bruce, does this game feel like a polar opposite to the second round last year?
BRUCE PEARL: Yeah. I mean, look, last year we had a courageous group of kids. We went into the SEC tournament with eight scholarship players. They give you 13. A couple of guys were suspended, a couple of guys were hurt. We were just fortunate to limp home and win our last regular-season game against South Carolina. We went to the SEC tournament and we just didn’t have enough. We were fortunate to get by Charleston and got dominated by Clemson.

There’s a much different feel because we have ten healthy bodies, we’re playing really good basketball. We were in the best position that the program could possibly be in to win that basketball game. I talked to my athletic director, Allen Greene, before the game, I said, I know the outcome, I feel like we’re in a really good spot right now to make history.

Q. Bruce, talk about Jared and his play, how he runs the offense. Every time Kansas tried to make a run, it looked like Jared had everything under control. Talk about his leadership and the way he runs this ball club.
BRUCE PEARL: I don’t know if Belichick feels this way about Brady, but I’m sure there are times he thinks Brady is smarter than him. I know he’s smarter than me.

He’s got — obviously he’s fearless. And he knows his role. Little guys have got to be, they’ve got to have great range, they’ve got to be special in ball screen offense and defense. And they have to have command of their locker room, and he has all those things. Self-made, nobody works harder. Great family. His best coach is his father.

And I’m really proud of, like the two guys we had in here, Cedric Brown and Pat Harper spent as much time with their sons in the gym still as we do as coaches. Night, extra shooting. It’s a beautiful thing. We’re kind of a father-son program. My son is on my bench. Next year Wes Flanigan’s son is coming to play for us. It’s a really wonderful thing.

Q. You took a big step last year. How huge is it this year to get to the Sweet 16?
BRUCE PEARL: It’s a big step. I’m very proud of the SEC. I’m blessed to be able to coach in the SEC. I was rooting like crazy for LSU and Kentucky. I will be rooting for Tennessee and the teams that we still have alive in this tournament. Because we had a great conference this year, so competitive, such great coaches and the kids, really good kids. So the fact that we’re still playing, I know the SEC’s proud of us. That means a lot to me.

Q. Bruce, your daughter was sitting, your older daughter Jacqui was right behind press row and she’s fun to sit by, she’s got a lot of opinions. She seems to know the entire playbook. And she’s not shy about sharing them. I wondered, are all your kids like that? Your son coaches for you. But are all your kids junkies and especially wondering if Jacqui has said, Dad, I think you need to run this play instead of that one?
BRUCE PEARL: Yeah. You can do anything as long as you have your family with you. And my family’s been, we’ve done all this together. And so it’s great to have her here. She was a pretty good player. In fact, she’s probably a better rebounder than a bunch of my guys. She was more physical than they are. But my son is on my bench. Jacqui’s here.

My two other children, Leah, works for Turner, and she helps a lot of the talent get around. She works with Charles in Atlanta. So she’s tied in and connected. And my son Michael is a junior in Auburn. Doesn’t that kind of make sense? We’re all in this together.

And my wife Brandy, for every family that’s out there, she’s so willing to give me up because she understands this ministry, she understands the needs of her student-athletes. And so she’s get to share me a lot.

My kids are vocal. They yell at the refs more than I do. They think they know more than I do. What kids don’t? It is special to be able to do this with them. Thanks for asking that question.