Bruce Pearl was proud of his team’s win in Birmingham in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn had the advantage of facing Iowa in front of a home crowd on Thursday. Auburn fans made the trip to Birmingham and showed support for the Tigers.

Following the 83-75 win over Iowa, Pearl was asked about the support from the Alabama crowd.

“This is Birmingham, Alabama. This is football country, and we dominate and I’m really proud of that. But we looked like a basketball state today,” Pearl said.

Alabama is a state widely known for its football fandom. In recent years, Auburn, Alabama, and UAB have improved in basketball and the local fans have shown support for the teams. Pearl noted how Alabama looked like a basketball state with the amount of fans who attended the slate of games in Birmingham.

Pearl believed that Thursday was a sign of the state’s growing interest in college basketball. Since 2014, Pearl has been Auburn’s head coach and this was his 4th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Under Pearl, Auburn has posted winning seasons in all but two seasons. With continued success at Auburn, the local fans will come out to support the Tigers in the regular season and the postseason.

Auburn will face No. 1 Houston on Saturday in Birmingham at 7:10 p.m. ET.