Steven Pearl didn’t want to hear about the positives he could take from Auburn’s 73-72 loss to Houston on Sunday.

His team, which features 10 scholarship newcomers, went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country, but Pearl made it clear how he felt about the loss after the game.

"We expected to win the game," Pearl said. “Moral victories are for losers. So don’t ask me a question if I feel... no, I don’t. Because I told our guys I thought we were the better team.”

It was also just the fourth game of Pearl’s full-time head coaching career, as he took over for his father, Bruce, before the season began. Bruce Pearl had been Auburn’s head coach since 2014, leading the program to three SEC regular season titles, two SEC tournament titles and two Final Four appearances.

With the sta

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