"My man": Auburn HC Bruce Pearl proudly reacts as former Tigers guard KD Johnson leads technical fouls list

Almost one year ago, KD Johnson entered the transfer portal to play for George Mason. It’s safe to say Bruce Pearl, Johnson's former coach with the Auburn Tigers, still has a soft spot for the guard.

While previewing Tuesday’s game against the Texas A&M Aggies in Monday's press conference, Pearl reminisced on their matchup last season, singling out the efforts made by Johnson.

“Just a shoutout to KD. They got a chance to maybe win a regular-season championship this year. I’m so excited for him. I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that I heard from KD after the game on Saturday. Got a chance to love on each other a little bit,” Bruce Pearls said.

However, Pearl’s best moment came when a reporter mentioned that Johnson leads the nation in technical fouls.

“My man…” Pearl said with a smile.

KD Johnson is averaging 7.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the Patriots, who are a game back of the VCU Rams in the Atlantic 10 standings. George Mason will face LaSalle and Richmond, while the Rams have dates against Duquesne and Dayton to close out the season.

In the game coach Pearl was referring to, Johnson had 14 points coming off the bench, second behind Williams’ 22 as the Tigers beat the Aggies 66-55.

Auburn is the number one team in the nation right now but has a couple of games against ranked opponents to finish the regular season. The Tigers will visit No. 22 Texas A&M on Wednesday before facing seventh-ranked Alabama at home on Saturday. Bruce Pearl’s squad has already clinched the SEC regular-season title.

Bruce Pearl gives update on Denver Jones’ injury status

Saturday’s SEC-clinching win against Kentucky did not come without a cost for the Auburn Tigers. Starting point guard Denver Jones left the game in the first half with a foot injury and didn’t return.

While it was initially called a bone bruise, Bruce Pearl referred to it as a soft tissue injury on Monday. While it’s not a season-threatening injury, there’s no timetable set for the guard’s return.

“We’ll know more later. That’s one of the disadvantages of actually having press conferences before practices. I just don’t know yet. It’s something that could hold him out, but it’s not something that’s going to hold him up for long,” Bruce Pearl said.

Auburn has already clinched the regular-season title, which gives the team some flexibility in planning for the future. However, after a grueling season in a very tough SEC, the Tigers would like to secure one of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and could still need to win some games to do so.