"Outrageous": Bruce Pearl gives Geno Auriemma his flowers for reaching 24 Final Fours, recalls his rivalry with Pat Summitt

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl praised UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma for making 24 Final Fours. On the Tuesday episode of SportsCenter, Pearl joined host Scott Van Pelt to preview the Tigers' Final Four matchup when Van Pelt brought up Auriemma's record.

Auriemma spoke with the host on Monday after UConn beat USC to advance to the Final Four. Van Pelt asked Pearl for his thoughts on Auriemma, as Pearl reached only his second national semifinal as a coach.

"I have to tell you, I've been laughing since the other night," Scott said. "Geno Auriemma — he's been to 24 Final Fours, Bruce. Twenty-four. You're laughing.

"It is outrageous, and of course, you know, Pat Summitt was a great competitor of Geno's. God bless her — if she had lived longer, I would be rooting for Pat to surpass Geno's number," Bruce Pearl said (0:29). "But man, I never thought I'd get to one Final Four, let alone 24 Final Fours."

Auriemma and Summitt shared a long-standing rivalry during Summitt's time coaching at Tennessee. Together, they dominated the sport for three decades, accumulating 19 national championships between them.

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Bruce Pearl analyzes Florida Gators' guard play ahead of Final Four

When Auburn met Florida earlier this season, the Gators got the better of the Tigers in a high-scoring 90-81 affair.

Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr was the star of the show for Florida, going off for 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also added six rebounds and nine assists to hand Auburn its first conference loss of the season.

Tigers coach Bruce Pearl made it clear that limiting Clayton's play could be a key to victory when Auburn and Florida meet on Saturday.

"Clayton has been the best guard on the floor every single night he's took the floor, including when they came in and beat us here in Neville," Pearl told Scott Van Pelt in the same interview on SportsCenter (1:35). "If he's the best guard on the floor again. Florida's going to win.

Pearl also noted that it won't be enough to simply focus on Clayton, as he made it clear that Florida has a lot more to offer than just their star guard. He explained that the Gators have great depth and size, helping them with rebounding and giving them a very deep front line.