Amid the celebration and the circus, Bruce Pearl was in his element.
He was smiling and sweating, which is his way. He was directing and reflecting, which is his nature.
He was winning, and that has become Pearl’s foremost trait as the coach of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team.
Saturday, Pearl took a mixture of Scotty Hopson, role players and newcomers to Pittsburgh, a top-ranked power of the nation’s top-ranked power conference. Pearl and Hopson and Co. stole the show, overpowering the No. 3-ranked Panthers in a 83-76 win that was nowhere near that close.
The win clearly stated two points – one directly, the other subtly.