Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl wasn’t shocked to see Atlanta’s State Farm Arena covered in crimson and cream as Indiana basketball fans fled to the home of the Atlanta Hawks to watch their Hoosiers take on the Tigers Saturday afternoon as part of Atlanta’s Holiday Hoopsgiving event.

“They love their basketball,” Pearl said of the Hoosiers’ Faithful. “And what an amazing environment. This was as good an environment as there was in a neutral site college basketball (game) — it was like it was the NCAA Tournament.”

Fortunately for Pearl, his Tigers played like it was the NCAA Tournament, too.

Indiana shot out to an early 12-point lead to open Saturday’s matchup.

“That will shake your cage a little bit,” Pearl admitted.

But Auburn settled in as the Tigers hung a hundred on the Hoosiers en route to a 104-76 win, which Pearl says left little to be desired.

“As you look up and down our roster, virtually every player had a big day,” Pearl said to open his postgame press conference. “I wouldn’t be so hard on IU for this one because I don’t know how we could play much better. We shot it well, we defended it well, we took care of the basketball.”

Auburn shooting the ball well was at the forefront of concern heading into Saturday’s game.

After so much talk in the offseason about how much the Tigers improved as a three-point shooting team, Auburn had struggled from beyond the arc in its three games coming into its dance with Indiana.

Against Alabama A&M, Virginia Tech and Appalachian State, Auburn went a combined 11-for-67 from beyond the three-point line — good for a measly 16.4%.

Those struggles had Pearl asking himself questions before the media even could during his weekly press conference on Thursday.

“So the question is if we’re going to shoot it better,” were the first words out of Pearl’s mouth as he previewed Auburn’s game against Indiana on Thursday.

The answer to Pearl’s question? A convincing “yes.”

The Tigers hit 14 three pointers in Saturday’s win over the Hoosiers — more than the past three games combined. Those makes came at a 48.3% clip with freshman Aden Holloway leading the way with a 5-for-8 effort from beyond the arc as he notched his first 20-point game of his college career with 24 total points.

“It was just coming off screens with them playing drop coverage,” Holloway said. “Just get a little opening and see the rim, get a clean shot off. Didn’t really have to draw a foul or anything. I got some clean looks early, which got me going. From there, it was good after that.”

Tre Donaldson, Denver Jones and Jaylin Williams also each finished with a pair of three-pointers in Saturday’s game.

“I think that while we did not shoot the ball well against App State or Virginia Tech, we think we are an improved shooting team,” Pearl said after Saturday’s win. “Our job this week was just to continue to give these guys confidence. As long as you keep taking good shots, that’s the most important thing.”

Meanwhile, Auburn’s defense held up its end of the rope as it held Indiana’s leading scorer, Kel’el Ware, under his game average, only allowing him to put up 13 points — of which just five came in the second half.

Instead of Ware, it was Malik Reneau who led the Hoosiers’ scoring efforts against the Tigers. But still, Auburn held Indiana’s pair of big guys in Ware and Reneau to just 14 total points in the second half.

“Indiana came ready. They knew we were going to double down on their bigs, and they were already inside out. They knocked down shots,” Pearl said of Indiana’s early ambush. “That’s not who they are, and we do have two bigs in there with Dylan (Cardwell) and Johni (Broome) who can kind of wrestle with their big guys. And so we mixed it up. We went sometimes, but sometimes we didn’t. And that was really positive.”

Auburn’s defense was able to force 12 Indiana turnovers, which isn’t a ton, Pearl admits. But it was significantly more than the Tigers committed in their blowout win.

Auburn coughed up the basketball just three times in Saturday’s game, with the third turnover coming on a shot clock violation with just over one second to play in the game. Had the Tigers kept that number to two turnovers, it would’ve been a program record.

All the while, the Tigers combined for 25 assists with Williams leading the way with seven.

“Twenty-five assists, three turnovers?,” Pearl said. “That was beautiful basketball.”

All of the positives from Saturday’s win made for what Pearl called Auburn’s “best win of the year so far.”

But is it sustainable?

Pearl was asked that Saturday night and was quick to pay homage to Indiana’s legendary head coach, the late Bob Knight.

“If Coach Knight was answering that question, he would wear your ass out right now,” Pearl joked when asked how he can get the Tigers to play that well every night. “How can I make sure we play that way again every night?’ I can’t. I just can’t. But that’s what it looks like when you do.”