Transcript from Bruce Pearl's press conference after Auburn's win over Alabama.
OPENING STATEMENT
"We beat a really good basketball team tonight in front of a great environment with ESPN here. Our guys really stepped up. I thought the effort and energy defensively was huge. To turn Alabama over 21 times, get a really good understanding of how we need to guard as a team. I thought Wes Flanigan, Chad Prewitt, their team of coaches did an outstanding job with the prep. I thought the kids were engaged and bought in and -- that's the closest we've looked to the kind of Auburn basketball I like to see. A lot of guys contributed up and down the roster. I thought Chuma was particularly effective in the first half in a close game. Went to him; he delivered. We're going to kind of go as 1 and 2 take us. And 1 and 2 showed while size matters, speed and quickness is important, too. I just thought we were fast tonight. Umm, so -- great win for Auburn. You beat your rival, you beat your -- it just means more in the SEC, and it just means more when you have an opportunity to beat Alabama. I'm very proud of my seniors. Horace Spencer and Bryce Brown have not lost to Alabama at home, and that's really -- that's a great accomplishment. That's a good Alabama team. That team will be in the tournament. That team will finish in the top 5 or 6 of our league."
HANGING WITH BAMA ON THE BOARDS
"Yep. We did a good job of hanging in there and -- as a team, you could see, nobody had more than five, but it was a real good team effort. That's when we play our best. There were a lot of tough rebounds to be had, and our guys stepped up physically."
GOOD THING YOU FELL OUT OF TOP 25?
"It may have helped with the kids, and so that's a great question to ask the kids. I'm old -- I couldn't even tell you where we're ranked or whether we fell out or whether we're still in. I just -- I don't pay attention to it. I mean, I'm just focused on Missouri, or Alabama, or my team and what we need to do. So, if that helped Bryce, great, I think that's terrific."
FORCING TURNOVERS TONIGHT
"They, umm -- you cannot guard Alabama one-on-one because they're too good individually. I thought our guys did a good job of sinking and filling and stripping and ripping. Took a few charges, got bodies in there. You know, when they score 87 percent of their points in the paint, that leads the nation. They're the leading rebounding team in the league. So, obviously, we just -- the closer they get to the basket, the better they look. We had to find a way to not let them destroy us at the rim. And they weren't able to."
CHUMA IN THE FIRST HALF, GOING TO HIM
It was huge, because I could call his number and he would deliver it. He was just driving downhill, tough 2’s, making jump shots. We put a few things in there for him—which then tells him we want him to do a little bit more. Sometimes, early in the game, everybody’s got a tough matchup, so you go to your best players who can break a matchup down, and Chuma is clearly one of our best players. And I just look for that to continue.
SCOUTING REPORT SHOWED YOU’D BE ABLE TO TURN THEM OVER. HOW DID YOU FORCE SO MANY TURNOVERS?
Umm. I think taking care of the basketball is important. We’ve not taking care of it as well on the road. And so, look, we’re going to shoot it quick. That’s what we’re known for. I don’t want to turn it over quick, because then you don’t get a bad shot up or have a chance to get an offensive rebound. Our guards did a better job of taking care of the basketball and getting the ball to the place we wanted to get it. It was harder when Alabama was fresh. They had some really good defensive possessions. We were having a hard time scoring early in that game.
...
Like I said, we didn’t play them one-on-one, we played them all five guys. I mean, that’s what we did. I mean if you let—Avery does a great job at isolating his players one-on-one and defensively we tried to not let them do that.
AUSTIN WILEY?
He had a good workout today, and he’s definitely getting closer. And I really won’t know — I won’t know until tomorrow. He’s getting ready. We’re going to be on the—we’re going to be on the cautious side, you know? We’re not going to play him until he’s absolutely ready. And when he first comes back, he probably won’t be able to play a lot, just to get him into the swing of things. We need him.
DANJEL WAS DECENT AGAIN?
Yeah, really good. This is back-to-back now, the best Danjel’s looked. He feels comfortable out there. Yeah, I was pleased.
AFTER THE MISS STATE GAME, YOU HAD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO ON DEFENSE. YOU’VE BEEN GOOD ON DEFENSE SINCE. WHAT DID YOU DO
Well, I think the turned the last two teams over 40 times. When you’re turning them over, we’re going down the other end scoring, they’re not being able to go pound it inside against us. We were able to turn Alabama over tonight without extending too much, which I think was very important. Our ball-screen defense was good.
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
