Latest / The Auburn Undercover Podcast / Auburn HC Steven Pearl + F KeShawn Murphy - Florida Win

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Auburn HC Steven Pearl + F KeShawn Murphy - Florida Win · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

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  Um, man, what
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  a that's an unbelievable win for our
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  ball club. Um, you know, we've been here
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  for 11 years. That might be the best
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  road win that we've ever had as a
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  program. And I mean, if you look back at
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  Auburn basketball history, that might be
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  one of the best road wins we've ever had
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  as a program. You know, to I I never
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  mentioned to the guys that we hadn't won
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  here in 30 years. Um, didn't think it
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  was prevalent because all new players,
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  new staffs. Um, so, you know, we just
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  kind of kept our mentality on what what
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  we needed to do to to beat Florida. And,
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  um, you know, I thought our guys for
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  about 32 minutes executed the game plan
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  to perfection. And, um, you know, our
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  team 3 weeks ago would not have won this
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  game. And that just speaks to our growth
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  as as a team. Um our growth as a staff
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  and our kids just, you know, willingness
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  to stick together and really lock into
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  the details of the things that we've
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  been harping on every single day in
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  practice and we've just continuously
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  gotten better as a group. And uh you
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  know, for us it's it's about what we do
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  from here because while we beat probably
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  the best team in our league on the road,
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  like we can't you know, while we never
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  got too low, we we can't let this get us
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  too high cuz you know, if we if we let
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  this thing affect us in in a in a in a
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  in a way that can distract us from the
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  next one, then it really doesn't mean
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  anything. So, um we got to get on to the
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  next one and we got to get on to Texas
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  because, you know, they they're
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  obviously playing good basketball right
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  now. But unbelievable environment.
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  That's that was probably the best crowd
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  I've ever seen in this building um since
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  we've been at Auburn. And it should be
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  because that's that's a Final Four
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  caliber team and um you know I thought
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  our guys just did a good job of
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  executing the things that we had to do
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  in order to win and uh were able to come
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  away with a great win. So take any
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  questions.
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  >> We also have Kean Murphy up here for
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  questions. So we'll start with
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  Coach Pearl. Talk a little bit about the
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  defense particularly in the first half
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  that you guys had against. What were the
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  things that you received from your
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  we were just swarming at the ball and
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  you know we we really talked about
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  keeping everything in front of us. Um we
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  had some discussions on whether or not
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  we were going to switch and we just
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  figured you know we got to do what what
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  we do best and switching has been really
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  good for us over the last you know
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  couple weeks and uh we just didn't we
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  didn't let the their size affect us. Um
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  our our bigs did a great job at kicking
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  the guards out anytime we did catch a
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  switch and uh you know we wanted to make
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  them settle for for contest or for jump
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  shots and uh you know they made four of
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  them in the first half but that was
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  something that we were okay with. I
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  thought the biggest difference in the
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  first half was we only we held them to
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  four offensive rebounds and that team
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  you know in the first half they missed
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  16 shots and to only get four offensive
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  rebounds that's 25% that's 20% under
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  what they typically rebound on the
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  offensive end. That that's significant.
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  That's substantial. It's the reason why
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  we were up 15. It's the reason why we
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  won the game. Um, you know, they got a
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  couple of them late, you know, on those
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  last couple possessions, but I thought
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  overall our guys did a really good job
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  of hitting and and, you know, holding
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  their checkouts and swarming to the
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  basketball and finishing possessions.
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  So, uh, you know, and then anytime the
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  ball went into the post, our our, you
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  know, guards did a great job of digging
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  at it. Our bigs were very physical and
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  they did a great job of getting vertical
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  at the rim and not letting them have any
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  easy ones. So, you know, we held them to
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  37% from the field. Um, you know, part
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  of it they missed 11 free throws. Um,
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  but you know, we'd rather them shoot
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  free throws than than get easy ones at
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  the rim. So, defensively, I thought our
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  guys did a good job executing the things
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  that we needed to do.
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  >> That's what you said. You thought you
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  were going to have to hit 40% or better.
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  You only have one in the second half.
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  What does that say about the way you
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  guys were able to grind basket?
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  >> But we shot 90% from the free throw
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  line. So, that 10% I said I told the
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  guys we need to shoot 80% from the line.
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  the fact that we shot 90 I think makes
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  up for the one three that we probably
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  could have or could have or should have
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  made. So, uh, but yeah, to only, you
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  know, make one three in the second half,
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  um, and shoot 33%, you know, that just
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  kind of speaks to our guys ability to
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  just kind of hang in there. You know,
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  they tie the game with 750 left and
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  that's an eternity in college
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  basketball, especially on the road. They
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  had all the momentum in the world and we
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  got into a timeout and we were like,
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  "You guys, like, if I were to tell you
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  that with 7 minutes and 50 seconds left,
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  we're going to be tied against one of
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  the best teams in college basketball on
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  the road. Would you take it?" And
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  they're like, "Fuck yeah." Like, "Let's
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  go." And um, you know, they they did a
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  great job of responding and, you know,
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  we did a we hit back and we went on
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  like, you know, I think I told them I
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  said we were going to be up five at the
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  next media and we got up six. So, our
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  guys just responded and um, did a great
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  job of taking that team's punch. three
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  weeks ago, our team would have folded
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  and and let all that pressure get to us
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  and uh you know, our team did a great
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  job of hanging in there and staying
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  together.
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  >> Coach
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  16's
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  gone.
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  >> Yeah, he's healthier now. You know, he
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  he wasn't healthy. How many games we
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  played, Ted?
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  >> 20 21. So, like he wasn't healthy the
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  first
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  16 or 17 games of the year. He really
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  just got healthy over the last like five
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  or six and you've seen his production go
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  up and we're able to run things for him
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  and he's just he's been doing such a
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  great job of anytime a miss is coming
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  off he's crashing the offensive glass
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  and he's just way more he's got way more
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  pep in his step, way more bounce and um
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  you know we've always known how talented
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  and skilled he is and you see that with
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  his you know touch around the rim. I
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  thought that three ball in the second
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  half was cash, too. Good man.
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  >> But you're making your free throws, too.
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  He's um 12 for 13 the last two games
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  from the foul line. That's the
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  difference between 16 and nine and, you
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  know, 12 and nine, which is, you know,
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  that that makes all the difference in
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  the world. So, he's been great. Uh but
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  he's got to, you know, continue to stay
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  hungry because that's I think what's
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  kind of fueled him is he's had a little
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  bit of a chip on his shoulder to kind of
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  show, you know, the rest of our league
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  and the country what he's capable of.
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  And, uh, he's just got to continue to do
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  that. So,
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  >> yeah. Like coach said, I'm I'm getting
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  back healthier and a lot of a lot of
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  that is me getting confident. Uh the
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  coaches and players put more confidence
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  in me to be able to play my game. Um and
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  as season goes, I I could I pray I
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  continue to stay healthy to be able to
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  produce like I am today.
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  What did you guys see from him in the
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  first half that really helped you get
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  off that fast start?
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  >> Yeah, IB said to me in the locker room,
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  you know, for what it's worth, Keshan
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  Hall didn't miss a shot in warm-ups. I
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  said, usually that's the kiss of death
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  for like he's going to miss every shot
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  now. And then he made his first two and
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  I looked at IB and he was like, I told
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  you. So from there, I was like, Mike,
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  just continue to feed him the ball
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  because when he like you've seen when he
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  was at UCF and you've seen at Auburn,
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  like when he makes a couple shots, like
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  at that point, the basket just gets
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  really big for him. And um he did a
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  great job of attacking their switches.
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  He got him on angles and I thought the
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  difference between his first half and
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  his second half was in the first half he
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  did a really good job of playing off two
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  feet and using shot fakes when he needed
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  to. In the second half he got a little
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  sped up and played off one foot and
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  Tommy did a great job of defending him
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  at the rim. Um but you know made three
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  threes early and to have 22 points in
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  the first half, two assists, one
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  turnover, you know, is just phenomenal.
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  It's the only reason why we were up 15
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  at that point. um he kind of carried our
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  offense and gave us the confidence we
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  needed to, you know, obviously hang in
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  there. And uh for him to score two
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  points in the second half and our guys
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  to find a way to, you know, grind out
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  that win was was really important for
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  for our group.
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  >> There was a lot of talk about your
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  relationship with Todd. What was that
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  postgame handshake like a beat?
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  >> Yeah, I mean Todd's had our number since
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  since we've been here. You know, they've
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  won three out of four. Um and you know
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  um we we've had every time we've played
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  has been for something significant. So
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  you know SEC tournament championship
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  final four they go on to win a national
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  championship. And you know like this
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  game for us was huge because it this
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  week you know we made up a lot of ground
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  as far as where we were in the SEC going
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  into this week. And to do it against two
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  on the road twice is you know it meant a
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  lot for our program and you know they
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  just came off five straight wins so they
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  were playing really well. So, you know,
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  I'll call him after the game at some
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  point and check on him. Um, you know,
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  cuz, you know, he's he's a fiery
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  competitor and I he's the best coach in
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  our league and I have a tremendous
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  amount of respect for him and his staff
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  and um no, I mean, you know, he once he
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  once he you know, we we'll talk at some
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  point, you know, um
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  it's I've been on the other end of that
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  three times now, so I get it. Um, but
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  you know, for our guys to be able to
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  come down here and get our first win in
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  30 years against probably the best team
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  that was probably the best Florida team
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  that we've played against in Gainesville
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  since we've been at Auburn and uh for us
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  to be able to come in here and get a win
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  is, you know, significant and proud of
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  the guys
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  for a while.
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  What's that say about him, his
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  character,
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  how he's coming along?
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  >> Yeah, Sebastian is just, you know, he's
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  the ultimate like team guy. And, you
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  know, you you look at his stat sheet,
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  you know, five five points, two
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  rebounds, two turnovers. Like, that's
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  not a great statline for Sebastian, but
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  like like you said, he just he's out
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  there and he's making winning plays and
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  he's checking out every single
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  possession. And then when we needed it
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  the most, like he he puts the most
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  physical player in our league on his ass
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  and scores a layup. So that no one else
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  can do that. Sebastian did it. And um
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  you know, he he's just he's matured
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  beyond his years. Um he does so many
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  good things for us. He he will do
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  whatever we ask him to do in order to
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  win. And you know, he's he's a prime
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  example of why we continue to do this
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  because there's young men like him out
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  there still. And you know, I'm really
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  proud of him. I'm proud of his
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  development. and you know he's just he's
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  made our team as a as a freshman just so
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  much better.
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  >> What's changed for y'all over these last
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  few weeks to be able to go on this run?
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  >> In my opinion, it's been the effort on
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  defense. Um like like our coaches say,
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  uh nothing we do works without effort.
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  So lately, we've been putting more
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  effort into everything we do, showing up
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  at practice, uh whether it's come out,
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  just the small details. We've been
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  putting more effort into everything we
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  do and it's it's starting to show on on
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  the