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Auburn HC Steven Pearl - Texas Win · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  Before we start, uh, Auburn's three
• 0:02
  turnovers ties the school record for
• 0:04
  fewest turnovers in a [snorts] game. So,
• 0:05
  with that, I'll turn it over to coach
• 0:07
  for an opening statement.
• 0:11
  >> Um, you know, once again, just got to
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  thank our fans. Um, you know, another
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  unbelievable environment, another
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  unbelievable crowd. Um, you know, it
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  makes all the difference in the world.
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  You know, we're down 14 with nine
• 0:23
  minutes left in the game. and you know
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  uh having a full house gives our guys
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  the confidence and the courage to be
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  able to find ways to chip away and get
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  back into that game. So you know coming
• 0:32
  into the game I think Texas averaged
• 0:34
  seven made threes a game
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  and you know they made eight in the
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  first half and uh you know Don Swain I
• 0:42
  think was four three for three at
• 0:43
  halftime or four for four and uh you
• 0:46
  know he shoots 27% from three. Those are
• 0:49
  the shots we wanted them to take. We
• 0:51
  wanted them to take threes. We don't
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  want Cam Heidi who shoots 50% from three
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  to make, you know, five out of six. That
• 0:56
  was on us. But, you know, I thought the
• 0:58
  rest of those guys, um, you know, we
• 1:00
  wanted those guys to take contested
• 1:01
  threes. And, um, you know, to their
• 1:03
  credit, they made them. Um, if you had
• 1:05
  told me before the game that they were
• 1:06
  going to make 12 threes, I don't know if
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  we have a, you know, I'm not sure if we
• 1:09
  won that game. I can tell you one thing
• 1:11
  for certain, our team a month ago would
• 1:13
  not have won that game with Texas making
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  12 threes. Um, you know, coming at
• 1:17
  halftime offensively in the first half,
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  we were, you know, really we were really
• 1:22
  slo not sloppy, but like we just didn't
• 1:24
  execute well. Our spacing was really
• 1:26
  bad, and they did a really good job
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  early of plugging gaps and doing a good
• 1:30
  job of guarding without fouling at the
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  rim. Um, and it led to us taking some
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  really tough contested twos and we were
• 1:38
  looking for whistles and instead of just
• 1:40
  going to score through contact. um you
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  know at halftime we get in there and you
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  know I'm like guys like we should be
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  down 20 right now just based on how we
• 1:47
  played offensively and how well they
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  played in the first half. Um to only be
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  down eight, you know, was huge. It felt
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  a lot like Missouri. You know, they made
• 1:57
  seven threes in the first half on shots
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  we wanted them to take. We just didn't
• 2:00
  respond well at Missouri. We just didn't
• 2:02
  come out with a lot of fire. Um we did a
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  really good job, you know, early in the
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  second half. We cut the lead to three.
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  They then extend it back to eight. We
• 2:10
  get into a timeout and, you know, we had
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  to figure out if we were going to bend,
• 2:15
  not break, and our our guys hung in
• 2:17
  there and uh just kept chipping away.
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  And [snorts] I thought in the second
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  half, Mike did a great job, coach
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  BurgerMaster did a great job of just
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  putting us in spaces where we could
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  drive those guys and not they wouldn't
• 2:29
  be able to help nearly as much. And um
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  you know obviously Key and KO had a lot
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  of step up in that second half and made
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  a lot of really big shots and we did a
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  really good job of attacking them and
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  not looking for fouls and forcing them
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  to foul us leading us to be able to go
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  to the line 28 times in the second half
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  and making 22 of them. So, you know, I
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  thought our guys hung in there, found a
• 2:50
  way to beat a really good Texas team.
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  This one I was really worried about this
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  game. Um obviously coming off of three,
• 2:56
  you know, two two really good road wins.
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  um understanding how dangerous that team
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  is um especially when they're you know
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  they play really well in big games and
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  uh we were able to find a way to uh you
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  know grind out a win and um you know
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  proud of the guys. So take any
• 3:11
  questions.
• 3:13
  >> Stephen, y'all y'all almost averaged two
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  points a possession in the second half
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  just for it to be that clean after like
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  you said how how sloppy it was in the
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  first half. Just what did that say about
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  kind of the guys kind of resetting and
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  refocusing out there? Yeah, I think Mike
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  made a lot of really nice adjustments in
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  that in that at halftime. And one of the
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  things that we saw was that they were
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  putting a lot of bodies on Keshan Hall.
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  So, we wanted to feed him early and kind
• 3:38
  of go through him and it helped that
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  obviously he made a couple shots early
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  to kind of get us going. But, if they
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  were going to put that many guys on him,
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  it was going to let other people be open
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  and KO was the recipient of a lot of
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  that. Um, because we were and it wasn't
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  off of Keshan Hall's first pass. It was
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  the swing swing after the first pass
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  because they were then in rotation and
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  we were able to get shots. So, I thought
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  Mike did a phenomenal job of making some
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  halftime adjustments and putting us in
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  in sets that really took advantage of
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  how they wanted to guard. In the first
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  half, we didn't do a very good job of
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  spacing them out. Second half, we did a
• 4:07
  much better job and we got bailed out by
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  two of our best players. So, Key and KO
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  were phenomenal.
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  >> Stephen, you talk about the sellout
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  crowd and giving your guys the
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  confidence, but seemed like that was the
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  most interactive you've been with the
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  crowd tonight. Just how much do you
• 4:21
  yourself feed off of that energy?
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  Um, I mean, I don't I mean I don't not
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  sure I feed off it, but I know our
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  players do. So, you know, um,
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  it's it helped us in the second half
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  because every time we're trying to get
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  them up on their feet. You know, our
• 4:37
  guys stepped up and and made plays and,
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  you know, I think it's just something
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  that our guys really really love and uh,
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  you know, it's um, it makes all the
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  difference in the world. So, you know,
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  if I'm going to continue to do it
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  because I just Yeah, I think it helps us
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  and um our guys responded well to it
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  and, you know, it it allowed us the
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  opportunity to find a way to win that
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  game. So, um just grateful, very
• 5:01
  grateful for our students and our fans
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  that come out every single night and uh
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  support this team.
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  >> Coach, we talked so much about KO and
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  how much of an impact he makes
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  defensively, but how different is your
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  team when he has a night like tonight on
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  the offensive end of the floor? How
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  different can you guys be when he plays
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  the way he did on that end of the floor?
• 5:19
  >> Yeah, it's huge. Um, you know, KO gets a
• 5:22
  really bad technical foul in the first
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  half and um, you know, out of
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  frustration and um, you know, KO in the
• 5:31
  past would have had a hard time
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  responding from that. And uh, you know,
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  I said, "Ko, we don't do that." And he
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  looked at me, he said, "You're right."
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  And then, you know, the next possession
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  I said, "Hey, go pat him on the butt and
• 5:42
  say you're sorry." He went over there
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  patenting the guy and Vlad responded
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  really well to it. And that's not always
• 5:47
  the case with officials. Like sometimes
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  when you MF him like that, you're done.
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  But I thought that crew did a great job
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  of moving on to the next play and not
• 5:57
  letting it impact their whistle as the
• 6:00
  game went on. And then KO was able to
• 6:02
  come back and, you know, obviously play
• 6:04
  really well offensively. So when he
• 6:05
  makes shots, our our offense is way
• 6:07
  different. We obviously we don't win
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  tonight if him and Ke don't make eight
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  threes. Um he's capable of doing that.
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  Um, and I know it's in there. Um, but
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  you know, I don't think we necessarily
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  need it in the last three games because
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  we did have an advantage driving it to
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  the rim and um, you know, tonight we
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  kind of took what the defense gave us
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  and you know, we went 11 for 21 from
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  three and we took a lot of good ones.
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  So, we only took like one or two bad
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  ones in this game and u, obviously
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  really happy that Murf banked his end.
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  That was that was kind of huge. [snorts]
• 6:34
  >> Coach, four straight SEC wins. Now that
• 6:37
  you've got about twothirds of the season
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  in the books here, can you talk about
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  what you're learning as a first year
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  head coach and you know how has the
• 6:46
  beginning of SEC play to now changed for
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  you in terms of how you motivate your
• 6:51
  team and prepare your team?
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  >> Yeah, I think um you know first Mike
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  just trying to stay consistent like even
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  when you have like two devastating
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  losses like I got to do what I do in my
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  preparation and not change. Um, I'm
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  going to be just as positive and just as
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  hungry and just as humble as I am that I
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  am then as I as I will be now that we've
• 7:12
  won four in a row. And I think, you
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  know, for me, um, I think my guys have
• 7:16
  done have responded pretty well to me
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  being a little more fiery in our huddles
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  and and and you know, our talks about
• 7:23
  like what we got to do to win games. You
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  know, I told our guys like, you know,
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  those last three games aren't going to
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  make shots. Those last three games
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  aren't going to get any rebounds. those
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  last three games aren't going to play
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  any defense. Um, we got to do that
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  tonight. And, uh, you know, for the most
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  part, I thought we did. Um, so for me,
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  it's just, you know, just trying to stay
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  consistent in my routine. And, you know,
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  I know I say it a million times and
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  you're probably tired of hearing it, but
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  you can't get too high, you can't get
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  too low. Uh, the best piece of advice
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  I've ever gotten, it's never as bad as
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  you think it is, but it's also never as
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  good as you think it is. So, right now
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  it's not as good as I think it is. Like,
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  you know, I got to get ready for
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  Tennessee now. and uh you know they just
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  won an overtime game against Georgia. So
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  they're going to be playing with a ton
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  of confidence. Um so those are kind of
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  the things that you know just for me
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  more importantly is just trying to stay
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  consistent in my preparation and my
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  execution.
• 8:12
  >> Texas started seven to 10 from deep in
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  three of their next
• 8:14
  >> is that good? [laughter]
• 8:17
  >> Three of their next 14. Did you guys
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  change anything uh defense or did they
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  just they just kind of finally cool off?
• 8:22
  >> No, we we we just we stuck with like at
• 8:25
  halftime I was like maybe we should like
• 8:26
  blitz the ball screen. I'm like, uh,
• 8:29
  forget that. Um,
• 8:32
  they're not they're not going to keep
• 8:34
  making these shots. They're just not
• 8:35
  like you got to play like, you know, I'm
• 8:37
  an analytics guy. You know, you got to
• 8:39
  play the numbers. And for the most part,
• 8:41
  they're going to they're going to serve
• 8:42
  you well. And and sure enough, they did.
• 8:44
  You know, now, you know, Heidi, like you
• 8:46
  can't you can't let him get any because
• 8:48
  he shoots 50%. Um, but, you know, we
• 8:51
  knew that Swain was going to miss his.
• 8:53
  You know, Pope cooled down and and Mark
• 8:56
  missed a bunch of his. So, um, yeah, we
• 8:58
  we we talked about making some
• 9:00
  adjustments, but man, like
• 9:02
  at at some point they had to cool off
• 9:04
  and and and sure enough, they did. I
• 9:06
  thought we did a better job of in
• 9:07
  transition of not we did a better job.
• 9:10
  Well, part of it was cuz when you make
• 9:11
  shots, you can get matched up in
• 9:12
  transition. Our our good offense led to
• 9:15
  better defense because we were able to
• 9:16
  set our defense in the first half. We
• 9:18
  were in transition a lot because we had
• 9:20
  taken bad shots and they got some clean
• 9:22
  ones because we didn't have matchups.
• 9:24
  So, I think our good offense led to
• 9:26
  better defense in the second half.
• 9:27
  >> Yeah, going off of that, I mean, I know
• 9:29
  you were very focused on stopping them
• 9:31
  from two because that's what they're
• 9:32
  really good at. They only had eight
• 9:33
  eight makes the rim all game. Um, just
• 9:35
  how how big was that for y'all to keep
• 9:37
  them out of the paint because that's
• 9:38
  usually the area where they they thrive
• 9:39
  on offense.
• 9:40
  >> Yeah, in the second half they did a
• 9:41
  better job of going to Vocitis and, you
• 9:44
  know, um getting him easy ones around
• 9:46
  the room. Um, but, you know, I thought
• 9:48
  our two-point defense was was was pretty
• 9:51
  good for the most part. um you know 14
• 9:54
  made twos in the game. You know I think
• 9:56
  you know they're in their wins they're
• 9:58
  making like 20 I think. So um it it was
• 10:02
  important that you know we we ran them
• 10:04
  off the line. They and like they're if
• 10:06
  they made 14 twos like I want to say
• 10:08
  like eight of them were like either
• 10:10
  contested like mid-ranges or push shots
• 10:12
  around the rim. They weren't layups. So
• 10:14
  we're doing a better job of not giving
• 10:15
  up layups at the rim and that's been
• 10:17
  really important for us.
• 10:20
  >> [snorts]
• 10:21
  >> Coach, you mentioned Texas having to
• 10:23
  cool off. You feel like this team or
• 10:24
  that sometime this team is going to have
• 10:25
  to heat up. Prior to tonight in the win
• 10:27
  streak, your team was nine of 51 from
• 10:29
  three. Going into this game, how do you
• 10:32
  still instill confidence in this team
• 10:34
  from behind the three-point line even
• 10:35
  when they're not necessarily falling in
• 10:36
  some of these big time games?
• 10:38
  >> Just keep shooting good shots, you know?
• 10:41
  Um, it's not something like we really
• 10:44
  talk about because if we go three for 18
• 10:47
  and we take 18 good ones, I'm I'm not
• 10:50
  going to stop shooting threes because
• 10:51
  we're not shooting a good percentage.
• 10:52
  Now, people may read that and be like,
• 10:54
  "What in the world is he talking about?"
• 10:56
  But I I know my team and I know that,
• 10:59
  you know, Kevin Overton is a career, you
• 11:01
  know, damn near 40% three-point shooter.
• 11:03
  Uh Elijah, you know, before this rough
• 11:06
  stretch was shooting 58% in his previous
• 11:07
  five games. made a big one tonight on a
• 11:10
  drive draw dish from key. Uh and then
• 11:12
  obviously Keshan Hall is starting to
• 11:13
  heat up. So um you know Tahad continues
• 11:16
  to struggle. Um he's probably shooting
• 11:18
  like 18% in conference play from three
• 11:21
  and we're still what are we 14 and seven
• 11:24
  five and three
• 11:26
  if he can like you know find a way to
• 11:29
  flip a switch. And here's the deal, like
• 11:30
  I need him to continue to shoot those
• 11:31
  shots, you know, because once they start
• 11:33
  going down, like, you know, things can
• 11:35
  change for us and, uh, but, you know,
• 11:38
  um, we just we're we're going to stay
• 11:40
  consistent with what we're doing. Um,
• 11:42
  and, uh, you know, shots will fall when
• 11:44
  they need to.
• 11:45
  >> There were a couple times specific
• 11:47
  specifically in the first half where it
• 11:48
  looked like Murf was kind of trying to
• 11:51
  get his teammates on the court composed
• 11:52
  when things weren't going the way that
• 11:53
  you all wanted them to. How important
• 11:55
  and how beneficial has his experience in
• 11:57
  the SEC been when y'all are in, you
• 12:00
  know, sticky situations, tough games or
• 12:02
  trying to come back from a bigger
• 12:03
  deficit?
• 12:04
  >> He's really emerged, Taylor, as a leader
• 12:06
  and, you know, part of it is, you know,
• 12:08
  he's healthy now. So, I think our guys
• 12:09
  are responding more to him because he's
• 12:11
  not, you know, out with injuries as
• 12:12
  much. Um, guys listen to what Murf has
• 12:15
  to say and and it's all really
• 12:16
  constructive and it's really positive
• 12:18
  and it's stuff that our guys need to
• 12:19
  hear because sometimes when you get in
• 12:20
  those tough spots, you know, there can
• 12:22
  be some negative talk and huddles.
• 12:23
  That's just what what happens with with
• 12:24
  young men like that. Murf does a really
• 12:26
  good job of just, you know, trying to
• 12:28
  stay positive, stay on target, stay on
• 12:29
  task, and part of it is, you know, like
• 12:31
  you said, like he's had experience in
• 12:33
  this league. Murf didn't have a great
• 12:35
  offensive game, but I thought he just he
• 12:37
  played his ass off for the most part and
• 12:40
  uh, you know, battled with Vocatitis
• 12:41
  down there at five big rebounds in the
• 12:43
  game and, uh, you know, just continues
• 12:46
  to do the things that we ask him to do
• 12:48
  for us to win. Um, you know, we've been
• 12:50
  we've won five out of six, four straight
• 12:53
  because of his production and and and
• 12:55
  his just energy and and his leadership.
• 12:57
  So, we got to keep that going. [snorts]
• 12:59
  >> Coach, kind of in line with Taylor's
• 13:01
  question, it it felt like Vocatitis was
• 13:03
  was really making the game physical,
• 13:05
  bringing a physical game to you guys.
• 13:07
  Um, in the moment, the guys were kind of
• 13:10
  responded to that physicality. You know,
• 13:12
  how are you managing the emotions of
• 13:14
  these teams when you find yourself in
• 13:15
  the tournament? you know, some guy gives
• 13:18
  a guy elbow and then suddenly, you know,
• 13:20
  you're in a situation where you need
• 13:22
  your guys to keep their cool here. Are
• 13:23
  you teaching them about those moments?
• 13:25
  Uh, you know, in times like this?
• 13:27
  >> Yeah, I think our guys have done a
• 13:29
  really good job of just playing
• 13:30
  physically um in, you know, in SEC play.
• 13:35
  You know, we we've outscored every team
• 13:37
  um in the paint. I don't know if we did
• 13:39
  tonight. Nope. Dang it. Um but, you
• 13:42
  know, uh seven out of eight we've
• 13:44
  outscored teams in the paint. So, um,
• 13:46
  our guy, but we got 29 free throws, so
• 13:48
  we we did outscore him in the paint. Um,
• 13:51
  we did a really good We our guys seek
• 13:53
  out physicality, which is it's something
• 13:55
  I was worried about early in the year. I
• 13:57
  didn't know if we had that, but it's
• 13:58
  kind of become our MMO, and that's
• 14:00
  something that we can't shy away from.
• 14:01
  So, uh, I thought our guys did a good
• 14:03
  job of staying composed. Like, he's a
• 14:05
  he's he's a monster down there, and like
• 14:08
  he there's a reason why he drew 11 fouls
• 14:11
  tonight. Holy crap. So he leads the
• 14:13
  country in fouls drawn in a 40-minute
• 14:15
  game. So his number just went up right
• 14:17
  there. There's a reason why he does such
• 14:19
  a good job in those situations. U and
• 14:21
  our guys for the most part did a good
• 14:22
  job of not letting it bother him. Um and
• 14:25
  just kind of getting on to the next play
• 14:26
  and just kept throwing punches and and
• 14:28
  ultimately I think it kind of wore them
• 14:30
  down and we were able to, you know, find
• 14:31
  a way to close the game out. So
• 14:33
  >> thanks guys.