Nov. 21, 2014
Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl
On a 100 point game...
"It feels great. It is the way we like to play. The kids had fun playing it. I think our fans enjoyed watching it. We beat a good basketball team. Louisiana Lafayette is picked second in the Sun Belt, and they are going to have a good team. They have seven new players so the coach is putting a lot of new pieces together. That is the best we played. We had several guys with some career numbers. I thought Cinmeon Bowers defense on Shawn Long was tremendous. Shawn Long is the nation's leading returning double-double player. Shawn had 6 points and 2 rebounds. Cinmeon had 20 and 12. That is very significant on the offensive and defensive end. We are shorthanded still without Antoine Mason. We have eight scholarship guys, and I thought that was a really good win for us."
On KT Harrell getting inside and Tahj Shamsid-Deen closing out the game...
"One thing we felt we could do is get to the rim. We felt they had some great strengths. We thought we could take them off the bounce and we did. KT was going to the rim strong and finishing. That gave the other guys confidence. The other thing we needed to do was turn them over. They had 47 turnovers in their first 2 games and now they have 20 more. Their starting point guard is in the NBA right now starting for the Orlando Magic. That team brings everybody back but that point guard, so it was a good match up for us. Malcolm Canada with 6 assists and 1 turnover was great. It was one of his better ball games here at Auburn."
On career high games...
"It is the kind of performance I hope to see, not the kind of performance I expect to see. How can you expect Jordon (Granger) to get a career high, or Malcolm (Canada) to get a career high? My team plays best when everybody contributes. I thought we had really good contribution all the way around. We made shots. Look, they still shot 51 percent. Our field goal defense percentage is going to be a real challenge, that is why we have to turn people over. We are just not big enough to be able to guard and keep people out of the lane."
On 3-point game...
"It was really important. The assistant coaches did a really good job getting our guys in for shots. Tahj Shamsid-Deen broke out tonight. He broke out tonight because we talked him into being one of the best defenders. I told him, `This basketball team is not playing up to your level. It is playing down to a different level. You need to bring them up to this level. If we don't go there, you need to be there by yourself.' I think that loosened him up. Not that he made 5, but that he took 10 threes. His percentage coming in is not very good. The fact that he took 10 is a good sign. They were open shots and he didn't hesitate."
On defense...
"As far as getting back into transition I thought particularly in the first half they ran. One of the things, even playing 11 guys, they looked tired. I thought they looked tired. I know we were tired. This is our third game in eight days. That is a lot of games. So actually we are in pretty good shape. We are used to playing that way. So there were some dumb fouls. We were telling K.C. (Ross-Miller) to leave that guy alone. That is going to be a block or charge, and if he doesn't get the charge it is his fourth foul- it is just not a smart play. He was just so hyped up to play the defense, and it was right in front of the bench, it was just not a smart play."
On the status on Antoine Mason...
"I hope he comes back next week. He is making progress. It looks like he is walking now without a limp. I know he is working diligently to get back. We are a much better team with him. When it comes to an ankle sprain, you are never coming back 100 percent. Never. We will get him to about 80 and then as long as it is strong enough he can play. So he is not going to be as explosive when he first comes back. When he first comes back it will be a 20 minute assignment."
On Tulsa...
"They are going to play us a lot of zone. I think. They are going to pack in the defense, they don't extend much. I really do take it one game at a time. I have two guys on the staff that have been looking at Tulsa all summer. I looked at them a little bit this summer, but it is all I can do to get ready for Milwaukee, Colorado, and Louisiana. Louisiana is a better team, we just have to keep getting better."
On shot percentage...
"I think they were tired. They tried different defenses. We were just sharing the ball and being effective. We had 19 assists and only 10 turnovers. They played some defenses that we hadn't seen a lot of. We had a couple things in and we made a lot of shots, and then they got out of it. It is early in the season where someone can put something on you that you have not seen. But we made plays tonight in pressure and in the run and jump. We executed. It was phenomenal crowd. It was a good one."
Auburn Player Quotes
Tahj Shamsid-Deen
On his second half scoring (19 pts)...
"My coaches and teammates have been encouraging me to keep shooting and not to worry about missing. In the second half they started to drop."
On the game...
"Coach said if we focus on defense the offense will come. The main focus tonight was getting pressure on their guards. In the second half we opened the score up."
On the shoulder injury...
"When I am out there, I am not really worried about my shoulder. The only thing the doctor said was not to dive on the floor for the ball."
On the scoring the 100th point...
"I did not even know I scored the 100th point. It was a late shot clock and I was trying to get a basket. Then I look up and we had 100. I heard the crowd, but that was not on my mind."
On his confidence...
"I think my confidence is always at an all-time high. Seeing the ball go in tonight reassured me that I can shoot the ball. The encouragement from my coaches and teammates really helps too."
On what the win means for the team...
"It means a lot. It gives us a big confidence boost. But like everyone has said, we can celebrate tonight but we have two tough games when we go to Las Vegas next week."
On going on the road...
"As long as we keep getting better every day and give it our all in the practice and in the game I think we will be alright."
On the tables being flipped from last week...
"It was a little bit. You have some bad shooting games like that. We happened to have one up in Colorado. We were back home tonight, so we had to get the `W'"
Jordan Granger
On his confidence...
"I feel coach Pearl puts me in great situations to show my skill sets. I am shooting and able to pass and the coaches are helping me on my 3-ball, it helped out a lot so I could spread the floor."
On having a career night...
"It feels great, but we have to focus on the two games we have in Las Vegas right now."
On having a good performance in Las Vegas...
"Coach has put us against teams who went to the tournament. I feel like this is going to prepare us for SEC play come January. I feel that is good for a team like us that has not been winning a lot in the past to go against tougher opponents."
Louisiana Head Coach Bob Marlin
On Auburn's run in final minutes...
"They played extremely well. We couldn't keep the basketball in front in man-to-man or zone. They made a lot of 3-point shot too. That's the difference in the game. They out threed us by 24 and made one more free-throw. There's your 25 right there. We did some good things. We have got to have more out of our front line. Shawn Long and Devonta Walker have got to put up better results than they did tonight. But, Auburn played hard. They had a great second-half and a great stretch there where everything went right for them. You can kind of flip the script from the other night against Colorado, it was a reversal of fortune. They were good tonight and made their shots."
On getting fatigued when Auburn went on their run...
"It takes momentum out. At halftime the bench points were 21-1 and now look at the second half. Their bench played well and they made shots the second half. I'm sure we were a little tired. We had a hard travel day yesterday. Still, we have a deeper club and we played more guys than Auburn did and fewer minutes. We have to stay with it on both ends."
On surprise about Auburn's output under Bruce already...
"Not if you make shots like that and have pressure. They sped up the pace of the game and went pretty fast. We gave up way too many points in the second half but they were making shots. They had a lot of chances. There were a lot of possessions in the game where they had a lot of steals and they converted their turnovers into baskets."