TRANSCRIPT: Chris Beard and Sean Pedulla talk about Ole Miss’ tough loss to No. 1 Auburn

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 23 Ole Miss (16-6, 5-4 SEC) fell just short against No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC), falling 92-82 Saturday afternoon at the SJB Pavilion. After the game, head coach Chris Beard and guard Sean Pedulla met with media.

Here’s everything they had to say:

Chris Beard Opening Statement

It’s just another great crowd, obviously. We had students camping out last night before the game two hours early. They just flooded in and just had a great attendance. It’s a really good environment too. So, I know everybody comes to the game to see a win, too. But I think, with the exception of the scoreboard, just a lot of good things going on today, Oxford-wise, with our basketball program in year two, to have a crack at the number one team in the country and just have a great crowd and great environment. We’re very appreciative. So that’s the first thing that needs to be said.

I think from a basketball standpoint, I thought we played hard enough to win today. I thought our guys were physical. We were prepared. We played really hard. To beat a team like this, you’re going to have to have some special performances. I thought Sean (Pedulla) had an outstanding game. Obviously, offensively just played with courage all night long. Then Matt Murrell, who I’ll continue to tell you guys the truth, you know, overcoming a lot right now with his body and just being banged up. But he played with a lot of courage today.

So if you had told me before the game, ‘hey, you’re going to get 17 out of Matt today,’ I would have liked our chances. To beat a team like this, the playing hard deal isn’t just going to get it done. You’ve got to play well. And so a lot of missed free throws tonight. You’re not going to make them all. But it’s not difficult to see how the game could have been shifted a little bit. Maybe more pressure on Auburn down the stretch. I think at the eight-minute timeout, we were on the free throw line with a chance to cut the game to two points. And so again, Auburn’s really good, as good as advertised. I think we’re right there. I think we can beat teams like this. But it’s going to it’s going to take one of our better efforts. You know a A-plus type effort.  Today, really proud of our players, how hard we fought. We’ve just got to play better in different areas of the game. Give Auburn credit. That’s what good teams do. They find a way to win.

Questions for Sean Pedulla

Question: Sean, obviously they had some size advantages over you guys that they were able to sort of take advantage of at times with Brohme and Cardwell. How difficult was that for you guys? Just defending it.

Sean: Yeah, I mean they’re definitely some monsters. And whenever you get in rotations, sometimes when the shot goes up, it’s a little bit more difficult to box out a guy that big obviously. But also when they get in that short post area, sometimes they could pass it like pass over the trap. Um, and they’re also the good passers and rebounders. So definitely difficult to guard those dudes at times and to box them out whenever a shot goes up.

Question: A couple of different times in the second half, you guys got within a point. With the crowd the way it was and that kind of thing, did you feel like you were right there about to maybe take it?

Sean: Yeah, I feel like we were a couple different times. I felt like we were a play away from, uh, tying the game. I think we had a free throw to tie it with, like, 6 or 7 minutes left and I could just feel like the energy in the building kind of waiting for that to happen and waiting for that to kind of explode. The crowd was great, I thought. And yeah, we were just a couple of plays away at different times of making it a lot closer game at the end and if not shifting it towards towards our way.

Question: Sean, you talked about the crowd’s energy and you exploded in the second half. How much did the crowd kind of fuel you in your second-half resurgence?

Sean: Yeah, it definitely helps for confidence reasons all the time if you got a crowd like that that has your back. We’re just trying to stay aggressive in the second half, get out and run whenever we could and put pressure on the paint. Our emphasis on offense was kind of just get to the paint and move without the ball and just kind of make plays. So the crowd definitely helped out in the second half as far as getting us back in the game. I thought it was. It was just on us as far as winning the game.

Question: Sean, what is your biggest takeaway from today?

Sean: My biggest takeaway is that we’re good enough to play with just about anybody in the country. I think we knew that. But I think it’s different when you go out and show it up against the number one team in the country and they’re obviously really good and really talented, and they made us pay whenever we had lapses defensively — whether it was giving them second chance opportunities or just not following the game plan, they don’t really miss very many opportunities as far as making us pay. Like I said, biggest takeaway from today is we can play with teams like this. It’s kind of the same story all year. Just it’s going to take some more a little bit extra discipline, doing what we’re saying we’re going to do in practice and bringing that to the court and executing that at the end of the game to beat a team like that, because they’re obviously are really good and really talented. So that’s my biggest takeaway.

Questions for Coach Chris Beard 

Question: Chris, if I told you before the game that you guys would take 35 free throws and they would take 23, would you have thought that was a really positive thing?

Coach Beard: Yes.

Question: So given that, I mean obviously you missed some free throws early, but what do you kind of pinpoint not quite being able to get over the hump against them?

Coach Beard: Yeah. again it’s like I opened with it. I thought we played hard enough to win today. And I’m not so sure, just my opinion, I’m not so sure this isn’t one of the better games Auburn has played. They get what seemed like 5 or 6 guys in double figures. They had the special performances. We had Sean and Matt. I think Brakefield minus the turnovers was right there in an A-type game. They had 3 or 4 guys show up and play. In my opinion, their A games. So back to us, how are we in the game? We’re playing hard, man. We’re playing hard. We had a mistake at the end of the first half letting Broome shoot the horse three when we have fouls to give and we want him to drive with his right hand over there. We came out of the timeout with a clear message. We just didn’t get it done. So at halftime we’re a little disappointed, we’re down 6 or 7 or whatever. And we set it up, first four minutes of this half we got to win. I don’t care if we win by 1 or 10 — I prefer ten — but we just got to be in there. We did that. We accomplished it perfectly. Then we started chipping away. And again, with about eight minutes left, we’re on the free throw line to cut this thing to a one possession game. So I mean I give our guys credit. We didn’t get all the A performances. You know, if you told me before the game JuJu is going to go 0-6. You know I don’t like that. Dre gets in foul trouble. I don’t like that. But I thought we played really hard. I thought we earned the free throw differential. Just my opinion. I’ll always tell you when it’s the other way. I thought we were the most aggressive team through throughout some of the game. Maybe the majority of the game. You know, a little frustrated late because the inconsistency of it. But, you know, at that point, just fighting for our guys.

Question: Coach, you’ve been in this league almost a year and a half now. Can you talk about the depth of this league? I know each and every night is a dogfight. Talk about the depth of this league and how it prepares you for each and every night.

Coach Beard: Yeah, I mean, certainly right now it’s just got beat by Auburn. So I’m not really thinking about the league, but yes your question has got a statement in there too. I think it’s well-documented everything that’s been talked about with the SEC. We’re living it. So are you guys. You’re here every night too. The league’s really good. I think Auburn’s worthy of their current number one ranking. You know, we’ve won this game a few times over the years. So we understood what it was going to take tonight. Our guys were going to play really hard and believe they could win. And we did. Mission accomplished. And then we’re going to play well. And tonight, just some things that we, we could have controlled better that we didn’t get done. And then what did teams like Auburn do? They just they make you pay? Sean said it best, you know. They make big shots in big moments. They make big plays in big moments. I think our team has the ability to do that. And you know, it’s early February. I think we can play with teams like this right now. I know we can, and so we’ll just keep working towards where we can beat teams like this in March.

Question: What do you think it says about this program that you’re building, though, that you have the number one team in the country that’s as good as they are? They’ve only lost one game this year, but within two minutes left in the game you guys are in and it’s still manageable? What does that say in your words about what you’re building here?

Coach Beard: Yeah I think it just it validates that we’re a top 25 program. And I think this was the second time that Auburn and Ole Miss have ever played in all these years since the peach basket that both teams were ranked. And, we’ll continue to try to do our part of this game. This game means a lot to fans and stuff. Rivalry, I don’t know. We’re going to we’re going to continue to try to build our program where we’re in a position like we were today, where we’re more than competitive in the game. We just we need to play a little a little bit better. But I hope the story is that our guys played really hard today, and I thought we played hard enough to win. We just got to play a little bit better. Why didn’t we play a little bit better? The opponent, guys.  I’ve watched every game they’ve played. You know, if they’re going to go 14 from 28 from the three point line, I don’t think Auburn will get beat the rest of the year. I don’t think Auburn can be beat if they go 14 for 28 from the three point line. So today, we didn’t have much fortune in that. We needed — you guys know basketball– we needed a couple of those shots to rim out, get the rebound. You know. And we were right there today. We just got to keep fighting. But I’m extremely proud of our players. I thought we competed against a worthy number one team in the country.

Question: Chris, speaking of the opponents, Broome gets a lot of attention as it is, but, you know, do you feel like that kind of opened up, you know, Jones and Baker to kind of do what they did, especially from three?

Coach Beard: It’s pick your poison. You want to stay on everybody and watch him do his thing? You want to go double him and he’s become such a better passer. I think he’s a better passer this year than he was last year. And last year he was an All-American. And so it’s a chess game. It’s back and forth, and there’s going to be some times where you look up out there and Ole Miss just gave Auburn a three. I understand there’s going to be some times where you look down there and Broom’s got the ball in the paint. I understand. It’s the ones in between. There’s about 2 or 3 of them that we controlled. We didn’t rotate. And so it’s just mistakes. But no, he’s an All-American. He’s a potential college basketball player of the year. He can do it in different ways. You know the three at the end of the first half, that can’t happen. A couple of the offensive rebound put backs that can happen. We’re trying to block him out, and I don’t know what’s an over the back, what’s not over the back? We’ll just have to study the film and I’ll just have to coach better.

Question: 22 assists on 30 made baskets. Several of their guys with three or more assists. How did their ability to share the share the ball really put pressure on y’alls defense today?

Coach Beard: Again, I’ll just say in my opinion, and coach might disagree. I don’t know if they’ve played a better game this year. And to say they have, you’re probably disrespecting our program a little bit because we’re a good team. They just, they moved the ball. When we doubled, they made us pay. When we didn’t double, they put us in some tough spots. They turned our turnovers, you know, low-turnover game. We actually turned them over more than they turned us over. But I think a lot of our turnovers immediately resulted in baskets, points on the scoreboard for them. Again, you know, we just got to keep working and get better. I think the objective is not to be able to beat these teams this time of year. You know, you’re trying to put yourself in a position where March, you can win games like this. And, you know, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. But I’m confident we can. Didn’t surprise our guys that we were in a position to win this game with about eight minutes left. We just got to finish the game a lot better.