TRANSCRIPT: Everything Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard and guard Sean Pedulla said after Rebels’ win over Oklahoma

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss men’s basketball defeated Oklahoma, 87-84, Saturday in the SJB Pavilion. The victory gives Ole Miss its 20th win on the season — for the second consecutive year.

The Rebels (20-9, 9-7 SEC) shot over 50 percent from the field in the game and were led by senior Sean Pedulla, who dropped a game-best 26 points including the game-leading three with seconds remaining.

After the game head coach Chris Beard and guard Sean Pedulla spoke with media. Here’s everything they had to say:

Coach Beard’s Opening Statement:

I think the first thing you know, with our attendance and crowd today, we’re very appreciative and thankful. And, we’re starting to really get some help from our crowd, too, in terms of the atmosphere and the environment. So you guys saw it, we had players and coaches trying to encourage the fans and, I think we’ve earned the right hopefully to be able to do that because we got we think we have a really good relationship with our season ticket holders from our point of view. We try. And so, you know, kind of kind of gutsy for coach to be begging people to get up because I know some of those times we weren’t playing great basketball. I can only understand from their perspective, but we appreciate them basically answering the call then I think it was a lot of fun in the Pavilion. You know, we had some runs. I think we were really one play away from really having some fun. But Oklahoma did a good job, you know, cutting some of those runs. So appreciative of the students…is the weather nice outside? I hadn’t been outside about three days. But Megan said the weather was nice outside, so, there’s other things you could be doing on a Saturday. So for our students to come to the game, we greatly appreciate it and just want to recognize that we had a good environment in there today too, not just the people in their seats. Any questions for Sean? Obviously a courageous night for Sean, playing against Oklahoma, where obviously he’s from.

Sean Pedulla Interview

Question: Sean, I know this is kind of the time of year that you want to be playing your best basketball, but did it mean a little bit extra today, playing against your home state team?

Sean Pedulla: Oh, yeah, 100%. Like I said after the game, I grew up watching Oklahoma, was definitely a fan. Went to games all the time. So, to grow up and play them for the first time in one of my last college games ever was definitely, definitely awesome.

Question: Take us through that last play where you make the three that ended up being the game winner.

Pedulla: Yeah. I was trying to get to the to the lane when I came off the ball screen. Sam did a good job of kind of cutting me off and keeping me in front. And then at that point, I was just getting a shot off, a game shot that I like to shoot. So still a little in and out to get him off balance a little bit to get my shot off and just made a game shot.

Question: Sean, just emotionally, what is it like to play in a game like this? And not to oversimplify it, but did tonight feel like a must win for you guys, given where you’ve been the last few games?

Pedulla: Yeah, I would say, I would say so, especially because we’re trying to play our best basketball going into March. And coming off the last two games, we felt we felt like we underperformed big time. So we needed to get back in the win column, so I’d say coming out with a W was the most important thing today. But at the same time, it’s basketball and we’re all just trying to have fun. And this environment was crazy. It was super fun. Oklahoma came to play for us back in the second half, so definitely felt like it was a little bit of pressure, but we were just having fun and knew we had to get the dub.

Question: To be down two with 15 seconds left and have the ball in your hands, how comfortable are you in that role?

Pedulla: Uh, yeah. Pretty comfortable. Like I said, it’s just basketball. (Coach Beard: That’s where you want to be.) Yeah. I told I told the announcers after the game, it was like those situations when you’re a kid in the driveway and you’re like, counting down in your head like three, two. So that’s kind of a situation where it was like kind of a ballsy shot, because if you miss, it kind of gives them an opportunity to make it a two possession game. But, it’s March, you got to hit some big shots. So just took the shot confidently.

Question: And that play where you kind of dove and then Matt got you the ball in the corner. Did that ever come up in the driveway?

Pedulla: I’d say it was just effort. I’m supposed to get back on the shot, but I could kind of read the the way the ball was coming off the rim, I knew it was going to be a long rebound, so I just cut across the lane and I guess read it. So, and then I bobbled it and thought I was going out of bounds, so that was that was why I dove on the floor to get to save it to Matt. And the crowd kind of liked that, I could hear them get get rowdy. And then whenever I got the ball back, I was like, ‘well, the crowd’s really gonna like this.’

Question: After that, though, they they rallied. They take a lead. What’s kind of going through your mind? You guys had had momentum after that play and they just, like you said, they wouldn’t go away.

Sean Pedulla: Yeah, basketball is a game of runs. Momentum is a huge thing. The crowd helped with that tonight, and there was a lot of time. There was a lot of runs tonight. There was times in the first half where we were up ten, and then they came back and I think took the lead by one in the first half. And then the second half, same thing. It was just a bunch of runs. So we got to do a better job of of taking control of the game and valuing those possessions even more whenever we’re up by a couple possessions. So, we got a lot of stuff to work on still. We can still get better going into March, but just glad we got the win.

Question: Sean, what were some of those conversations like in timeouts after Oklahoma had kind of surged and taken a lead late?

Pedulla: Yeah, I think it was just getting back to what the game plan was. And, coaches were just trying to figure out what the mistakes were. And at this point in the season, most of the time when you make a mistake, you know you make a mistake and it’s just about not making mistakes. So that’s the name of the game. But I guess the the conversations in the huddle were just lock in and be disciplined and try to limit those mistakes in order to in order to win.

Question: Did OU offer you?

Pedulla: Out of high school? They did not. Uh, yeah. I wasn’t fortunate enough with that opportunity. I think the reason was they had another point guard signed pretty early on, so it just wasn’t available. Kind of just didn’t work out, so, you know God’s plan. Not everything. Not everything happens the way you think it’s going to happen. But, you know, obviously, I’m here, and, I wrote my story at Virginia Tech, and then this year, my last year, so everything happens for a reason.

Question: On the other side of that, did OU kind of come back to you once you hit the portal.

Pedulla: Yeah. They did. They were they were heavily interested. And like the same conversations I had with Beard, I had with them. Just wanted to win, wanted to get back to the tournament. And ultimately, I felt like this was the best decision. I think it was. So, yeah, they were interested, but just like I said, it just didn’t work out.

Question: Speaking of the tournament, Coach Porter just said a minute ago he thinks you guys are one of the handful of SEC teams that could make a deep run in March. Is this the kind of game, the kind of win that you can build on heading into the tournaments and stuff?

Pedulla: Yeah, I think Coach Beard said something before the game that kind of stuck with me. Like this was a March Madness game, the feel of it. So, to win a game like this, a close game where we battled and then we were down a little bit and came back and then won it close at the end, is definitely a game that we can build off of, especially going into March. You’re going to have to win games in a bunch of different ways during this next month. So, close games are everywhere nowadays, so, definitely can build off of this.

Coach Beard Presser

Question: Strong defensive start to the game. You forced five turnovers within the first three four minutes. How do you feel that set the tone defensively for you all the rest of the game?

Coach Beard: It didn’t, you know, but I would agree, you know, there’s ten four-minute games in every college game. And we try to get our guys to understand that you can win the game in 1 or 2 of these, you can lose the game in 1 or 2 of these. So we really value it. The first four-minute game was the best defense that we played. I think we were dialed in. We made some plays and we were a little fortunate they missed a couple shots, but I think there’s no doubt about it that was our best defensive segment in the game. As the game continued, you know, I don’t know what Porter thought or said, but it didn’t feel like a Porter versus us kind of game. Basically, two kind of defensive programs for many, many years that have won at different spots. And tonight was like the defense was kind of non-existent. Both teams shoot 50. Both teams hit threes. We had a little bit of advantage getting to the free throw line, but they shot a better percentage. I think defensively the only thing we had a small edge and we forced them to turn it over a few more times than they did, but a pretty even game defensively and a game that we’re certainly not pleased with. And I’m sure Porter isn’t either. On the offensive side of the ball, it’s really two special performances Sean and their freshman guard and then just gets down to the balance of the stat sheet. The depth and the balance when we needed it most was here today. You guys know we’ve got six guys averaging double figures or right around it. That’s the offensive identity for our team. And then today is no different. I thought (Davon) Barnes had really key plays. Some of his offensive rebounds and defensive plays were big. So we had we had enough balance and enough guys bring their A game offensively that we basically, you know, were able to win a 1 or 2 possession game against a quality opponent and a coach that Porter and I have been friends for a long time. My statement about him as a coach has nothing to do with our friendship. It’s just he’s one of the best coaches in college basketball. He’s done it a long time at many different places. So, you know, when you beat a team that you have so much respect for their preparation, their coaching, their game planning, then, you know, I told the guys, ‘I’m proud of you today. You beat a really good coach that has good players.’

Question: After Sean’s three, I mean you guys both had timeouts and stuff. Was that the defensive look you were hoping to get on that stop?

Coach Beard: I’d have to remember. Is that when they were coming out for their ob then we took the time out too? Yeah. In that moment, some coaches, you can anticipate what might be coming, but again, with Porter, I wasn’t going to go down that road because he has a lot of good things offensively. So we just got back to basics. Sure, they’re going to try to drive the ball to the basket. You know, show your hands on defense, you know watch the handoffs fake handoffs. It wasn’t necessarily us trying to predict what they were going to run because that’s impossible with Porter. It was basically just calming the guys down. And I think in those situations where sometimes it’s just a simple timeout of just making sure the guys understand the reality of where we are. We work on it every day in practice. A game-winning stop or a game-winning basket. And we just want to tap back into our preparation and just try to do the best job we can to eliminate mistakes, and then just remind the guys how important the rebound is in those moments. You know the shot can beat you, but the rebound normally beats you more than the shot in the month of March.

Question: I heard Sean talk about this being one of those moments you dream about as a kid in your backyard. What is it like to see him have that kind of moment?

Coach Beard: Yeah, you could almost predict it. I was confident and just really impressed with Sean. It’s not personal. He went and wrote his story at Virginia Tech, and then obviously, Porter knows he’s a player and all that. So you get into that storyline, maybe a more immature player would kind of take it like, ‘I got to put my Superman cape on today,’ and that wasn’t Sean’s approach. I said, ‘Sean, the ultimate goal here is to win the game.’ And, you know, hopefully you’re at the press conference after a win, whether it’s a seven assist and average stat sheet looking game, you helped us win the game. You’re one of our point guards. But tonight, because of the game and because neither team could really establish themselves defensively, you know, it’s just an offensive game out there tonight. I thought Sean had the courage in big moments to take those shots and make those shots.

Question: He was a great scorer at Tech. But have you seen him develop offensively at all and at least in your offense how have you seen him develop?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I hope so. I think one of the things we try to really work with Sean on and it’s not easy, this is not an easy job. You’re like you’re an aggressive guy. You’re fearless. You’re a bucket. You want to help your team win. But our team, with these six double-digit scorers and the talent we have, you know, we also need point guard play. So very similar to JuJu’s challenge. And both guys, Sean and Juju, have been more than willing to try their best, and we never want players to not be their best version playing for us. We want them to be aggressive, play their game, especially transfers. But what does the team need? And tonight there were those moments. I mean, JuJu and Sean both turned down some good shots for them to try to get a great shot for a teammate. But it’s that balance and it’s not easy, you know. An easier job is a pure point guard that has his job defined or an easier job is just a pure scorer. But when you start asking guys to do both, we want you aggressive, but we also want you to be a ball mover. This is not easy, but it won’t be easy for Sean to play professional basketball and feed his family. But it will be possible, and I think probable because he’s a smart guy and I feel the same way about JuJu as well.

Question: Chris, after dropping three in a row, one of them being a really hard-fought test at Vanderbilt, how relieving was it to be on the other side of the scoreboard tonight?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I don’t see it like that. It’s not coaching speak. The TV reporter today after pregame meal, you guys spent a couple of minutes with those guys, and he had mentioned that we had dropped three in a row. I didn’t realize that. This is the SEC. It’s an 18-round fight. You better have a short memory. We all kind of recognize when we’re on a winning streak because other people’s perception change and we enjoy it. But, you know, I don’t think of it as losing, you know? You know, you win the game or you run out of time. And either way, you get back to work quickly. Now, with that being said, Captain Obvious, we needed to protect our home court today. We understand the opportunities that we have come coming after this game. And so, yeah, must win. Absolutely. But it’s March. I mean, what win in March isn’t a must win? I guess some teams go to their conference tournament and maybe don’t value that as much, but that’s not us. You know, we’ve always thought that you want to go into the NCAA tournament winning games. So this is March — the whole idea of must win, it’s real. But we’ve talked about this way back from the summer when we put this team together. You know, my message today with the players is, and you can see it in their body language and their expressions, I mean, we feel the same thing the fans feel and everybody feels. And I said, guys don’t let the stress get to you. Just focus on the defensive end, Focus on the next-play mentality, not the next shot or what the scoreboard is even saying. We got to get some stops and we got to continue to really value our offensive possessions too. But that’s what March is. You know, trust me, when you get to that tournament that it’s all must-win, right? And you’re just dying to go back to that hotel to have one more day with your teammates and then, you know, then you’re one game from the sweet 16. So today we did tap into that. And I appreciate our veteran players that have never experienced these March moments, really trusting the coaching staff and executing for the most part mentally what we were trying to do.

Question: You have games left, you have the SEC tournament left. But when you got here, this program was was not winning. You guys are heading to the NCAA tournament. What does it mean to you to in your second year to have reached that goal? I know you have bigger things in mind, but…

Coach Beard: Yeah, me personally, it’s what I was hired to do. It’s the conversation with the Chancellor and Keith and I had, and I take that very, very serious. I never forget the bottom line. And so for me personally, which is a small part of this, this was the job we were hired to do. More and more important by far is I think about the players. I want Matt and Brake and others, Dre, I want them to experience what winning basketball is this month. So, you know, 99% i just really think about the players. But the 1%, absolutely, this is what we were hired to do. And so, the other thing, just the message with the team is, you know, Keith and I never talked about making the NCAA tournament. It never came into conversation. We talked about, you know, making a run, which is also known as winning, and then being one of those teams that could maybe win six games in three weekends. So, you know, I’m very happy for the players where we are at this position, but we have so much more work to do. So, yeah, we’re just trying to build this program. It’s year two, I’,m proud of the players. The story should be the players. We’ll see what we can get done here the rest of this month.