Bruce Pearl spoke to the media Friday afternoon via Zoom to preview Saturday afternoon's game at Mississippi State. Here's a summary...
** Been a good trip from a logistics standpoint. Team stayed on the road. Bruce said it reminds him of his time at D-2.
** Knew the challenge we were facing on this trip. MSU is 7-2 at home. Got a great win over Tennessee and tough loss to Alabama. Tolu Smith is a dominating inside player. Guard Josh Hubbard is one of best freshman scorers in the country. MSU has always been a really athletic team.
** MSU is one of best defensive teams in SEC. Put a lot of pressure on ball. Alabama's pressure bothered us and I'm sure MSU will do the same. They are a veteran team with postseason aspirations.
** This game is a hard sellout.
** The league is a grind. Team was disappointed. We didn't play very well or shoot very well. Alabama had a lot to do with it. We really didn't guard them great but they still shot 38%. We thought we could have played better. Johni and Dylan were outstanding. We didn't quit. We've got to try to play better. The MSU game will not be any easier at all.
** I think we're a really good team but not as good as our ranking. Can we play well when the competition steps up? We don't have to play better but play just as good when the competition gets tougher. I think the team's spirits are still high.
** I think every decision John Cohen has made about facility upgrades -- I would do the same. Things have changed over the last few years. I was good calling timeout on upgrades to Neville when other projects are more important. Updating Neville is important and we will get to it. I'm very satisfied with Cohen's plan.
** Rebounding and second-chance points hurt us against Alabama and is a huge concern against MSU. Our guards have to do a better job of keeping them off the boards. It will probably be our No. 1 concern when we play the best teams on our schedule. MSU and Tennessee and Kentucky are all great offensive rebounding teams.
** MSU's coach is really committed to defense and they recruit great athletes. They don't take possessions off. They need a little bit of that to create offense out of their defense.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
** Been a good trip from a logistics standpoint. Team stayed on the road. Bruce said it reminds him of his time at D-2.
** Knew the challenge we were facing on this trip. MSU is 7-2 at home. Got a great win over Tennessee and tough loss to Alabama. Tolu Smith is a dominating inside player. Guard Josh Hubbard is one of best freshman scorers in the country. MSU has always been a really athletic team.
** MSU is one of best defensive teams in SEC. Put a lot of pressure on ball. Alabama's pressure bothered us and I'm sure MSU will do the same. They are a veteran team with postseason aspirations.
** This game is a hard sellout.
** The league is a grind. Team was disappointed. We didn't play very well or shoot very well. Alabama had a lot to do with it. We really didn't guard them great but they still shot 38%. We thought we could have played better. Johni and Dylan were outstanding. We didn't quit. We've got to try to play better. The MSU game will not be any easier at all.
** I think we're a really good team but not as good as our ranking. Can we play well when the competition steps up? We don't have to play better but play just as good when the competition gets tougher. I think the team's spirits are still high.
** I think every decision John Cohen has made about facility upgrades -- I would do the same. Things have changed over the last few years. I was good calling timeout on upgrades to Neville when other projects are more important. Updating Neville is important and we will get to it. I'm very satisfied with Cohen's plan.
** Rebounding and second-chance points hurt us against Alabama and is a huge concern against MSU. Our guards have to do a better job of keeping them off the boards. It will probably be our No. 1 concern when we play the best teams on our schedule. MSU and Tennessee and Kentucky are all great offensive rebounding teams.
** MSU's coach is really committed to defense and they recruit great athletes. They don't take possessions off. They need a little bit of that to create offense out of their defense.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
