Samford falls to Auburn in their final exhibition game, 80-68. Cooper Noard led Samford in scoring with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Ty Davis also had 13 points with two rebounds and two assists. Cade Norris had nine points with five assists and four rebounds. We spoke with Lennie Acuff postgame.
Q: It seemed like later in the first half when Auburn went on their run that your guys were settling for some shots. How do you think that progressed in the second half?
Yeah, we did really settle in the last 4 or 5 minutes in the 1st half, and we just started chucking up threes. We can't do that. You know, we gotta, we gotta get, we wanna shoot the threes and I’m fine with shooting threes. But they need to be inside out, you know, we need to get the ball in the paint. I thought in the second half, we've got the ball downhill and that got us some really good looks. We made some shots, particularly Cooper in the second half, he got going. Um, but now, those two guards are high, high level. Oh, I mean both of them (Overton and Pettiford). We told our guys coming to the game. They’re gonna make some shots. There's nothing we can do about. You just tip your hat and get onto the next one. I thought we had a strong chin when it mattered. I thought we hung in there, and, you know, we just, we had missed a few free throws, though, and they hit a couple big, big shots at the end of the shot clock.
Q: Defensively, how do you feel about that part of your team so far through these three exhibitions?
I know we're a lot better than we were defensively last year. We’re more physical. I mean, I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping them out of the paint. They shot over the top of us, and, you know, they can do that. They are an SEC team. And, uh, I mean, they're gonna be fine but they'll have a good year. I think they made a big, big jump since they played Florida State two weeks ago. I told Steven (Pearl) before the game that’s a real credit to him. They responded, and, you know, then really played well. So, I mean, they’ll have a good year.
Q: Another consistent performance from Cade Norris, what is it like to have a guy like that, that you can constantly count on to play well?
Yeah, I mean, he's very much a coach on the floor for us. I’ve said this many times, he's got a great basketball IQ. He's really good in the post, but if they don't double him he can score. If they do double him, he's a good passer out. And so, I got to do a better job out of timeouts tonight. We're usually pretty good there. You know, things just don't have a lot of reps. That's why this is so good again. We're really thankful for Auburn giving us a chance to come down here.
Q: Is there anything that you wanted to learn or have learned about your team during these exhibitions?
Yeah. Yeah, I think we’ve improved defensively. We've still got a ways to go. We got to tighten some things up. We got to get better. We got to get more fluid. We need to be able to process a little bit better on offense. I don't think we're there yet. We've got a lot of new guys. But I think we got a lot of guys who care and I think we’re much better on the defensive end. I think we're a little tougher and physical. And I think that would pay off.
Samford opens their season at home against Berry on Monday, November 4th. Tip is at 6:30pm and streaming on ESPN+.
