They Said It: Samford 75-64 Over Chattanooga
Samford head coach Lennie Acuff along with guard Jadin Booth and forward Dylan Faulkner following Samford’s 75-64 win over Chattanooga. Booth led Samford with 28 points and Faulkner finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Q: Only two turnovers for your team today as you’re one of the best in the entire country in not turning it over. What does that say about your guys playing well within the system?
Lennie Acuff: “Yeah, you know the biggest thing is you have to trust simple. The things our teams have done is we usually really take care of the ball. The thing we haven't been able to get this team to do is not foul. We are just fouling everybody. And so the last three years, our team's been in the top five in the country in the fewest fouls committed, and I think the other day we're like 320 right now. And you just can't lose the game at the free throw line. You know, we've gotten better at that, but I always tell her our guys, Samford can't beat Samford. And when you turn it over and you foul, fouling negates all hustle. Like, we had a couple of possessions, they were really, really good, and then we fouled with two on the shot clock. You just wasted 28 seconds of great effort. So, but we do take care of the ball. And we got, you know, older guards that understand how to play.”
Q: For your bench, Zion was +23 in 24 minutes of action, how much does he add to your team defensively?
Acuff: “Yeah, you're right on the money. He just changes the game defensively, and, you know, I'd love to have had him against ETSU a week ago today. But I thought his defense, and he goes 6 or 6 from the foul line. He could have a huge role on our team. And it just makes us bigger and more physical, which we’ve lacked at times. And, uh, like saying plus 23, I mean, sometimes plus/minus can be deceiving, but that's not deceiving. That's real, because it gives us another guy that can defend. He got some big rebounds, too, you know, like tough rebounds that probably the only guy our team that can get.”
Q: A couple times in the first half you made the extra pass that led to a made three. How does Coach preach that every possession?
Jadin Booth: “Yeah I mean sometimes you got to pass up a good shot for a great shot. And you know just like the teammates believe in me, I believe in my teammates, Kam (Martin) is a heck of a shooter, Diggie can shoot it. I mean they give me the ball a ton, so sometimes you just got to return the favor. I believe they're gonna knock it down, Kam is shooting it really well right now. So and I think when you get that ball movement, like everybody feeds off that. There’s energy within that.”
Q: You guys are one of the top scoring duos in the country and with that do you know there’s going to be a target on your back and feel any pressure with that?
Dylan Faulkner: “I think it's a little bit about the preparation you put in but also just the guys we got in the locker room, and they do an incredible job of getting us open and just trying to help us get looks and make the game easy for us. And, I mean, having Booth next to me, you know, go for 28, he's a dog and he just opens up the inside so much because they have to be drawn out so much for him and just makes my life easy.
Booth: “Yeah, I think you just gotta trust your work. Like, I think when you put the work in the results will show. Also Dylan gives me buckets and I get him buckets. So it's like when you're able to have a teammate like that and it's not just us two. Like you said, like the whole team is helping us get those shots. So when you have something like that going, it’s really nice.”
