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00:00 [INAUDIBLE]
00:01 If everybody's ready, we'll open up
00:02 for questions for Skye and Brandon.
00:04 So I got to ask Coach Payne--
00:19 I see you smiling already, Skye.
00:22 Coach Payne told us about Tyler not playing--
00:26 why he didn't play so much in the first half
00:28 and getting his tights right for the second.
00:31 I mean, did you guys speak to him at halftime?
00:34 Was there any kind of encouragement?
00:36 Was there any kind of, we need you out there?
00:39 Can you just take us through from your perspective?
00:41 Yeah, absolutely.
00:43 As you can see, Tyler is a very vital piece of this team.
00:46 Without Tyler on the floor, he's like KP said last game,
00:49 he's the energizer buddy.
00:50 So we need him on the floor at all times.
00:52 So we've all been freshmen before.
00:56 We're going to learn.
00:57 But like I said, we need him on the floor
00:59 because he really gets us going.
01:00 Another big second half for you.
01:06 You guys came out pretty on fire there in the second half.
01:08 What was the difference coming out in the second half?
01:11 Can it give you a nice speech?
01:12 What was it that got you guys so energized?
01:14 Yeah, we came in halftime and we just said we're good.
01:18 I just tried to help calm everybody down.
01:21 I know what I need to do to rally the guys.
01:25 And like I said, Tyler, he came in that second half
01:27 and really helped us.
01:28 So he was a really big part of that.
01:31 But really, it was just a very, very different basketball
01:33 team on offense and defense.
01:35 They help in the gaps a lot.
01:37 And they switch one through five.
01:38 So it was just something that we haven't seen before.
01:40 And we just need to go through it in the first half.
01:42 And second half, we know we need to do.
01:46 In the first half, you guys didn't get to the line at all.
01:49 And you've been getting to the line more
01:50 than any team in the country.
01:51 Took 15 of your 29 shots from three.
01:55 Did you guys-- did Coach Payne tell
01:57 you to play differently in the second half?
01:59 Or what changed?
02:00 Yeah, yeah, definitely.
02:03 Manny, Coach Manny, he told us that stat in the first half,
02:07 how many threes we took.
02:08 And we know we're a driving team.
02:10 Like you said, we get fouled.
02:12 I think we get fouled the most in the country.
02:14 So we just need to get back to what we do.
02:20 Brandon, for you, the first half was kind of rough.
02:23 But you bounced back strong in the second half.
02:26 Just what changed in your mentality
02:28 just to be able to come back and finish
02:31 as strong in the second half?
02:32 I think as a player, I played basketball my whole life.
02:38 So I know how I'm performing.
02:40 I got those two fouls.
02:41 And then I wasn't on the boards is how I wanted to be
02:44 or how I envisioned myself or how I tell myself
02:47 before coming into the game.
02:48 I'm on the boards.
02:51 So we got in the locker room and then called me out,
02:57 basically making it seem like I was going to have another bad
03:00 game.
03:00 And I didn't want that to happen.
03:03 So I just told myself, I said, I'm coming every time.
03:08 And just being physical, that's what
03:13 I wanted to do in the second half.
03:14 [INAUDIBLE]
03:18 Yeah, just making it aware for me
03:22 and making it known to me how I was playing.
03:24 I just wanted to come in the second half
03:26 and change everything for our team.
03:28 I wanted to be able to get on the boards,
03:30 get our team second chance points.
03:32 I feel like I did that.
03:33 But I do still have to be better on the defensive end.
03:36 I had a couple of plays that I can't have
03:39 that maybe have cost us.
03:42 Brandon, just after last year, losing this game and just
03:45 everything, I guess, what does it mean to these guys
03:47 to be able to close out this game
03:49 and, I guess, take care of business and win this?
03:53 It means a lot.
03:54 We have a new team this year, as everyone knows.
03:58 And we just wanted to remember last year and how it went.
04:01 It's on Louisville versus Bellarmine.
04:02 We all knew what was at stake.
04:04 They're a very good team, a very, very disciplined team.
04:08 So we just wanted to have the right focus on 1 through 15.
04:12 We just want to come out here and be
04:14 different than last year.
04:16 I feel like we did that.
04:18 For both of you guys, after last year,
04:23 obviously, this team had four wins total, this time around
04:27 already with four.
04:28 Is it nice to have the opportunity
04:30 to turn a page to a degree, knowing that there
04:32 are a lot of new faces here, too?
04:34 And this is a new team that has a chance to win.
04:37 Yeah, absolutely.
04:38 This team, we got some really big goals
04:41 that we all believe that we can achieve.
04:42 So like Brandon said, it's a whole new team,
04:46 a lot of new players, a lot of new faces.
04:48 But I think the biggest thing is we fight.
04:52 It may look sloppy at some times,
04:53 but we're in there fighting for 40 minutes.
04:57 This year and this team is very different.
05:01 We have a lot of different players, a lot
05:02 of very, very good players.
05:05 We just wanted to start building that cohesion really,
05:07 really early.
05:08 We all got here in about May.
05:12 And we all knew how last season went.
05:15 The new guys that came in, they all witnessed it.
05:18 They all had seen what was happening to us.
05:21 We all felt it, the guys that returned.
05:23 So we just wanted to stay within ourselves,
05:26 not focus on the outside noise too much,
05:30 and not let it affect us.
05:31 We knew what we have in the room every single day.
05:36 And we just want to focus on each other.
05:38 And we're going to continue to do that
05:39 for the remainder of the season.
05:43 Follow up on the Ty Lora issue.
05:46 What was the conversation like among the players with him,
05:49 trying to, I guess, cajole him into playing
05:53 despite the tights issue?
05:55 And do you understand where he was coming from?
05:59 Yeah, we were just telling him, just reminding him
06:01 that he's a really big piece on his team and that we need him.
06:05 And it showed in the second half.
06:07 When he got in the game, hit some really big shots,
06:10 really big assists, playing some defense,
06:11 got some fouls drawn.
06:13 And so I was talking to him in the whole second half.
06:15 Like I told you, bro, we need you.
06:17 You're a really big piece to this.
06:19 Even though you're a freshman, you're
06:20 a really big piece to this team.
06:22 So we can't have situations like that again.
06:24 Kind of in the same vein, I noticed in the first half
06:30 there was a point during a timeout
06:32 where he was talking to some of the starters.
06:34 He wasn't even in the game yet, but he kind of pulled you all
06:36 aside and was talking to you all.
06:40 Can you think back to that moment and just what he said
06:42 then?
06:43 I think you guys were still trailing in the game early.
06:45 But does that conversation--
06:48 I stick with you after playing the game?
06:50 Yeah, absolutely.
06:51 He was just telling us we've got to get stops,
06:54 pushing in transition.
06:55 And the main thing was defense, transition defense.
06:58 That was really killing us in the first half.
07:00 So he was just talking to us about that.
07:02 All right, thank you.
07:04 Thank you.