Following from Auburn website ........
Quoting Auburn Head Coach Cliff Ellis:
"Pat (Kennedy) had his team ready tonight. They hung with us for most of the game. They are going to win some games and they will probably finish on top of the Big Sky. They stayed in the game with their rebounding especially in the first half. That was the first time this year I have seen our team lose the battle down low. They whipped us on the boards down low. That was the big thing that bothered me and that is what we talked about at the half. The second half was completely different thing down low. We dominated the boards which I think is our strength.
They closed the inside off, which forced us to work the ball inside. We did a good job of that except for a few mistakes here and there. They play a variety of defenses. We saw just about every single one in the book tonight. It all came back to the inside. They had ten offensive rebounds in the first-half, but we held them to only one in the second which was the major difference.
You take what they give you, and because they closed off the inside Ronnie Lemelle was able to really step up tonight. He made some big buckets which kept us in it early. He deserved to be in the starting lineup tonight."
Quoting Montanan Head Coach Pat Kennedy:
"When I got back in the locker room, I told my kids they played a great game. We hung in their with Auburn, but they came alive in the second half. We battled and played hard, but it just wasn't enough tonight. We had an advantage on the boards for awhile early on, but Auburns strength and athleticism took over and took us out of our game plan. We had a great effort. We came into the game tonight wanting to stop Marco Killingsworth and Brandon Rodinson, which I think we did a really good job of doing. We have to get ready to go back to work because we have two huge games at home coming up.
Our offense is struggling right now, but we are going up against very good teams. Auburn did a very good job tonight, and they've been doing a great job against teams that are coming after them with different looks with the intention of trying to upset them. To be able to win games like that is a sign of a great team.
They had trouble scoring the in paint early on, but Ian Young started nailing three-point shots, which I thought was the key to their win. He's one of the best shooters in the nation. Ronnie Lemelle also had some big shots for Auburn. If you take away those three's, I think it's a different ball game."
Quoting Montana Forward Steve Horn:
"Aburn is a very athletic team. At first, we were able to hang with them, which I think is a sign that we are going in the right dirrection. They just shots lights out tonight. I don't think they missed an open three-point shot. We just have to make a few adjustments, and we'll be OK. We just lost to a very athletic team tonight, one of the best I've ever faced."
Quoting Auburn Head Coach Cliff Ellis:
"Pat (Kennedy) had his team ready tonight. They hung with us for most of the game. They are going to win some games and they will probably finish on top of the Big Sky. They stayed in the game with their rebounding especially in the first half. That was the first time this year I have seen our team lose the battle down low. They whipped us on the boards down low. That was the big thing that bothered me and that is what we talked about at the half. The second half was completely different thing down low. We dominated the boards which I think is our strength.
They closed the inside off, which forced us to work the ball inside. We did a good job of that except for a few mistakes here and there. They play a variety of defenses. We saw just about every single one in the book tonight. It all came back to the inside. They had ten offensive rebounds in the first-half, but we held them to only one in the second which was the major difference.
You take what they give you, and because they closed off the inside Ronnie Lemelle was able to really step up tonight. He made some big buckets which kept us in it early. He deserved to be in the starting lineup tonight."
Quoting Montanan Head Coach Pat Kennedy:
"When I got back in the locker room, I told my kids they played a great game. We hung in their with Auburn, but they came alive in the second half. We battled and played hard, but it just wasn't enough tonight. We had an advantage on the boards for awhile early on, but Auburns strength and athleticism took over and took us out of our game plan. We had a great effort. We came into the game tonight wanting to stop Marco Killingsworth and Brandon Rodinson, which I think we did a really good job of doing. We have to get ready to go back to work because we have two huge games at home coming up.
Our offense is struggling right now, but we are going up against very good teams. Auburn did a very good job tonight, and they've been doing a great job against teams that are coming after them with different looks with the intention of trying to upset them. To be able to win games like that is a sign of a great team.
They had trouble scoring the in paint early on, but Ian Young started nailing three-point shots, which I thought was the key to their win. He's one of the best shooters in the nation. Ronnie Lemelle also had some big shots for Auburn. If you take away those three's, I think it's a different ball game."
Quoting Montana Forward Steve Horn:
"Aburn is a very athletic team. At first, we were able to hang with them, which I think is a sign that we are going in the right dirrection. They just shots lights out tonight. I don't think they missed an open three-point shot. We just have to make a few adjustments, and we'll be OK. We just lost to a very athletic team tonight, one of the best I've ever faced."
