NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - AUBURN VS IOWA

March 16, 2023

Bruce Pearl

Johni Broome

K.D. Johnson

Allen Flanigan

Legacy Arena

Auburn Tigers

Media Conference

Auburn - 83, Iowa - 75

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Auburn.

COACH PEARL: You walk in Auburn's locker room and there's a sign that says "AU, make history." And we knew going into this game that Auburn and our basketball program had won 10 straight first-round games but this match against Iowa was not going to be easy. But we wanted to be able to add to the history.

So I believe that's now 12 straight first-round wins for Auburn. So congrats to all the coaches and players in our program that have won that.

I'm happy for my upperclassmen. I thought the starters stepped up and played really, really well.

Tonight, Al, a tough matchup and he won his matchup which was really important for us tonight. I'm really happy for how Al. He's playing his best basketball right now on a big stage.

And K.D. is just giving such a spark coming off the bench. Wendell was great for a general. I thought our bench played really well and lifted us up.

Our speed and quickness, obviously, was a factor. Defensively Iowa is the number three offensive efficiency team in the country. And to hold them to 75 points or at least 26 in the first half was a great effort.

Q. The final five minutes of the game you guys get stop after stop. You had rebounds and blocks. How crucial was it when they cut it to four for you to tighten it up on that end of the floor?

JOHNI BROOME: Like Coach said, they're a very high-powered offense. We knew they had another run in them. They weren't going to go away. Once they cut it to four we just held up and said we've got to get stops and win this game. We relied on each other -- box outs, rebounds, contended shots. That's what we did to finish the game off.

Q. You guys talked all week about how this crowd could play a role in this game. What did it feel like out on the court? Did they give you guys that added spark in the second half?

ALLEN FLANIGAN: The hometown, they came in deep and heavy. They showed out. They was loud and rowdy all game. Felt like a home game for us.

JOHNI BROOME: Like he said, you all was out there. You all heard the crowd. It was electric. They gave us energy. We feed off the energy a little bit. They helped us in the second half a lot. Just gave us momentum.

Q. Talk to me about that last three-minute sequence there. You guys started hitting the 3s. What's going through your heads since you guys were getting the your momentum?

K.D. JOHNSON: To get the stops. They've been down before. They've been there before. We couldn't stop playing hard until the clock says :00. That's what we did. Came out with a W.

Q. K.D., you seem to be really locked in this postseason. Is there added motivation for you to close out games differently than you had previously?

K.D. JOHNSON: Most definitely. I started off the season kind of sluggish and I wasn't there for my team. I wanted to pay them back with giving 110 percent with my myself, my body, my mind, everything, just to do whatever to make us go farther in this March Madness.

Q. I know you guys talked about this leading up to the game. Just being locked in, you want to prove something. You had a tough matchup to start it, but you got something done that was pretty dominant. How do you feel confidence wise heading into this next matchup depending on who you guys get?

JOHNI BROOME: We'll be prepared for them. It's two really good teams playing. I feel we're a confident group. We're playing in March Madness. We don't need too much extra confidence. That's on the biggest stage; that should give us confidence itself.

Q. K.D., you guys went on that big run there in the second half, shooting the ball with the bench. You hit a few, Tre hit a few from deep. How key was that for you guys to go out there as a bench unit and really help you pull through on offense?

K.D. JOHNSON: That helped a lot. But what helps even more, when we got six guys in double figures, we are playing hard on defense, and we're, on the opposite side, sharing the ball. When guys having fun with it, they'll give their 10 percent on the floor. We came out and played hard.

Q. That fall there, I guess you were okay after that. Also you've had struggles and ups and downs this year. What was it like, is this the most fun you guys have had in a game this year, this season?

K.D. JOHNSON: You can say that. It's March. So we won our first game this season through all the ups and downs we had in the previous time we had in the first start of the season. So now that we're in March we've got a new leaf and it starts off 0-0. So we feel good.

That was scary, though, I was trying to make sure I didn't hurt myself in any other way, but that was crazy.

Q. You hit a big 3 from the top of the key. Talk about adding that to your repertoire, something else that your next opponent will have to watch on film. It was a big shot to give you guys a lot of momentum.

JOHNI BROOME: For sure. I think my coaching staff, my team, they believed in me to take those big shots. Part of the reason why I came here because Coach, he wanted me to expand my game a little bit. That's what we did.

I have confidence in myself and everybody have confidence in me when I get ready to shoot a 3 ball.

Q. K.D., when you go towards the crowd and open your mouth and make wild faces, what are you trying to accomplish there?

K.D. JOHNSON: Well, you got the fans as loaded like that and it's March Madness? That's the best feeling in the world. I don't know. It just feel good to do that. Just a relief.

Q. Allen, you seem to be really locked in on the defensive end tonight, especially on the boards. You had 10 boards tonight. Was your concentration tonight really trying to get after it defensively?

ALLEN FLANIGAN: Yes, that was my main focus, just controlling what I can control. That's defense and rebounding, and running hard in transition, trying to find my teammates, help them get shots. That's what I did tonight.

Q. What is it going to take for you guys to do what you did tonight coming up? What is going to be the difference?

K.D. JOHNSON: Just coming in, giving a lot more than we did tonight. Houston is a No. 1 seed. So we're going to need more than what we did tonight. And just feed off, keep going with what we did tonight.

Q. Coach, I wanted to ask you about Berman's defense. I know you had him on Kris Murray, an All-Big Ten. I thought he did a nice job defending. Talk about Lior and the job he did tonight.

COACH PEARL: We have confidence in Lior. The defense that we played tonight, we did a lot of switching. And so when Murray was at the top of the floor he was guarded by guards. When he got down to the bottom, we were hoping to try to get a big on him. I thought as best we could, I thought it disrupted Iowa a little bit.

But I do think that run with K.D. and Lior and Tre, and the bench being in there, Chris Moore is in a regular rotation with us. He goes out with his shoulder. All of a sudden Al Flanigan has to play some 4 -- he's not played there all year long. And guys are filling in spots.

But I think that's what a team is all about. And we were able to overcome some real challenges. Jaylin Williams gets in foul trouble. There were a lot of things that happened that could have set us back.

But Johni Broome was too dominant inside. K.D. and Tre making all those shots in the second half. Al doing the job with Johni on the rebounding, not letting Iowa dominate on the glass -- they beat us on the glass, but they didn't dominate.

Q. Bruce says it all the time, you win late by getting to the free-throw line and getting stops. How proud are you for these guys to get that in a tournament environment especially after they cut it to four?

COACH PEARL: I told our guys it's going to get down to single digits now. Iowa was down big at home to Michigan State and they came back won that thing. We knew they'd come back.

Look, it got a little tight there for a second. And I asked the guys, in a timeout, I said, look, we're up four, five, six, there's six minutes left to go in the game. I said if we could be in that situation before the game, would you take it? I think we would have taken it.

Let's just calm down. They made some shots and we got stops. And we got rebounds and got some 50/50 balls.

Our speed and quickness was a factor. And you could sort of see Big Ten/SEC from a standpoint of two different conferences. We aren't much more athletic or faster than many teams in the SEC. We're not. But tonight we were. Iowa was bigger, a little bit more skilled, shot it better from 3. They had some physical advantages.

But our speed and quickness was a factor tonight. Really helped us on the defensive end and attacking the rim. That's why I think they played so much zone.

Q. Talk about Tre Donaldson's night, getting the three 3s there, especially with what's he's been through?

COACH PEARL: Tre Donaldson is a freshman that's played about ten minutes a game. He's clearly been Wendell Green's backup. He's going to be a really good player in the future. But he's got a role to play.

But because he was a high school football strong safety and one of the top strong safeties in the country, he could have gone anywhere he wanted to play football. He's got a toughness about him, a swag, confidence, not afraid. Absolutely not afraid of the moment.

And he did not look or act like a freshman at all. And I think that -- I know that you're in a game like that. Coach McCaffery has to be looking down the bench who is this kid. We don't need this.

But it's very, very important that your bench plays well in the postseason, I think.

Q. How would you best describe K.D.'s persona on the court?

COACH PEARL: Unpredictable. You know? But right now he's in a good spot. He's really good in the locker room. He's really good with his teammates. He's a really good friend to a lot of the guys. He plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of passion. And he giveth and he taketh away. And he's been givething more lately.

Q. You talked all week about the ability for this crowd to play a role. Is it sounding like Neville Arena in there tonight? What role did the crowd play in the second half?

COACH PEARL: It played a great role. But, guys, this is Birmingham, Alabama. This is football country. And we dominate. And I'm really proud of that.

But we looked like a basketball state today. Alabama took care of their business today early on. They filled the building.

Auburn played a really good team out of the Big Ten. And we played well and we filled our building. And I think it makes a statement about basketball in the state of Auburn and the great job that people here in Birmingham did putting this tournament together.

Q. What was the strategy for you all defensively against the 3 because they didn't shoot the 3 particularly well? Secondarily it's not going to show up on the stats but the minutes from Yohan Treore tonight?

COACH PEARL: We did a lot of switching on some of their actions to keep our guards up and our bigs down. As a result, we weren't having it get over the top of flares or chase pindowns. And it was good. It was effective.

The key, ball pressure's important. Iowa got, they made seven. I bet you two or three, at least, were off offensive rebounds. That's dangerous. When they make eight or more -- I think they're 11-2. So keeping them under eight was definitely a number.

And Yo was in there because Chris (indiscernible) tweaked his shoulder again. And Jaylin was in foul trouble. So Yo was ready to go. He did a nice job.

Q. The beauty of this tournament is anything can happen. That's what makes it so fun. So what can you say just about success and succeeding in this tournament, how much of it is the guys on the floor and the talent versus just being locked in and having the right mentality to withstand this tournament?

COACH PEARL: You've got to have both. You have to have dudes. Allen Flanigan is a really good player, who affects the game defensive, rebounding, making shots. He got to the rim. So happy for him on the big stage. He looked really good.

Johni Broome is an old-school, old-fashioned center that can stretch you a little bit and had big blocks, big defensive plays. You have to have players more than anything else.

But I do think our kids are proud of our basketball program. And they recognize the history. And there's probably nobody in the media happier tonight than Charles Barkley and those guys are all going to be talking about how Charles will be happy on the set with his balloons and his tiger. Let him talk a little bit of smack.

Q. Auburn basketball has made a lot of statements over the last six or so years. How is this statement different with all the spotlights this year on Alabama and their run? You had it last year, for you guys to step up on the stage the way you did tonight?

COACH PEARL: We've played a really tough schedule. And we've lost to a lot of teams that were favored and teams that were better than us. And that's one thing I told our guys.

But to give our guys confidence I had to remind them we played Alabama for 85 minutes. We led for 67 of those minutes, both at home and Tuscaloosa. So we've giving them confidence we can play.

We beat Tennessee and lost by three at Tennessee. Even though we've lost some games I was proud of our guys for competing. So I want to make sure our guys knew they were good enough.

And you know what? We really don't pay much attention to what Alabama is doing. And they're a great team. They're extremely well-coached. They're really talented. They play the right way.