They Said It: Mississippi College Postgame
Samford Scoop got the chance to talk with Samford head coach Bucky McMillan, F Larry Olayinka, and F Jaden Brownell following the 100-58 opening night win over Mississippi College.
Q: You mentioned the slow start offensively but you guys did play well defensively. Larry (Olayinka) brought that spark in the first half, is that what you expect from him? Then how was your team defensively overall tonight?
Bucky McMillan: “After the first half we got away with some things even though they didn’t score and have a lot of points at half. They missed some shots. We actually played better defense in the second half, there is no doubt. We were more in tune with what will translate to our conference in the second half. Offensively, Larry (Olayinka) obviously provided a spark plug. Those guys who came in there, I thought Josh Holloway played really well, he was fantastic, played the right way. That is the good part about our guys is that we are deep. We play hard. When you have depth and you kind of play how we do up and down, it’s gonna be hard for 10,11,12 guys to all have a bad night. We are going to have five or six guys that are going to have it going. We settled in, we needed that. That was the first time a lot of these players wore a Samford jersey and played in front of that crowd. I think the next time we play, we will be a little more at ease. The key to being good is being good in March. This is November 4th, you play basketball in March then hopefully all the way until April. I expected some mistakes but now I expect us to learn from them and be a lot tighter in the next game, then tighter in the next game. That is how you win the league then get into the NCAA Tournament.”
Q: How awesome was it to have the students chanting your name in your first ever game in a Samford uniform?
Larry Olayinka: It felt good, I appreciate everything they did. They helped me go in there, pump up, bring energy. I appreciate the energy in love.”
Q: What has it been like learning from your frontcourt (Olayinka and Allenspach) teammates and what is it like playing with them?
Jaden Brownell: We are all very close, us three. We really push each other in practice, we always going at each other pushing each other to be better. We all have our little things that we’re different at. I’m shooting, he’s (Olayinka) athletic, Riley (Allenspach) is down low. It is really really fun to see each other succeed and just do their thing and do what they are good at.”
