What did Chad Baker-Mazara have to say after Auburn's win over Georgia?
The No. 14 Auburn Tigers picked up a dominant 97-76 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on the road.
What did Auburn forward Chad Baker-Mazara have to say after the game?
Baker-Mazara was playing with a purpose in this game. His high school coach passed away recently.
"It was a lot. He's been a guy that, ever since I stepped in Colonia, which is my high school, he's just been supporting me," Baker-Mazara said. "When I went to SPIRE, he just helped me with stuff. Like if I needed a meal one day and had no money, I was just like 'Coach, could you please help me?' He would do little stuff like that -- still to this day."
"Until he passed away, he'd be calling me, texting me randomly like, 'Hey, stop flopping.' Stuff like that and giving me advice on what I can do better. It was really unexpected. I heard he had seizures and stuff like that. He was 30 years old -- he was young. He was coaching me when he was my age. It was so unexpected, and I think it lit a fire for me."
Baker-Mazra talked about Aden Holloway's success in this game.
"I tell him every day, even if he goes 0-for-15, I'm like, 'Aden, I see you make this shot every day, so keep shooting," Baker-Mazara said. "I don't care if you're wide open. If you let the ball go out of your hands, I believe that you're going to make it.' Plus, he's a freshman and he's still getting used to this game -- especially SEC is a little different than out of conference. Like I said, today he had a hell of a bounce-back game. Hopefully it keeps his confidence and he keeps going."
Baker-Mazara talked about what he saw from Chaney Johnson during this game.
"To be honest, Chaney started our first preseason game, if you think about it," Baker-Mazra said. "It's not something that was new. We knew he'd be starting. We knew Chaney had it in him, and this game was about confidence. At halftime, we couldn't miss a shot, so we were rolling -- and if the guys feel like that and we keep playing that way and going that way, I feel like we're going to be able to really do special things, especially if guys keep doing special stuff like that."
Auburn returns to action on Wednesday night when it takes on the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers on the road at 6 p.m. CT. The television broadcast can be found on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network broadcast can be streamed anywhere on the Auburn Athletics app.
