NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - ST. BONAVENTURE VS LSU

March 20, 2021

Cameron Thomas

LSU Tigers

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Postgame Media Conference

LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Cameron Thomas. Questions, please.

Q. Cam, in the second half once y'all kind of got it going, did you feel like they put the ball in your hands and drive to the basket and create contact because they had no bench? Was that the feeling, because it seemed like when you drove, people got out of the way, tried to get out of the way.

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, I mean, in the second half I just wanted to attack the basket. My threes and shots were a little off in the first half, so I had to get going by getting to the free-throw line, getting to the basket, and that's how I got going, and that's what propelled us to win today.

Q. For really a lot of the second half and really throughout the entire game, it really seemed like Aundre was just such a crucial part to y'all's win tonight. Just talk about his effort, really just seemed like a career day for him, and just talk about his performance.

CAMERON THOMAS: Aundre Hyatt braid great. Dre was on the glass, defensive glass in the first half. And he hit big shots when we needed him to. I think he hit one three at the top of the key because a big was sitting in the paint and a lot of offensive rebound put-backs. That's what helped us. We're going to need Dre to make a deep run in the tournament, so I felt like this was a great starting point for him.

Q. Javonte didn't really have a huge day as far as scoring, but he had zero turnovers, seemed like he really kept you guys rolling. How important was he in today's win and just being able to run the offense and get you guys into good positions to make plays?

CAMERON THOMAS: It was very important, especially for him to not have any turnovers. That just kept us with extra possessions that we needed. And Javonte is going to bounce back on Monday. I mean, today was just a rough day for him. First game of the tournament, so I think he'll be fine on Monday.

Q. Cam, obviously not the offensive start you guys wanted, but again, your defense as it did in the SEC tournament, came up big for you guys. What worked well for you today? What was the plan to go against them? Obviously Lofton was a great outside scorer and you had Osunniyi inside who was a problem.

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, since our shots weren't falling, we had to really lock in on defense and get stops because we only had like four points I think with 11 minutes left in the first half, so we had to really sit down and get stops. The game plan was to keep them out of the paint and contest all shots, and I think we did a great job of that, and that's what helped us win.

Q. Cam, obviously Trendon Watford, his brother Christian played here a while back. How important was that to him? Did he talk about that, just being able to play in Bloomington? And how important was he to the way you guys played today in terms of the win?

CAMERON THOMAS: No, I didn't feel Tren talk about playing in Bloomington. I feel like he's just excited to play another game, especially in the NCAA Tournament, and it happened to be here. I feel like he was pumped up just to play in the NCAA tournament.

Trendon had a great game. I think he had a double-double and we need him to do that for us to win in the NCAA Tournament, making deep plays, scoring inside. I feel like he did a good job of that today, and we're just going to need that for Monday.

Q. How tough was their defense to go against early? I know you had a tough time, you were 0-for-5 before you hit a shot. What did they do to kind of throw you out of rhythm early?

CAMERON THOMAS: Nothing really. I feel like we missed easy shots that we normally make. I don't think they did anything too special for us to start off slow like that because I missed a few open shots, Javonte missed a few open shots, Trendon missed a few, everyone missed a few, Darius Days. We just had a rough start, but we picked it up.

Q. Cam, your defense, as was already mentioned, has been on another level as of late. What stood out as far as the team's defensive effort in this game?

CAMERON THOMAS: We got stops when needed. We went on a stretch in the second half where we got like four or five stops in a row and we scored on it, so I felt like that's what helped us pull away because we got stops, and that's what we really need to do in this tournament for us to make a deep run, get stops. Because we can score with anybody in the tournament, I feel like. We've just got to stay down on the defensive end and get these stops, and I feel like we can do that.

Q. Cam, your ability to get into the defender and instigate that contact, how critical is that to your game and how hard do you work on that and because you're so successful at it today?

CAMERON THOMAS: It's just natural. I don't really work on stuff like that. I just figured that I had to get to the free-throw line for me to have a good night, so I did whatever I had to do to get to the line, and it worked. So yeah, keep building on from that.