UGA men’s basketball head coach Tom Crean is “all smiles” after the Bulldogs upend the No. 13 Auburn Tigers, 65-55, on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Coach Crean talks about the big win for the Georgia program and what it means to the team.

Head coach Tom Crean opens by thanking the fans:

“The fans were here and on their feet. The win is awesome, there’s no question about it. I’m happy for our team, but the bottom line is that we’re building a program. We are going through growing pains and hard days. We are going through adversity, but you don’t get a program built if you lose momentum with your fans. They are staying with us, and I’m so thankful for that…To have everybody here like that supporting us on a Wednesday night means an awful lot. Thank you Dawg Nation, from the bottom of my heart and from this team.”

Coach Crean on the game and the win over Auburn:

“We didn’t win it because of our offense. We won it because we rebounded, defended, and because they had six assists, 15 turnovers, and went four of 26 from [the] three. They got some offensive rebounds. That’s what [Auburn does], but so did we. We’ve been having trouble offensive rebounding in the second half, but tonight we didn’t have that. We made strides; we made improvements.”

Coach Crean on freshman Toumani Camara and senior Jordan Harris:

“Toumani Camara had 19 deflections on the game. Jordan Harris had 11 [deflections]. Jordan Harris was an absolute speed demon defensively. Toumani, with his activity, and turning it into the free throws was fantastic. I’m proud of the way these guys played… Toumani is going to be a fantastic shooter in due time. He’s going to be a high scorer for us in due time.”