The University of Mississippi Athletics
Bruce Pearl Postgame Quotes
2/18/2009 | Men's Basketball
Opening Statement:
"(The loss is) a little disappointing for us. Ole Miss played very well, especially their freshmen (Murphy) Holloway and (Terrico) White. They were terrific. We really struggled throughout with our intensity. Second chance points hurt us again and the 50-50 balls, Ole Miss chased too many of them down. I don't think we showed poise. We let ourselves get rattled which at this point in the season, there is not excuse for it."
On Ole Miss' defense:
"They did a good job of going from man to zone. (Tyler Smith) is still scoring about his average. Wayne (Chism) got some baskets, a couple of them were late. We just didn't get help elsewhere. J.P. (Prince) was off his game. He got into some foul trouble and took that hit early in the second half, which I think really hurt us. I thought the start to the second half was really key. They came out and scored at will right off the bat in a close ballgame. It was a two-point ballgame at half and they pushed it up to 10 right away. I thought that was something that we were just never able to overcome."
On his team's poor shooting:
"We didn't shoot it as well. Part of it was that some of our shots were late. I'm more concerned about shooting 11-of-24 from the foul line. It was a lack of focus. We didn't shoot free throws good at home in the Vanderbilt loss. We worked hard this week on free throws. It is a mental and physical toughness that this team has lacked all season long."
