The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Missouri
2/6/2018 | Men's Basketball
Missouri Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening statement...
"Really happy for the guys. It was a big win. Really happy with how we fought. It is a tough place to play and really good atmosphere. We got off to a slow start but did some right things down the stretch. I am so proud of our boys, the composure to get the stops, to execute what we are trying to do, to get to the rim. What a fun game for our guys to win. I am happy for them because it's always hard to get a win on the road."
On Kassius Robertson...
"He was big. Our guys understand who he is. He will get his shots. He will get the ball and get his shots and guys understand that and will fight to get him open. The next part is for him to find the next guy and the two guys defending him to get around those ball screens. He had four or five turnovers, he needs to get those down, but he is going to have some just based on how much he has the ball. He just needs to continue to get better in that area."
On Mizzou starting off slow...
"It is part of the game. These things happen. Let's stick to what we do and settle down. Often times we get off to slow starts when we play against a talented opponent. There are things we didn't do a good job at. I always joke with them that I don't have enough timeouts in the game, so let's get this thing corrected. They understand it, and we go back to what we need to do to try to win the game."
Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy
On not being able to capitalize on the leads...
"We had a couple good plays on the defensive end. They outrebounded us, which means they had more possessions. I really thought the difference in the game was Kassius Robertson. He is a post-grad and he comes in and plays like an all-league player. He just made a bunch of big plays for them. Whether it was off the bounce, we had a hard time containing him. Whenever we had our hands down, he shot it in. Then Jontay Porter, this guy should be in high school, and he goes up against us and obviously in a desperate situation for our team goes for 18 points in only 23 minutes; he got into foul trouble. In order for our team to have a chance, we have to be much more efficient and have to come through down the stretch. I guess the game was tied, and then we miss a front end (of a one-and-one) from a fifth-year senior, which is very uncharacteristic."
On how to not allow the losses to continue...
"One thing that we can't do is feel sorry for ourselves because no one feels sorry for us. This is big boy basketball and the SEC has never been better, top to bottom. Our heads are down, of course. If you feel sorry for yourself, we are going to go to LSU and they are going to get you again and then we are going to come home and Arkansas is going to get you. No one is going to feel sorry for us, we have to get up ourselves."
On effort...
"I don't think effort is our number one issue. We have been talking about our awareness. Unaware people are unsuccessful people. How many times does the ball seem to be loose. We are down on fifty on 50/50 balls on the year. They double us up on 50/50 balls, and that is awareness. We get the early lead and we left our feet on shot fakes on nine points for them. That's how they got back into the game in the first half. To our guys' credit, we typically don't quit. We fought back, up two and can't get a stop, make a great block and then the ball just drops, and Kassius picks it up and dribbles down and makes a layup."
On the inability to make plays down the stretch...
"It has been the biggest surprise. We need Deandre Burnett to play like a fifth-year senior. If Kassius Robertson doesn't play well, it is going to be hard for Mizzou to win. If Deandre Burnett doesn't play well, it is going to be hard for us to win. Turnovers hadn't been an issue. We made free throws at a decent clip. We knew rebounding was going to be a problem and we haven't seemed to get that solved. We need to be more efficient out of the backcourt. Three of the five (guards) have to play a B+ game for us to win another game, I know that. We have to play and make the plays that the SEC game allows in order for us to win the game."
