Postgame Quotes vs. LSU

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"I'd like to start off by just thanking the fans. What a fantastic atmosphere, they tried all game. They tried harder than we did. We sure appreciate the sellout at this time. It was fantastic, so thanks to everybody that came. The game was won at half. We just had no ball movement offensively, didn't trust the offense in the first half. The ball never really got off the ground, didn't seem like we were dribbling for shots. We couldn't do anything, (Kavell) Bigby-Williams just the game around the rim. We couldn't get anything off at the rim most of the time, and (Tremont) Waters was just terrific. He played like the best point guard in the SEC and college basketball. He just dominated the game from a defensive standpoint. Give LSU credit. I thought our guys continued to try. I think you guys can tell, Devontae Shuler is hobbled. He's been fighting a foot deal, so we're going to evaluate him and see. We don't have much margin for error with two or three of those guys so we'll see how he feels tomorrow. It was just one of those games. We've got to let it go, have a short memory and get ready for Arkansas.

On poor free throw shooting…
"I'd like to tell you it was something fundamentally, but it was early we couldn't make free throws, early in that game. We ended the half in such a bad way offensively. Then the second half we had defensive mistakes and live ball turnovers. Points in the paint for them and points off turnovers were the key to that game.

On lack of ball movement…
"I tried taking guys out, left Terence Davis out for the end of the first half and Breein (Tyree). TD (Terence Davis) competed, defensively got 10 rebounds, but Breein (Tyree) gets two rebounds, six turnovers, and didn't really make a lot of toughness plays. I just thought LSU made most of those toughness plays, 50/50 balls.

On LSU's length…
"They're athletic now, and that's the hardest I've seen LSU guard by far. I've watched five games, it's not even close. That's the hardest they've played, and the hardest they've guarded. Their team just had a purpose, and we just got intimidated around the rim. The shots we missed, we were intimidated from Dom (Dominik Olejniczak), Bruce (Stevens), different players. TD (Terence Davis) was the only one who finished a few balls, and KJ (Buffen) did a nice job too.

On size in the post…
"Mississippi State's athletic, Auburn's maybe leading our league in blocked shots. We were just soft around the rim, Dom (Dominik Olejniczak) had seven (points) and five (rebounds) but just got intimidated, Bruce (Stevens) wasn't very good around the rim, and that's just going to happen. But we have to do a better job playing on two feet, trying to get to the line and make free throws."

On LSU transition game…
"A couple times they beat us in transition defense. A lot of times it was live ball turnovers, 50/50 plays, like the play No. 11 (Bigby-Williams) beat Blake (Hinson) on the sideline and dunked it. Tremont Waters dove on it, and threw it back. Those are the kind of plays when the game was in the balance. It was just about a three-minute stretch in the second half the game got away, and then it kind of stayed the rest of the way. That three or four minutes it went from two to nine (deficit), and we could never get it back under six."

On Devontae Shuler possible missing time…
"We'll see. He hasn't practiced, just hasn't done much. We just have to evaluate it and see. We're working around the clock, he's a tough guy. I hate it, but it's where it is right now, and we'll look at it and see."

On who will play point guard if Shuler misses time…
"Either Breein (Tyree) or D.C. (Davis). Breein, we'll have to play him there, but we need him off the ball a little bit more. Devontae (Shuler) is tough. He'll try, but he didn't play great. I'm not placing all the blame on his foot. He did some things that he normally does. We'll evaluate it and see where it goes. It's been lingering for about a week and a half. He really can't practice. We put him in a boot, do some really light stuff with him trying to get him into the game. If anyone can play, he can. He played his whole senior year with a meniscus or something in his knee. He's a tough guy that can tolerate some pain."

On Tremont Water's play…
"He leads our league, maybe first or second, in steals, so he's a really good defensive player. Point guard, he can stay in the paint and make others better, nine assists. He can make some tough shots; he made some tough dribble shots. It was no offense, just him off the dribble. He made that deep three when the game was at six (margin)."

LSU HEAD COACH WILL WADE

Opening statement…
"Obviously a good win for us over a very good Ole Miss team. I thought the first half was jittery, and we didn't play so well. I think the second half was our best half of basketball all year. We only turned the ball over three times in the second half after we did 10 times in the first half. When we can do that, we are pretty good."

On the second half…
"We moved the ball better on offense. The first half we were so stagnant and just taking bad shots. The second half we moved the ball, moved their defense, and made them guard us in the full court. Really I just thought our ball movement was much better."

On the game plan of forcing Ole Miss to defend in the paint…
"That was a lot of it. We did a great job. We were 20 of 30 from the line and they were 9 of 17. They have been killing people from the foul line. They were outscoring teams 61-33 in SEC play from the foul line. When you look at this, the free throw margin was 11 points, and we won by 14. That is where the margins have been for Ole Miss. Luckily we were able to flip the script tonight."

On Tremont Waters…
"It was great once he settled in. It took him a little bit of time to get used to how they were playing, but once he settled in he was great. Twenty points and nine assists. I think he had maybe one turnover in the second half. When he plays like that, we are awfully tough to beat."

On Kavell Bigby-Williams…
"He was phenomenal, all over the place. He was a presence down there. That was as good of a block as you'll see (on Hinson in the first half). He was phenomenal tonight. He does what he does, 14 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks. Just a really tremendous night, really proud of him. He prepared well; he rallied. We watched a little film after the Arkansas game, and I told him it wasn't as bad as he thought. We were just about a half of a step off. Hopefully that relaxed him a little bit. He came out and played like himself tonight."

On Ole Miss' recognition…
"I think Ole Miss deserves it. Coach Davis has done a phenomenal job."

On LSU's recognition…
"We certainly had a lot of hype going into the season. Then we stubbed our toe in Orlando. That's life. People forget about you. We have to earn our way back in. That is not the objective, to be in the top 25. We just have to keep getting better. That is really the objective."

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Players Mentioned

Terence Davis

Dominik Olejniczak

Devontae Shuler

The University of Mississippi Athletics