Postgame Quotes vs. Auburn

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"The crowd played a huge part. It was fun to see that, to play that well in front of that kind of crowd. Good players and a good fan base out there tonight, big part of it all. The biggest thing I was proud of was we just responded to all their runs, that's what good teams do. We got sideways a little bit, it (the margin) went to 3 or 4, but kept making plays offensively. One of my assistants, Ronnie Hamilton, suggested going to a 2-3 zone. The game was about 5 (point difference), that was a turning point and a great suggestion. Our guys really played out of that 2-3 zone testing shots, getting back and rebounding. This is the second game in a row, we did it at Vanderbilt. I'm really happy for our players, and we beat an awfully good team tonight."

On the composure maintained throughout the game…
"It was that kind of game against a top 10 team. We executed a backdoor play with TD (Terence Davis), Dom (Olejniczak) made a great pass and he dunked it, but we executed it late so we had some offensive things we really did, and that was a key to it. We're a good free throw shooting team. We like to close games out like that. Really it was defending. We held them to 32 percent in the second half. That was really the key to the game, and for us it was the rebounding. They're one of the best offensive rebounding team in the country, 45-37, +8 is terrific for us."

On the intensity…
"I knew our team was ready to play. We had great energy in practice the last couple days, so it didn't surprise me. You never know about the score, but I knew our energy level was going to be there. Auburn had off for a little bit. I knew they were chomping at the bit to play. I just thought it was a really physical game early, and the way we ended that first half was really good."

On Auburn's game plan against the guards…
"Breein (Tyree) tried to get 31 in the first half. That's what he tried to do, and that's why he struggled. He shot a lot of first side dribbles. Auburn's got some of the best defensive guards in the college basketball. But against a good defensive team, if you're just going to dribble and shoot on the first side, you've got no chance against that kind of team and that's what he tried to do. I hope it's a great learning lesson, ball's got to move and it's got to get side-to-side. But to be able to absorb 1 for 10 from Breein against one of the top teams in college basketball, that says a lot for the other guys on our team."

On Terence Davis' defense…
"He made a couple mistakes where he got out of his stance, but I'll tell you one thing, it doesn't take long for those guards to pull the trigger from deep, and some of them it was just 'wow, that's a heck of a shot right there,' but he did. The biggest thing, when you get a guard that's going to get 12 rebounds, you know he played great. Twelve rebounds and 27 points. When guys rebound the ball, you know they're going to hit shots, and that's what he did tonight."

On Terence Davis' big night…
"He's done this his whole career. He's had big games. I just think, when you come to our gym, he, Breein (Tyree), Dom (Olejniczak) and Blake (Hinson) are the first ones there. Extra shots, how you play, how you approach practice and how you get coached. So it was great for us to see him emerge on a national stage like that against a high talent level. He finished some athletic balls at the rim tonight."

On KJ Buffen's night…
"KJ is tough, no moment is too big. They get in these games, they're AAU games, high level high school games and they just play against everybody. They've played against those guys, 2-3 years, and his toughness in rebounding the ball, he's got to go back and finish plays. He's got to become a good shooter from three, but I was really proud of his play tonight."

On playing zone…
"They were just so good downhill. We thought we were prepared with the 2-3 zone with the things that they did. We matched up with some cutters that we thought would help, and it did. The biggest thing was Auburn couldn't rebound out of it, and that's what it did for the most part late."

On Dom's (Olejniczak) play…
"Levi Watkins, they're there 40 minutes early every day just putting work in. He's has gotten confident and has had some success. That's an athletic team right there. If you can do that against that team, you can do that against any team in college basketball. His approach, and his willingness to be coached. Bruce (Stevens) we couldn't keep in the game because he didn't want to get rebounds. We wanted Bruce's shooting in there, because we thought we could pop him in places and get shots, but every time he came in a guy came over the top of him, so that's why Dom was so good tonight for us."

On the morale after the victory…
"To see the fan base come together this early – there aren't students on campus and the student section was full. The Ole Miss spirit is fabulous and if you give them something that they want to see, they will come out. That is what made this win really special for all of us tonight. Students were here early and trying to get the best seats and that is just what high-level college basketball is all about. Hopefully we have some Rebel fans traveling to Starkville on Saturday and watching that game. What a wonderful start for our guys."

On controlling emotions after the big win…
"The Vanderbilt game, to get that first road win, because we had been struggling on the road, that was probably more than this. And they are going to enjoy it. But I just thought that our team handled this in a good and mature way against a team that is so good, and you are going to see those guys once and maybe twice more this year."

On how surprised he is on the 12-2 start…
"At our last game in Canada, we were down 44-17 in the second quarter. We ended up winning the game, but to see our team make this kind of progress from that game until now is a credit to those guys. They have totally bought in. We coached effort, we coached attitude, and now we aren't coaching as much effort and we are coaching zero attitude because those guys have bought in. When they do that, they are capable of doing great things."

On Saturday's game vs. Mississippi State…
"I haven't been back there in a long time. I have a lot of pals that will be there and I said it at my press conference and I will say it again, nobody at Humphrey Coliseum will want to beat Mississippi State more than Kermit Davis. I promise you that."

AUBURN HEAD COACH BRUCE PEARL

Opening statement…
"Ole Miss played terrific. They've been playing really well. The better basketball team won tonight. I thought Kermit did a better job than I did having his team prepared. I thought they guarded us well. When you only have eight two-point baskets in a basketball game, it is hard to win. If I got outcoached and we got outplayed at let's say three to four positions, it is amazing we were even in the game with six or seven minutes left to go in the game. That speaks to our character and some of our resilience and the locker room we have and the kids that we've got. They outplayed us, and no matter what I tried to do in the last 11 days, there is just no way you can duplicate the physicality and the pace of the game. It was a long layoff and we looked like it, but that is no excuse. We got outcoached and we got outplayed."

On Ole Miss' run after Auburn made the game close…
"They made some buckets, and one time they made a second chance one. We got outrebounded significantly. They got way too many of their misses. If you look up and down the roster we didn't do a good job of rebounding the basketball, and that was an issue for us."

On Ole Miss' physicality…
"They were more aggressive than us, and they were more physical. They were tougher. They definitely had an edge. We were stuck behind them all night."

On Kermit Davis…
"This program has won 20 games every year for the last how many years, except last year they had a disappointing year. Andy (Kennedy) left a really good team, and Kermit did a great job of signing (KJ) Buffen and (Blake) Hinson. What Kermit was able to do was he was able to give them a little bit more discipline offensively. They are valuing possessions more. Andy gave them a little bit more freedom but as a result of that freedom there were some times that they would have empty possessions. You don't have empty possessions with Kermit. They are terrifically offensively efficient. Kermit Davis is one of the best coaches in our country. I've coached against him five times at Middle Tennessee, and this is my fourth time coaching against him at Auburn, so I have seen him probably more times than everyone else in our league. I thought we had an advantage inside, but we didn't and that was something that we will have to improve on. I'm not surprised that Kermit has turned things around this quickly because he's got a good team."

On the struggles inside…
"Our post catches weren't deep enough. With only eight two-point baskets we are going to work on that really hard. I think the physicality of the SEC was something that we just haven't been able to duplicate."

On the offensive struggles at the beginning of the game…
"I just think we didn't execute. We had some things that we wanted to do. When I go back and look back at some of those sets I am going to back and say 'he was open, he was open, he was open.' We just didn't get it to them. We have to give Ole Miss some credit and get some things fixed."

On the environment…
"It was a great environment and a great crowd. It is good for the league that Kermit Davis has this program playing like they are. Yeah, I would say this was probably the loudest that it has been. I thought the crowd was really good. Without a full number of students, they did a great job."

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Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Terence Davis

The University of Mississippi Athletics