Postgame Quotes vs. Norfolk State

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"Very well-coached Norfolk State team. They may be an NCAA Tournament team, probably them or North Carolina Central in that league (MEAC). They beat Alabama in the first round of the NIT at Alabama last year. A lot of new players, they have a good presence about them, they're physical. I thought that us changing into a 1-3-1, that was the first time we've run it. We've done it a lot in practice, and we had to go to it. It slowed and brought the tempo down. They couldn't drive the ball on top of us like they were in the first half. Right now, our ball doesn't move like it needs to, so these games are going to be in the 60s maybe. I told our team that a couple weeks ago. We have to start cutting harder. Both those guys, Sammy (Hunter) and Khadim (Sy), are capable of scoring around the goal but we have to get them better. They have to be able to take balls around the rim, in these kinds of games, and get fouled and score. I thought they played a little better in the second half defensively."

On Breein Tyree…
"He has to be who he is. He has to shoot step-in threes, fastbreak threes, and he is great on the move. In transition, with the trailing three, he is good. He is settling; he has to get to the rim. He shot eight threes, but he hit six twos which were better. He shot three free throws. I knew he'd be better tonight. Three-to-one assist-turnover ratio, so he was in a better rhythm tonight. Took him out a couple of times because he didn't guard like we needed him to, but I thought that in the second half he was much better."

On Blake Hinson…
"When we get Blake (Hinson) healthy, we may play him and KJ (Buffen) together at the four and five to play two forwards like I did at Middle Tennessee a lot. Blake (Hinson) is 230 (pounds) and KJ (Buffen) is 225. I hadn't planned on it before, Blake (Hinson) was playing a lot of three, but we may move them both around. Just two hard-playing guys that can really think. We're not giving up on Khadim (Sy) and Sammy (Hunter), but Blake (Hinson) will for sure give us some depth there that is going to help us."

On KJ Buffen's improvement in the paint…
"He can play through contact better. He's more confident shooting the ball, 15-16 feet away in the high post. He's got off to a good start. We got stagnant against their zone, and we just left him at that high post because he was really the only guy who was confident enough to go make a play. It's good to see him keep making strides."

On Buffen's shot selection…
"That's a good quality, to take good shots and want to do that. That's why his percentage will be so high. He'll shoot wide open step-in threes, and he's shooting 50 percent from three in our practices because all he does is shoot wide open ones. All the other guys are shooting bad ones, dribble threes or contested threes. Breein (Tyree) got double-teamed tonight, he's got to share the ball and get it right out of his hands. We just have to get everybody moving the ball and playing. It's not a selfish thing with Breein, he's just trying to make a play in a good way, but the ball's got to get off the floor for us to make plays.

On Buffen's post play…
"That's where he should be (good), 15 feet. He can drive it right or left. He's a hard cover. He's not PJ Washington, but that's who I'd like him to be a version of. He can take that ball at 17 feet and shoot it, or drive both ways and finish."

On Buffen's coachability…
"He owns his own breakdowns. Palms up, deflecting blame, he owns it and plays through it. He's got a great personality, always comes smiling to the gym every single day. He went through some tough times as a freshman, but he's grown up. He's not there (at his max potential) by any means but sure is off to a good start for us."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Blake Hinson

Breein Tyree

The University of Mississippi Athletics