Postgame Quotes vs. Texas A&M

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"Again, it shows us the depth of this league that Texas A&M, with a really talented offensive team, played really hard. That team beat Kansas State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which again shows the talent. We were desperate, needed a win. Found a way, wasn't pretty but our guys competed and did a good job with 50/50 balls. The points off turnovers were the biggest key. We had 31 points to their 15 (points) off turnovers. I have a lot of respect for Billy (Kennedy) and Texas A&M, they fought, but it was much needed for the Rebels tonight."

On defense late in the game…
"We talked about it at timeouts when we were down seven or eight. We're going to turn the tape on tomorrow and see a team that didn't get stops in the tough offense, 50/50 balls and close out possessions in the last half. In the second half, we held them to 39 percent, and it was much lower than that at the last ten minutes so I was really proud of our team. I thought it was just more toughness on contested shots."

On Bruce Stevens' and Dominik Olejniczak's rebounding…
"It was better, we still got outrebounded. Dom (Olejnizcak) was better. Every time Bruce (Stevens) came in the game, #32 (Josh Nebo) came in and dunked the ball on us on the break. We saw Dom's toughness there at the end when he made some verticality plays at the end. It was better, we're still a work in progress. TD (Terence Davis) is still rebounding the ball with eight, KJ Buffen plays 10 minutes and has zero rebounds. It's an improvement especially in the last 8 or 10 minutes."

On Terence Davis' back-to-back steals late in the game...
"He put us on his shoulders tonight. He's been terrific in practice the last two days. We had some toughness things going on in practice, he didn't flinch. I thought tonight when the game got a little sideways he was the guy who made all the plays and free throws down the stretch. It was good for TD, a guy with all that experience in these kind of games. He played like a desperate senior, and he was really good."

On Texas A&M's three-point shooting…
"We made a bunch of mistakes defensively. D.C. (Davis) made one at the end of the first half. Luis Rodriguez was on the other side of the court on one, was supposed to be right there on the catch. He wasn't 20 feet (away). We've still got to work there, but they made some tough shots. In the last 8 or 10 minutes, those tough shots didn't go in."

On playing more aggressive…
"We played more downhill. TD (Terence Davis) was a big reason for that. Breein (Tyree) has got one of the best mid-range games and finishing at the rim than anyone in college basketball, and Breein is a good three-point shooter, but he settled at times. I thought both of those guys got the ball in the paint, and late when they started to foul that helped a little bit of it, and we made all those free throws."

On not being on the bench to start the second half…
"About two hours before the game, I started getting some hot flashes. I knew something was wrong. I sat down, and I knew it wasn't right. I left it to my assistants. But I came back and we were one up, so they did a good job."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY

Opening statement…
"I thought our guys fought hard. We ran out of gas by the end. We missed some opportunities to score. We missed some field goals."

On Brandon (Mahan's) late three-point attempt…
"Obviously he made a lot of shots, and it was hard to tell what wasn't a good shot. He was open, but it was deep. We would have liked to move the ball a little bit more. When he is shooting the ball that well, sometimes he is going to take a shot like that."

On their success shooting the ball…
"I think we had a lot of broken plays. Offensively, we started moving the ball and we wanted to make sure we did a really good job taking good shots. Once we started hurting them off the bounce it opened some things up on the perimeter. They changed defenses a lot, and we had some good looks."

On this Ole Miss team compared to last year…
"I have a lot of respect for them. They play much better as a team. Their shot selection has been better. They started off the game well, I thought they were razor sharp out there. They took some good shots. They are so balanced, and they have so many guys that can make the three. That is why I think they are better. They change defenses and stuff."

On what the team needs to do to prepare for Missouri…
"We just have to get everybody locked in. In the beginning of the game, we had some guys that weren't locked in on what we were trying to do. We can't win like that on the road especially if everyone is not on the same page. Hopefully we do that and give ourselves a chance to win."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Terence Davis

Dominik Olejniczak

Luis Rodriguez

Bruce Stevens

The University of Mississippi Athletics