Postgame Quotes vs. Arkansas

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"Tough day weather-wise, I sure appreciate the people that came. I think it would have been completely sold out event if it weren't for the weather. It was a heck of a college basketball game. We got up eight, got control of the game, and then one guy makes back-to-back threes and we get a foul called (on us). Just in a matter of 20 seconds. We worked so hard to keep it at eight, and it was gone in 20 seconds. In the end, we got the ball out of Breein's (Tyree) hands and nobody else could make a play. I thought we played well for about 35 minutes of the game, and then we are just having trouble stopping players. Kamar Baldwin (of Butler) got 31, this guy (Isaiah Joe) gets 34. We just did a poor job at the end of getting to Joe."

On Isaiah Joe…
"We tried to stay on top of him, and we did for the most part. He'll make one and then get going. We talked about that in the scout. We kind of relaxed and just didn't get to him, fouled him one time. It's a unique talent when you can make them like that. He's got great length, high release, and he can make them that deep."

On Joe at the defensive end…
"He's a good player. Stayed at home, went to school. He had a steal at the end when KJ (Buffen) turned it over right there with a chance to tie. He was a good player tonight."

On defense in the second half…
"They got inside Devontae (Shuler) again. We tried to spell Devontae again, (get him) out of the game and give him a break. We tried to play our three bigs together, but we couldn't do it. We were more effective playing smaller guards. We can't play KJ and Blake (Hinson) together now, too many defensive mistakes. The biggest thing was their guy (Joe) made a bunch of shots."

On offensive play…
"We're having a hard time scoring around the goal. Dream (Khadim Sy) is having a real difficult time catching balls and finishing down there. We went with a smaller lineup, played KJ and Blake together down there, gave us some better options. We went real small, because Arkansas will go small too. The ball moved, and Devontae made a few shots. It's college basketball, you need four or five guys. We got in situations where guys got great looks but can't make them."

On message to the team going into coming week…
"There are zero moral victories. Our team improved in spots. We all expect to win in that locker room. There's no doubt in our minds we're going to win the game as we prepare. A quadrant one win got by us, but there's two more coming here. Tomorrow, we'll watch this tape in the morning and turn our attention right to Florida. That's all you can do, you've got to have mini seasons here. They're all three-day preparations. That's all you can do is keep coming. Last year I think we played the eighth-toughest schedule in the SEC. This year it's No. 1, just the luck of the draw. It's going to be taxing in January, a tough month. There are some great opportunities for our team."

On bench minutes…
"One thing we are doing is we're playing too big. With KJ and Blake, last year they came in for each other, we tried to play them together this year and it's been hard. Then we're trying to play Dream and Dude (Antavion Collum), just not very athletic doing that. Now with Bryce Williams being out, Luis (Rodriguez) being out, we've got four guys. Franco (Miller) and Austin (Crowley) did fine, but at the end those two guys, they're both going to make really good plays before they leave here, but they kind of took off and tried to make a play in a one-possession game. Their minutes are going to increase because we're going to try and play small."

ARKANSAS HEAD COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN

Opening statement…
"I just thought right at that 8:00 mark, defensively, we started locking up. We changed our defense a little bit. We went to what we call a hit or a shadow. I thought it helped us get the ball out of certain players' hands, specifically (Breein) Tyree and (Devontae) Shuler. I thought down the stretch, we defended, we rebounded, we got shots from the players that we wanted taking shots. I thought from a free throw standpoint with the game on the line, those guys did an incredible job making shots. Forty-nine points in the second half, I thought we played with some really good pace. Isaiah (Joe) put on a show shooting-wise."

On Isaiah Joe's defense…
"I would say that the biggest surprise is that he is such a good defender. I don't think he's a good defender, he's a great defender. He's long, he has great anticipation, he understands his assignment every night. It's not often that when you have a scorer, you can put him on the offensive weapon of the other team. We do that for him, which is a concern at times because we rely on him so much offensively, and we worry about his legs. There is absolutely no doubt that he is one of the best defenders in this league from a guard standpoint. I think he doesn't get enough credit defensively."

On the final defensive possessions…
"We had Jimmy Whitt faceguard the last four and a half minutes of the game. We had Desi (Sills) leave his man and try to go trap softly. I thought defensively, we couldn't ask for anything more down the stretch."

On having another 11-point comeback…
"I think that this group doesn't really fear anything. In the huddle, halftime, they still think they are going to win. I think that's the mark of a really tough team. I think they are tough-minded. We literally could be sitting here without a loss too. We were one rebound away at LSU and certainly, the last 40 seconds at Western Kentucky. I think our team likes playing on the road believe it or not. I think some teams get shook on the road, and I don't feel that way with this group."

On Mason (Jones)…
"We put the ball in Mason's (Jones) hands so much. Usually we put it in his hands to be a scorer. Tonight he respected the defense, and I thought he had incredible passing plays and incredible unselfish plays not trying to force things. Isaiah (Joe) got some good looks too because Mason causes a little bit of alertness from the defense. Those two guys kind of feed off of each other. I was really proud of Mason not trying to force things. He recognized tonight that Isaiah was rolling and he made some incredible passes. Again, he is playing the power forward but he is really a point guard for us at times."

On returning home…
"We can't get wait to come home. I hope we have a great crowd Wednesday. The team's effort earned the respect of the state. Last time we were in there it was rocking, and we hope it's rocking on Wednesday. We just have to get ready for Vanderbilt."

On playing three tough non-conference games…
"I think that playing those road games really helped us. There are a lot of power-five teams that play neutral site games, but to go to Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky, it's a hard place to play. You ask any old-time coach that is retired and has played at Western Kentucky, and they know that it's hard. An ACC team in Georgia Tech and Big 10 team in Indiana, it was a challenge for our team and I thought we stepped up. To win two of those three, it's pretty good. Look, LSU is a really good team too. We couldn't have rebounded the ball any worse, and we still had a chance to win that one."

On free throw shooting…
"I thought the free throws down the stretch were huge. Being able to convert the free throws. It also helps when the right guys are shooting them. I was just really proud of Jimmy (Whitt) stepping up there. I thought we did a good job against their 1-3-1. We got an open three one time, and Jimmy got in the middle of that sweet spot and made a couple of plays for us as well."

On the five-point possession…
"Probably the turning point. Adrio (Bailey) has really worked on his shooting a lot. He has worked on his free throw shooting. Our entire team has worked on free throw shooting every day. We get that last year that was a little bit of a problem. I also thought the points off turnovers was huge. Sometimes beat you on the glass, we are beating teams by creating turnovers."

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Players Mentioned

Antavion Collum

Khadim Sy

Bryce Williams

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