Postgame Quotes vs. LSU

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"As you guys saw, that was an outstanding college game. We watched two of the best guards in college basketball play tonight in Skylar Mays and Breein Tyree. It was nice to see both seniors, they both competed in plays on each end. To the fans watching that game it had to have been fun to watch. Obviously, the free throw line was the difference in the game, they go 24 for 27 we go 9 for 19. We entered the game leading the SEC in free throw percentage, so that was disappointing. We had a chance early in that second half to kind of stretch our lead but the inability to make free throws got them back in it. I thought when we got down seven or eight, then made a great comeback, we just had some mental lapses that the average fan can't see. We were down two, call a play for Breein and Austin Crowley shoots the ball. That play was wide open, whether he makes it or not I don't know. We just had some breakdowns that you can't do against a good veteran team."

On free throw shooting affecting the games…
"KJ Buffen is shooting nearly 90 percent in league play. He's been shooting great, but he's got to be tough minded. We just have to go back and start making them. It just avalanched. Devontae (Shuler) is still struggling. For a veteran guard, he needs to play better. I know his heart is in the right place, we just have to get him to be more productive. Assists, 19 to 10, rebounding 47 to 31, points in the paint were even. We won the points off turnovers. I thought if we did that, we would win the game. We just couldn't make enough plays down the stretch."

On the play call with a minute left…
"We just throw it right to the three man with a double screen into a corner shot. We usually run it for Devontae (Shuler) but their man was playing just right. He was off the ball so was set up perfectly and he was wide open in the corner, but he just shoots it. I get it if iI was a guy who was shooting the ball (throughout), but it's the first shot I've shot all night. He's a great kid, but I'm not trying to put it all on Austin (Crowley) either."

On Breein Tyree injury…
"36 points, I think he's fine. I thought he tried to guard too, competed at a high level on both ends. When he dunked that ball, I think he kind of seemed like he didn't hit it right stepping. I thought he would've been hurting, but he obviously went back in the game."

On getting the right shots and not settling…
"I'm not going to put it all on Austin, he's a wonderful kid who is going to make some big buckets for us. Blake (Hinson) settles way too much, he won't drive the ball. He doesn't shoot a free throw tonight and he shoots eight threes, most contested. We talked about long closeouts and driving the ball. He settled tonight, but like Arkansas, we played well. It was a (close) SEC game, like conference games around the league, we have to win those. Now we've lost three of them."

On responding with an 18-2 run…
"That was great. We did. We got down. We really started getting stops. Breein (Tyree) really started driving the ball. They couldn't do much with him. We played high quality during that period of time. Then it was just like a couple of hand checks or something, and it seemed like they were at the line a bunch. They didn't have to make twos. They did a great job at the line."

LSU HEAD COACH WILL WADE

Opening statement…
"What a night obviously by (Breein) Tyree. Just a tremendous night for him. He is a great player, and we didn't have an answer for him. He scored 13 before we could even catch our breath to start the first half. We do what we do. We keep it close, and we find a way down the stretch. We've made a habit of that the last few years. Skylar (Mays) made some huge plays for us down the stretch. Marlon Taylor played tremendously for us. Eight for 10 at the free throw line and that athletic display for us at the end. He was a huge force. Just a total team win. We'll take it."

On the runs in the second half…
"We got on a roll there because we could get some stops and get our defense set. We had some quick possessions. Ole Miss did a great job. That was as gritty and tough as I've seen them play defensively. They were ready to go. They were all over us. We had a hard time getting the ball reversed there for stretches. When we got up 10, it was almost like they turned it up again. We ended up having a bunch of one-or-no pass possessions where the defense was built into us, and we couldn't make anything happen."

On holding Ole Miss scoreless for a stretch at the end…
"Our defense was solid. We had to do a good job of making someone besides (Breein) Tyree beat us. I think he missed the one three at the end of the press. (Blake) Hinson had a pretty good look in the corner, but then when (Khadim) Sy took the deep two and (Austin) Crowley took the deep two, those are the types of shots we have to certainly live with. Number 13 (Bryce Williams) hit that three, I think it may have banked in from the corner. We just wanted to make other people beat us besides (Breein) Tyree."

On his message to the team about guarding Breein Tyree at the end of the game…
"We just talked about wanting to put Marlon (Taylor) on him so we would have our best athlete on him, make sure we didn't let him get to his right hand. When he gets to his right hand, he's almost un-guardable. We wanted to keep him on the left side of the floor and keep him contained over there as best we could."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

KJ Buffen

Austin Crowley

Breein Tyree

Bryce Williams

The University of Mississippi Athletics