Postgame Quotes vs. MSU

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"I was really proud of our team. We beat a team that's been playing as well as anybody in our league right now. They're physical and won five out of six. We got off to a horrendous start with the foul trouble and got ourselves in a hole. We talked about, just settle in, just settle in, and the way we ended the half was critical when Devontae (Shuler) made that great play from Breein (Tyree). We went from our 13 (1-3-1 zone) to our 2-3 zone and kept a really good offensive team off balance. With Dream (Khadim Sy) and Devontae and Breein Tyree, wow, that's as good as it gets for any guard in college basketball. It was a really good win for the Rebels."

On Breein Tyree's second half…
"I don't know if it's flipping a switch, but he started playing downhill. He's so fast and some of these strong guards in college today, they get their shoulders by you, they get you on their side and they've got such great strength. He's got great bounce at the rim at the end. He can get up and finish over guys. He started making threes. As a coach, that is just fun to watch."

On the team's start…
"We just kept settling. Khadim (Sy) and Blake (Hinson) kept settling. Those guys were going into the post and getting fouled. They were getting paint touches, and we weren't. Finally, we started driving the ball and playing downhill. Devontae (Shuler) was great too playing downhill. The critical part in that first half was Khadim, long rolls he got some great passes on, he kept us in arms reach at eight and ten down when it could have gotten out there."

On Khadim Sy…
"We tried to go to our middle ball screen action, and they were just keying so much on Breein and Devontae. The long ball was open, and they gave him great passes. He made some really nice post moves with somebody on his back. When Khadim has done that, he's been struggling with his balance, and tonight as you saw, shooting he had his shoulders to the rim. He played with power down there. Tonight I thought he gathered himself, played on the balls of his feet, and he absorbed contact and scored so that was great to see."

On the 1-3-1 zone…
"I've been running that for 13 years now, and that's one of the best it's been. We've got some big wins while doing it. With the foul trouble, we got it going earlier than the second half. We had two guys with three fouls and three with two. We just got into a good rhythm. We took the scout into the game where they were when the ball was on the baseline. Credit our guys, they did a wonderful job tonight."

On seeing something like the second half for Breein before…
"I don't remember a guy like that as a guard who can just go and get 40. We had a guy named Giddy Potts at Middle Tennessee, and he led the country in three-point field goal percentage. He could get on runs with six or seven threes, but not at all three levels like that. He scored at every level, at the rim, step back from three. I've been coaching a long time, and that's probably the best I've ever seen."

On expectations of Khadim Sy during his recruitment…
"He was the No. 1 junior college big guy in the country. He came in, you know junior college guys, he fought culture a little bit. Ever since the Florida game where we didn't take him on the trip, from that point on, he has gotten better. He's a wonderful kid. Sometimes these guys get tired when you coach them direct, and they get bad body language. He's through that. He was terrific tonight."

On the confidence level in February…
"In our league, you're never out of it when you've got 10 or 12 games to go. There are many great opportunities for quad one and quad two wins. We have a long way to go. Obviously tough, but we've got a great opportunity on Saturday at Kentucky. You keep having these great opportunities. We're going to keep that mantra of winning February."

MSU HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND

Opening statement...
"Obviously, the first time all year we've been beaten like that. Give Ole Miss credit, they were down big. We had a really nice lead. We played the first 10 minutes about as well as we could play from both ends of the floor and had a 26-13 lead. Our two bigs got in foul trouble, and I elected not to play them. I thought that during the first half, (Khadim) Sy was really effective. He had 14 points in first half and was very good. If you look at the turnovers, we did not handle the pressure well vs. the 1-3-1. They had 27 points off of our turnovers, and we ended up losing by 25. And you look at the turnover situation, 17 of them, so many led to easy baskets. Once they had the lead, (Breein) Tyree took the game over and made some difficult shots. Driving to the basket, he was really good tonight. Give them credit. Obviously this was disappointing for us. How we respond to this is everything as we move forward to our next opportunity on the road at Arkansas."

On facing the zone…
"Obviously, we didn't (play well against it). We talked about how we had to attack it. The double team bothered us. They really fed off of the turnovers. That is a key for us the next time we play them."

On Nick Weatherspoon…
"I thought that he had a couple of good looks that just didn't go for him. I thought that he got sped up a little bit in the second half with those turnovers. Neither he nor Tyson (Carter) had their best games tonight. For us to win, those guys are veteran guys. When they play well, we are very tough to beat."

On Iverson Molinar…
"That is something that I have to look at. He probably should have done more. He plays with a great freedom and attack. It's hard when I go against my veterans. I always believe in the guys that have been here and paid the price year after year. Iverson (Molinar) is obviously a special talent. I took him out one time when he was in the corner because he doesn't really know that spot in the 1-3-1 zone. It was tough for us because we only had one day of preparation, plus today. The way it works out, we played Saturday, then Sunday we didn't do a lot because we didn't want to hurt ourselves physically. We probably should have practiced that day at full speed."

On Abdul Ado…
"He was fine. He practiced pretty well yesterday. He is a key to our defense. I thought that we got hurt on the weak side, not rotating down to where his guy was slipping to the rim. (Khadim) Sy, he had a really good game. It was obviously a huge game for him and his numbers. He played really well. Give that kid credit."

On guarding Breein Tyree…
"It was tough. We burned a lot of our timeouts early on trying to stay in to keep it close. We got to about the 10-minute mark, and I had no timeouts left. Give him credit. He is a tremendous player. He is coming off of SEC Player of the Week a week ago where he played great. He had 36 or 38 against South Carolina and he topped that tonight. Give the kid a lot of credit. He made some tough shots with guys on him. Early in the game, we did a tremendous job against him. But like the veteran he is, he got it going."

On the bubble watch…
"There is still a lot of basketball left. We can still get there. We have to learn from this, put this behind us, and show up ready to go with our preparation for our next game."

On the mood in the locker room…
"Just really frustrating and down, obviously. To lose to our archrival and to lose that bad really stings. Give them credit. That pain that you deal with has to drive you to come back and really come together and give our best effort the remainder of the way, including this week in a very important game that we have Saturday. It just keeps coming. We have to bounce back. We can't let this loss beat us twice."

On the 1-3-1 zone…
"They have been very effective at it over the years. Part of it is that you don't see it every day, and it's hard to simulate as good as they do it. Obviously, we had a poor attack, and that's on me as the coach. Our players understand how to attack, so I take full responsibility on that."

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Players Mentioned

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

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