Postgame Quotes vs. South Carolina

OLE MISS HEAD COACH KERMIT DAVIS

Opening statement…
"You guys have seen Frank's team, his team is playing about as well as anybody in our league. They've won five out of six, obviously beat Kentucky. Our team, start to finish tonight, that was one of our very best games of the year. I thought we were physical. You have to be against a South Carolina team. They spread you out and kind of make you run an unconventional offense. I thought our guys executed some backdoor cuts that kind of alleviated some of the pressure early during that first half. The second half we guarded, went to our zone, it was better. Breein Tyree was exceptional, some shots that he made, one thing he did, he drove that ball. He drove it in straight lines, and when he gets to the line 13 times, he's going to have a big night."

On the win tonight feeling like an exhale after previous home games…
"It did. We talked about it a couple days ago, we said 'men, let's try to win February. Let's just look straight ahead.' We played well at Georgia. You couldn't play any better than we did against Auburn for parts of that game, 40 or 42 minutes. LSU about 15 minutes was bad, then we kind of settled in and played okay. Our team has some good basketball ahead of it. It was a good feeling just to win an SEC home game."

On the two halves put together…
"We got up 19, then they went to a zone, and we got a little stagnant. It was a little hard to get into a rhythm. That's what college teams do, you get a lead, and you relinquish it to 11 or 12, then nine, and then we took it back out. I was real proud of our guys."

On Blake Hinson…
"I said it on the radio show, I thought it was the best he's played since he's been here. I know Mississippi State (last season), 26 points and he made every three, but he's maturing as a player, two or three assists, he's not settling, he's driving the ball. I'd like to see him get to the free throw line, he was there six times tonight. He had only gone eight times the entire SEC season, I think, so that was good for him. Seven rebounds, I thought he played like a really good college basketball player tonight."

On Antavion Collum's play…
"Sammy Hunter nicked his knee up. Nothing serious, but it's probably something that goes maybe a week or two. Dude (Collum) came in and played 21 minutes, five rebounds, three assists. He was physical out there. Those guys always have to do simple things, not spectacular plays and score a bunch. I thought he played well tonight."

"He was just the next guy up. What happens is this: Sammy is really our five man, so a lot of different actions we run, Sammy knows the five. Dude has been fine, but since his injury, we just started playing KJ (Buffen) a bunch at the five. Tonight, Blake (Hinson) played some at the five. We made a few little adjustments, but he has a great attitude. He and I have met two or three times last few weeks, and he's just been asking what he can do to get on the floor. You know his heart is in the right place. He really wants to be out there."

On Breein's career high and season so far…
"We had a long talk Monday about all kinds of stuff. His heart is in a great place. I told him, Breein we've got a lot of great basketball ahead of us. Ole Miss can play in the postseason, there are tons of opportunities. If LSU and Auburn are the two best teams in our league, with Kentucky, we showed we can play with them right there, and who knows what's going to happen in the conference tournament. I said, let's just go win February and don't worry about anything else. He really led, probably had his two best practices in a while and the biggest thing about maturity is him being able to lead when he doesn't shot make. If we ever can get him to do that, then he has really arrived as a college player."

On Khadim Sy…
"It was just cramps there in the second half. He played well, 10 (points) and eight (rebounds). If he could have stayed in that game, he could have gone for a double-double."

On win No. 500…
"You reflect back, No. 1, I could not have done it at a better place in my whole life. I've coached a lot of great places, but to be at home in Mississippi, my mom and dad, my brother and sister, and everybody was there. That means a lot to be able to coach at Ole Miss to do that. I've had so many great players, great assistant coaches, and some wonderful wins. A lot of tough losses during that time too. It was a grind trying to get to 500. Hope 501 doesn't take as long."

SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH FRANK MARTIN

Opening statement…
"Lot of credit to Ole Miss. I don't want to discredit their performance by speaking about how we played. We were not very good. We had no toughness, no discipline to us today, but credit Ole Miss. Breein (Tyree), he is the leading scorer in the league, and we acted like we didn't know that in our scouting report. He led his team, and that is what senior guards do. They have been right there, especially here at home. They have lost some hard, hard games here at home that they could have won. Give them credit, they defended their home court."

On Monday's practice…
"The guys had no interest in practicing. You probably get tired of hearing me say this but in life, you get what you deserve. It's really simple. If you make excuses, complain, and bring no enthusiasm to the table, you're not going to have a lot of fun. It's no different with whatever your endeavors or profession are, it's the same thing. If you bring a lifeless approach to practice, and you go play a team like Ole Miss, which by the way, they are pretty darn good. Here's one thing. It's the unfortunate conversation that always exists in the SEC. All of a sudden, everyone loses a road conference game to a really good team, but everyone says it's a bad loss because Ole Miss was 1-6 or whatever they were coming into the game. The league that everyone says is the best in the country is the Big 10. That's what everyone talks about. Last time I checked, Ole Miss beat Penn State and Missouri beat Illinois. That makes them good teams. They've just lost to some hard teams in conference play, which is part of the deal. We have some really good basketball teams in this league, Ole Miss being one of them. Then here at home, they play at a high level. Kermit (Davis) has the kind of conundrum that I'm in, where he has a handful of returning players and some true freshmen that are trying to figure it out. Bottom line is today, my returning players didn't play well. That put it on the freshmen, and the freshmen didn't play well. When that happens, you become a team that played like we did today. That's unfortunate, but it's February so it's not time to sit around and complain. We have to accept responsibility and be a lot better for the next two days."

On getting out-rebounded…
"We got outworked without even looking at the stat sheet. We got beat on every cut. Anything that required any kind of physicality, we got beat. We couldn't block some shots, we couldn't come up with any loose balls. Other than Jermaine (Couisnard), none of our guards even attempted to try and drive the basketball. We couldn't pass it on offense. But like I said, all of that, give them credit. They are the ones that came out like they needed to win and fight for the home court. They took it to us and we had no answer. It's not who we've been for the last four weeks, but we were today. I hope we can play a lot better the next couple of days and give us a chance to play better on Saturday."

On guarding Breein Tyree…
"The only guy that put up a fight on (Breein) Tyree was Jermaine (Couisnard). The problem we have, which happened today, we have a team that has some guys that get really quiet and really passive. We had a game plan in place for when they ball screen with Tyree, but they really didn't ball screen. They just gave him space and told him to go. The other guards that were not guarding Tyree, instead of helping each other, they just kind of stood there and let guys drown on their own. We played really selfish today. Usually, when you hear the word selfish, you think you are talking about who is taking shots. We had a lot of guys that played individually. They didn't play connected to what we were trying to do."

On Justin Minaya…
"Justin (Minaya) is going to have surgery on his thumb tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. if I am not mistaken. We will have a better idea of the length once they go in there and see the extent of the damage. The MRI's and all of that confirmed that he did need surgery. There is a chance that he can play again. It probably won't be until March, but I don't have that answer for you until the doctors tomorrow. And then Keyshawn (Bryant) has to be a lot better. AJ (Lawson) and Keyshawn, I'm not into blaming players, but they weren't very good today. Justin brings an uplifting energy and enthusiasm to every single practice every single day. And without him out there, it requires those guys to do more, and those guys didn't do more. They just didn't do more. Justin, a very unselfish player and teammate, he is always giving and trying to help the guy next to him. We played really selfish today. Then again, Ole Miss made us play that way. They went at us. We had to figure out a way on the road, and we didn't do it."

On Justin Minaya's emotions…
"He's crushed. He has tremendous faith. We are going to help him, and he'll be okay. He sacrificed so much to help this team become good, and he was just starting to play really well. To deal with another injury kind of threw him awry, but he is going to be alright."

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Players Mentioned

Antavion Collum

Blake Hinson

Sammy Hunter

Khadim Sy

Breein Tyree

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