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Tennessee Notes

South Carolina Notes

Tennessee Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Pearl if he'll give some overall thoughts of the game, then we'll take your questions just for the three student athletes and excuse me and then finish up with Coach Pearl.

COACH PEARL: One of the things I talked to my team about was if we ever found ourselves in a situation that we had not been able to win a championship the regular season and maybe struggled through the regular season, a little bit like South Carolina did, would we have had what it takes to come out and play that kind of game. As student athletes these guys could tell you it's a lot easier to do it when things are going well. You've got to give South Carolina tremendous credit for the passion and the intensity with which they played. They've focused on coming to tournaments before and winning tournaments when they did not necessarily have the regular season wrapped up. They're not the most talented team. They're a little thin on the inside, but could they come together and win three games or four games? Well, they about did it a couple years ago, and they certainly gave us everything we wanted tonight.

Don't be too hard on the Vols. We shot 57 percent. We had 35 field goals of which we had 27 assists and we played awfully unselfishly. We were unable to guard their guards off the bounce, and obviously we're pounding it inside, and I think the difference was the difference that Zam Frederick went 8 for 10 from the foul line and down I got there eight times and Holmes got there nine times and they shot a boat load of free throws and kept stopping the clock which gave them an opportunity to rest so we fouled them too much and didn't get fouled enough ourselves. From an offensive efficiency standpoint, you can't ask for much more.

Q. Chris, could you kind of go over that last shot you hit, who set what screens, because obviously the screens were important, too, as well as your shot.

CHRIS LOFTON: It was just a simple back screen for JaJuan coming off a screen from Wayne and a simple dribble hand-off. Wayne got me a good screen and I got open and knocked it down.

Q. Chris, you're 1 for 9 when you're in the huddle. What's your confidence level and what are you thinking mentally right there?

CHRIS LOFTON: As a shooter you always think the next one is going in. It didn't look up at the beginning up to that point. But I knew Coach called my number, and I just had confidence it was going to go in, and it did.

Q. For Wayne, first half, Chris struggling, you pretty much carried the offense for the Vols. What was going through your mind as far as at halftime, and do you feel like that Chris picked up in the second half or the rest of the team picked up or did you feel you would have to keep this going for the Vols to win the game?

WAYNE CHISM: No, I didn't have to keep it going. I knew Chris was going to come in and JaJuan was going to come in and Tyler Smith stepped up big time in the second half and made 11 points straight, then Chris came down and hit the last-minute shot and JaJuan with a three-pointer was making a run, so JaJuan was a big deal in it, too.

Q. For JaJuan, I guess when [] Donnie was in Knoxville you held them to 1 and 9 from the floor. What did he do differently today or what were they doing differently to free him up?

JAJUAN SMITH: He's a great player. You've got to take your hat off to him. Once he gets going he's probably the best point guard in the conference. Just tonight he came out and showed it.

Q. For Chris and JaJuan, Coach said you had trouble stopping their guards off the bounce. How big a concern, is that is that an aberration for as quick as they are, or is it a concern as you go forward in this tournament and the next one?

CHRIS LOFTON: I think them two guards came in and they played great basketball. They played flawless. Like we said, we give them all the credit. We've just got to put this game behind us and try to play better defense the next game.

JAJUAN SMITH: Yes, they're two great guards when they're both on together. They look for each other, they make things happen, and we just try to attack them as a team.

Q. For Chris and the other guys to talk about him. The Florida players said they played you and the South Carolina guys mentioned it a little bit today, they feel like you have the green light or at least feel like you can shoot from -- they make jokes about 50 feet out. When you talk about that confidence, do you feel like when you're hitting that you can pretty much hit -- obviously not from 50 feet but as far out as you can and do you guys also have that confidence in your shot?

CHRIS LOFTON: When you hit a couple -- it's for anybody. When you hit a couple you feel like you can hit from anywhere. Your teammates always feed you the ball when you're hot. That's always a code on our team that we feed the hot hand. That's what we do.

Q. Do you guys also sense that when he's hot, that you can give it to him anywhere?

WAYNE CHISM: It depends on where Chris is shooting from (laughter), but anywhere he goes, if Chris hits two or three in a row, I know it's somewhere in the game there's going to be a call for Chris to come off like two or three screens. Same thing for JaJuan, if JaJuan hits two or three it's not going to be coming off two or three screens, he's going to give it to JaJuan and JaJuan's going to make it happen from wherever he's at.

JAJUAN SMITH: With Chris when he gets that look in his eye we know to get him the ball, and he had it when Coach drew this play up so we got him the ball. You see what type of player he is. We wouldn't be sitting here smiling if it wasn't for him making big shots time after time.

Q. For Chris and Wayne, did you think South Carolina was going to give you this much today after the way you played them earlier in the season?

CHRIS LOFTON: Yeah, we knew. Coach said it best coming into this game. This is going to be the hardest game of the tournament. This is the first game in this building, South Carolina is already used to the environment, and we knew coming into this game that South Carolina was going to be ready for us.

WAYNE CHISM: I knew South Carolina was going to come out and play very hard after the two losses they gave to us in the season. We knew they was going to play hard in the first half, but coming into the second half down I went to work and Frederick did, too, so we knew it was going to be a close game in the second half after we seen those guys make big shots after big shots.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue on with Coach Pearl.

Q. What is the psychology of the last play, because Chris is 1 for 9, but if a guy's a shooter, a guy is a shooter, you've just got to let him shoot?

COACH PEARL: There was two options on the play. Chris is an excellent screener and he set an excellent back screen for JaJuan Smith which created a little confusion, and it almost knocked Chris to the floor. But I don't think our guys were looking for anything but the second option, which was a down screen by Chism and a dribble handoff by Tyler Smith. He makes that shot over and over again.

I called time-out because I wanted to set peace. I wanted to make sure we got the ball in the right hands and get a productive look. It really didn't have anything to do with how he was shooting going into that shot. Maybe if he was really super-duper fatigued because of defense, I don't think any of our guards were terribly tired after their defensive efforts, so I thought he was still fresh to make that shot.

Q. Do you think with this team's bad history in the tournament, the way you won the game -- if you go back to Tennessee's tradition in tournament, this is a tournament your team loses, but your team didn't lose. Does that give you even more confidence about this team?

COACH PEARL: It allows me to sleep a little bit at night is what it really does. For those of you who haven't followed us this year, this is the season we've had. It has just been -- we miss a free throw, Tyler Smith gets a rebound. Wayne Chism makes a three, Chris makes a play, JaJuan Smith steals the ball and gets a lay-up. It's just been that kind of a year. I do, I sleep at night knowing we're going to find a way.

You know, it was difficult -- first half everything was fast and flowing, and boy, we made some bad decisions in transition. Gosh, we got great numbers, and it would be a fast break, it would be 3 on 1 and I don't like our chances. I'd be sitting there going, I don't like our chances right here. We've got to get better numbers and better spacing. Who knows what's going to happen? But when we got where we got our floor balanced, we got great looks. I mean, 27 assists, 35 baskets, shooting 73 percent in the second half. We got ourselves organized. That's the hard thing. I want to play fast. I want to give them freedom. But when we turn it over too much, it can be a challenge.

So often ball control, ball control, ball control. It's easy to do ball control. You do the same thing every time, you know what's going to happen, you're not going to turn it over, you're not going to make mistakes. When you play like we do, you don't have that same control.

Q. Can you just talk about how pivotal Wayne Chism was? For the first 30 minutes he seemed to be the only thing you had inside?

COACH PEARL: People in this league will tell you he's a terrific player. He's one of the more improved players in our league. I can't tell you how proud I am for Wayne and the way he's matured and grown. I appreciate his closeness. Wayne does a great job with me because he's able to kind of -- he senses my moods and is able to keep me on balance. He's a wonderful, wonderful child.

Q. What do you think about the crowd support that your team got?

COACH PEARL: Here's what I think about the crowd support. If you think it was good today, it's going to be unbelievable tomorrow. I'll tell you what: I want to ask the state troopers in the state of Tennessee to please stay off 75 south, but I want to alert our fans that once we cross the border, heads up, I'm not responsible when they get on the other side of the border there. I'll tell you what, our fans are going to come down the road in huge numbers.

You know, I'm really glad that our fans get to stay today and enjoy this great city. We're used to packing our bags and going home right now. I'm really happy for our fans that we're still in this tournament, and they get to celebrate a little bit. We'll work, they can celebrate.

Q. Do you think it's better to be challenged like you were today in the first game of the tournament, or what does it mean in terms of a close game like this?

A. I think that -- we sort of trained for three games in the sense that I didn't condition them terrifically this week, and I think our conditioning will be better tomorrow. I thought we were a little winded. I think a close game will help us. I mean, we've got however many games left in the season, and every single one of them is now for a championship. It's sink or swim, it's all do or die. So the guys are going to put it out there every single night. We play best when everybody contributes.

I would also like to say Brian Williams' play was terrific. What a lift he gave us with his rebounding, his scoring around the basket. Josh Tabb, three assists, no turnovers and played great defense out there. Little things like that are things that -- everybody is going to remember Chris' shot or Tyler scoring 11 in a row. Don't forget about Wayne and what happened in the first half, and don't forget about Brian or Josh and their performances, as well.

Q. We've been debating all season about who is the guy for you guys, and obviously on that play you had to make a choice. It sounded like you went with a JaJuan as the first option, and I'm wondering why not Chris?

COACH PEARL: There's several options on every play. Chris was going to get the ball. I mean, JaJuan was the first option. I think he could have -- and he was probably pretty open. Chris was going to get that touch.

Q. Your team has struggled somewhat at point guard. Looking at that, how much do you appreciate the way Devan Downey played today for South Carolina?

COACH PEARL: He is terrific. Our guys just shake their heads. He's first-team all-conference. I agree with JaJuan. He is the best point guard in the league. We've got good points guards. Ramel Bradley is good, also. Those are probably the two best point guards in the league. He's a tough cover. I just feel like in any given game when you've got a player like that or any given two or three games, he can put that game together. Can he do it -- could he do it for 30-something? No, he probably couldn't do it every night. But that's why -- that's why South Carolina is a dangerous team. Four guys that can get out there and shoot the ball. Tre Kelly? I mean, Tre Kelly put on a Devan Downey performance against us two years ago and beat us. The difference is my team didn't score 89 points and have 27 assists and do some of the other things that we were able to do because we could not stop him. Couldn't stop him.

Q. I just wanted to ask one other thing about the crowd. Is it more of a boost for you guys or is it more an intimidating or demoralizing thing for the other team?

COACH PEARL: There's no comparison to a road conference game in the way of an intimidation factor and the noise level in here. You know, the noise level on the road is intimidating. I think the support, you can feel the support. But if it goes against you, the support goes against you, they're too far away to intimidate anybody. Devan Downey was intimidating. So was Frederick and so was Dave Odom down at the other end. What a terrific job he's done.

Q. You've had some games this year where you haven't played well defensively even though your defense has improved and you've been able to out score teams. I guess it's a luxury but is it also a concern?

COACH PEARL: Sure, defense and rebounding win championships. We have better defensively and rebounding than in my first two years. I think that will serve us well in the long haul. I think they got -- that's enough. I'm sorry, I don't want to say any more.

Q. The point guard play for your team, it appeared Jordan never really got a shot going and Ramar still seems to hesitate on some of his drives, looks like he was right at the rim and dished it off. What can you do to get that straightened out in such a short time?

COACH PEARL: Just ask them to go to their strikes, and they'll continue to go to their strikes. When Tyler has a high assist turnover ratio that takes a lot of pressure off of our guards, when Tyler is out there making plays. Tyler will make more plays against traditional size. Tyler had a match-up against Archie was very, very similar to him, so Tyler wasn't our primary play-maker tonight. When he has a match-up like that, he can take a lot of pressure off the point guards.

Q. You said you trained for three days. Did you pack for three days, and do you have the orange jacket?

COACH PEARL: You know it, come on. One bag, but I had to pack for three days. I'm a little light on the underwear, but I'm okay on the suits (laughter).

South Carolina Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and begin with the two students athletes. We'll have questions just for them first.

Q. Zam, you guys did a great job on Chris Lofton throughout the game. Could you tell exactly what happened when he got that last shot and was able to get a clear look at it?

ZAM FREDRICK: On that possession, we were switching everything because they kept hitting us with the back screen for lay-ups. So we switched it twice across the top end and they hit us with a strong pick. I don't know who was supposed to step up or whose man that was, but he got a clean look and he made the shot.

Q. Could each of you describe how disappointing this was considering what type of game it was and how close you game?

ZAM FREDRICK: Of course I'm disappointed that we lost, but the effort and the courage that we showed out there today, you know, that's something for us to grow on. But there was a lot of games this year that we lost by four or less in the last minute or so of the game. So hopefully next year we'll grow and we'll be that team that's on the other end instead of losing all the games by four or less?

DEVAN DOWNEY: You know, I'm very disappointed, but like Zam said, I'm so proud of my team because the effort we showed, we're talking about a team who embarrassed us twice. I mean, that's a simple way to put it. They embarrassed us at home and they embarrassed us in Tennessee. To come out and fight like we did, man, I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm just so proud of my team because, I mean, they came with the knockout during the second half. They came with it, and when we stood strong we showed we had grown as a team.

Like he said, I'm disappointed we lost, but I have no complaints about the effort. It was 13 of 14 guys out there giving it everything they had. Nobody left anything on the floor. I'm just proud that we was able to be in the game and be in a position to win it due to the fact that they had embarrassed us twice.

Q. Devan, on your last shot that you took from three, you fell a little short. Do you think fatigue might have had anything to do with that shot?

DEVAN DOWNEY: The shot felt good. I understood we was in a double bonus, and I could have tried to get a foul, but I wanted to go for the kill. I wanted to beat them. I mean, the shot fell a little short, but it felt good, and if I had to do it again, I would take the same shot.

Q. What was the strategy coming out of the timeout with 1.1 seconds left? What were you trying to do?

DEVAN DOWNEY: They were switching everything on the inbounds so we was just trying to set two -- I was to set a screen in the reciever screen, but they switched it so good where I was not able to get outside. So we just -- Dominique was the open man, so you've got to hit the open man. We had no time outs so you've got to hit the open man. I don't know if it was a foul or a tie-up, but we was unable to get a shot up.

Q. This question is for both of you. I know you said you have no complaints about the effort, but I'm sure there were a couple things you wish you would have done different. What was the reason that Tennessee won this game?

ZAM FREDRICK: In the second half they started owning the paint, the rebounds and the back screen that led to the lay-ups, the fouls, and-ones. I felt that stretch where they kept scoring in the paint kept them in the game and gave them a lead that we had to fight back to get the lead again, so that stretch where they scored a lot of points in the paint.

DEVAN DOWNEY: I think it was probably the free-throw shooting. I'm going to say free-throw shooting. I don't know if it was fatigue, but it seemed like we could never hit two out of two. That was the only thing, one out of two or we would miss both. So I don't know if it was fatigue, but at this level right here and to beat Tennessee as good a team as they are you've got to make free throws. But yet still at the end we was in a position to win the ballgame.

Q. Having seen Tennessee three times now, can you both assess Chris Lofton, particularly you've seen him in his good and his bad, just the kind of player he is?

ZAM FREDRICK: We all know that Chris Lofton can shoot the ball from anywhere on the cross half court. Bruce would probably let him shoot it before he gets there (laughter) he's a good player, they're going to run him off of a lot of screens, and if he gets in space it's going up, and there's a 47 percent chance it's going in. You just can't give no space, and that just sets up his drive and ability to create his jump shots. I wish him luck the rest of the season and at the next level.

DEVAN DOWNEY: Like you said, Chris is a great player. He's a shooter. But I think that as a defender you'd rather have him driving. I think he can beat you in driving but he can hurt you penetrating and trying to find an open man, but he can beat you. He can beat you when you let him set his feet and get an open look. When I say set his feet, Coach Odom tells us just because you're on a man doesn't mean you're guarding him. Chris Lofton can be there and if he doesn't feel you it's just like he's in the game shooting by himself. Chris is a great player, and I wish him and his team the best.

THE MODERATOR: We're going to excuse the players at this time and we'll continue on with Coach Odom momentarily.

We'll ask Coach for some overall thoughts on the game and then go to questions.

COACH ODOM: Well, when you look at the basketball game as a whole, you had two teams that were determined to win the basketball game. I think both teams evenly felt like they could win it, and I know our team did, and I'm most certain that the UT team felt like they could win.

You know, I could be happier if we had won, but I couldn't be prouder. It was a very proud moment for me, for our staff, for our University, for our team. I think for this conference, for the Southeastern Conference, I think it was a proud moment. And again, I don't make light of the fact that we did not win.

As I said, I could be happier had we won, but I don't know that I could be any prouder.

You know, the game offered whatever you wanted. I mean, there were spectacular plays, there were answers by each team, on occasion there was decent defense. I don't know that it was the greatest defensive game I've ever been in. But I think defensively both teams played well at times. Both teams played unafraid. Surprisingly, both teams got to the other's basket almost at will.

I think really when you look at it, that was probably the difference in the game. As I said yesterday when we were talking about Tennessee, they tease you from three and they beat you from five. Well, today they beat us from two. I mean, the number of lay-ups that they got off their back screens, we just never negotiated that. And I would really say the one day of non-preparation hurt us in that. I think we would have done better had we had one day of practice to -- because that's a different technique than we saw yesterday with LSU. It's decidedly different. They do it with different people, different sizes, causes different -- a different approach, and we didn't have enough time to really get that done.

I wished I had not been so prophetic in terms of tease us from three and beat us from two. I know people are going to say they beat you from three, Lofton hit the three to beat you. Maybe they did, I'll give you that one, but the game wasn't won there. The game was won with Tyler Smith getting to the basket, Chism getting to the basket, with Brian Williams' four for four getting to the basket. That's where the game was won.

And then I heard Bob Knight, by the way, who I think is very good on his deal there as a surrogate media person, I heard him say the other day that he felt that some games were won and others were lost. I think Tennessee won the game today, and I think we lost it, and not just the way -- 89-87 or whatever it was. We lost it at the free-throw line, and they won it from two. You give them credit, a lot of credit.

But had we been able to shoot better from the free-throw line, we might have won it instead of lost it. I think that's a good way to put it. So with that, I'll open it up to questions.

Q. On the basket that Lofton made, the three, what was your defensive plan on that play going into it?

COACH ODOM: Well, you know, we toyed with two defenses. I chose just to stay straight man-to-man because I felt that there would be more responsibility, more accountability on a play like that. And to be quite honest with you, they set a road-block screen. Legal, legal, nothing illegal about it, don't want anybody to feel that. I mean, that was the kind of -- as important as the shot was, the screen made it happen, and it put it in the best three-point shooter in the history of this league's hands, and he delivered like he has so many times.

You know, what we wanted to do, obviously the plan was to switch all screens. Our big guys didn't see that one coming. They should have switched out on it. They didn't see it. There was no way -- I think Zam Frederick was guarding Lofton at the time, and there was absolutely no way he could get through that. But our big guys didn't see it because it came from behind -- he came from behind, and they should have switched out there and hopefully kept the ball out of his hands. They didn't do it, and again, he had a stone-cold open look at it. That brings misery to the Gamecocks as he's done so many times.

Q. You said you felt you lost -- you lost the game with free throws, but earlier you mentioned it wasn't the greatest defense. What do you think was the biggest detriment to your team today, poor inside defense or faulty free throws?

COACH ODOM: The inside defense I think was horrendous at times, but the other thing that hurt us badly, I think, was transition defense in the first half. That really hurt us. There were a couple of times that we penetrated to the basket, took a shot, missed it, and then they came back on us on the other end. If you're going to be an attacking team, you've got to cover yourself on your flank, your backside, and we didn't do that. So I think those two things really hurt us.

Q. One other thing about that last play, we've been talking all season about which Tennessee guy is the first guy in line to try to contain. I'm wondering on that last play how you try to prioritize, let's try to take this away or that away.

COACH ODOM: Well, obviously we talked about Lofton. One of the defenses that we were going to use or that I was thinking we'd use -- considering, not thinking, we had been messing the last two days with a box and one. I thought about that, but then I looked out there, JaJuan Smith scared the heck out of me, and they had been getting to the basket with that thing on the cuts. It wasn't like they were pinched for time. I mean, they had 16 seconds on the clock, and that's plenty of time to get the ball in and move people around.

I didn't like the odds of that, and so I stayed with the man there because I really felt that the shot would come quickly and that we would have enough time to get a shot off if they made something of their possession, which they did. So thus I made the decision to stay with the man there.

You know, when you look at it, to me the priorities are Lofton and Tyler Smith. With JaJuan Smith as an offset shooter who can certainly do damage. I mean, there's no question about that. I talked to our team about offensive rebounds and everything else, too, if they would miss that shot we have to go get the board because they are easily the best offensive rebounding team in the league.

Q. You've seen the SEC conference teams two or three times. What are your favorites to come out of this tournament alive, so to speak?

COACH ODOM: I said it yesterday. You weren't here, were you? Tennessee is the odds-on favorite. They're close to a double digit favorite over anybody they play. Today will help them. They were scared today -- not scared. I mean, they were not scared, please scratch that. They were close to losing today, and that will get their attention, and they will be more difficult to beat tomorrow no matter who they play, believe me. They're the odds-on favorite to win. That does not mean they'll win the tournament. That doesn't mean somebody else can't win the tournament, but clearly they are the favorite. They've proven that now over 17 games for them. They're 15 and 2 in this league counting that one game today. They've got great personnel, they're expertly coached, they've got great backing out there. The UT orange today pulled a UK blue. I mean, they were in the eyesight of everybody today. They bought tickets and they got in there, and again, commend the Tennessee people for that. I was thinking we'd have a little more of an advantage today. I didn't see too many schools pulling for -- I didn't think that they would be pulling for Tennessee because they don't want to play them. I thought we would have had a little more support today. But I under estimated the wallets of the Tennessee people. They went out and bought tickets, much like Wildcats usually do. Wildcats had better get in line if they're able to buy tickets. You may want to put that in your paper because the biggest competition is who can get the biggest ticket bought between UT and UK if they end up playing.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. We wish you the very best.

Game 6 - [W2] Arkansas 81, [E3] Vanderbilt 75

ATLANTA (AP) -- John Pelphrey was looking for his Arkansas team to play tough in the Southeastern Conference tournament, and the Razorbacks responded in a big way Friday.

Darian Townes and Gary Ervin each scored 18 points and Arkansas dominated No. 18 Vanderbilt inside, winning 81-75 to advance to the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals.

The Razorbacks (21-10) rolled to a 45-24 rebounding edge and outscored the Commodores 50-20 in the paint.

``We've had a tough time at times this year, especially on the road, being tough when we need to be tough,'' Pelphrey said. ``Tonight I thought we were.''

Arkansas will play No. 4 Tennessee in the next round after probably ending any question about its worthiness for the NCAA tournament.

Townes and Sonny Weems each had five offensive rebounds; Vanderbilt had only six.

``We got beaten badly on the boards,'' Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. ``We gave them way too many second chances, third chances and fourth chances. That was the difference. They pounded us on the boards. It was a total breakdown on our part.''

Vanderbilt couldn't overcome the Razorbacks' advantage inside, especially with SEC scoring leader Shan Foster scoring only 14 points, six below his average.

Alex Gordon led Vanderbilt (26-7) with 22 points. He had two 3-pointers and another long jumper in the final minute.

``We obviously have some work to do, but we are a good team,'' Gordon said.

Foster was only 4-of-10 from the field.

``I don't think we can expect Shan Foster to be Superman every night,'' Stallings said.

The Commodores rallied to tie it twice in the second half, the last time at 58-58 on a 3-pointer by Gordon. But Ervin answered with back-to-back baskets, including a 3.

The Razorbacks made 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute after making only 3-of-7 in the first half. They finished 19-of-28 from the line for the game.

``I thought outside of fouling way too much in the first half we played very good basketball and it was good team basketball,'' Pelphrey said.

Ervin said the Razorbacks were not thinking about their NCAA tournament hopes.

``We wanted to come out with a sense of urgency to win a basketball game; that was the only thing that was on our minds,'' Ervin said. ``We just wish we cold have done the same thing during the season: play smart basketball, play with that intensity and that urgency to win ballgames.''

Charles Thomas finished with 13 points for Arkansas, which has won eight of the last nine in the series, including a home win over Vanderbilt on March 1. Arkansas also beat Vanderbilt in last year's quarterfinals.

Patrick Beverley and Stefan Welsh had 11 points apiece for the Razorbacks.

Pelphrey said Beverley remained in the game despite dislocating his jaw.

Vanderbilt had only nine field goals in the first half but stayed close by making 16 of 19 free throws. Arkansas led 40-36 at the break on the strength of its 28-12 advantage in the paint.

``Their presence at the basket makes everything hard,'' Stallings said. ``It's not as easy to get things right at the basket against them as it is against lots of teams.''

The Razorbacks lost 93-71 to Tennessee on Feb. 13. The Volunteers advanced to the tourney semis with an 89-87 victory over South Carolina on Friday.

Game/Tournament Notes

Arkansas Notes

Vanderbilt Notes

Arkansas Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Pelphrey for some overall thoughts on the game, then we'll take your questions just for the three student athletes and then we'll excuse them to the locker room and then finish up with Coach.

COACH PELPHREY: First of all, I think we're very fortunate to have won the basketball game. We have tremendous respect for Vanderbilt and Coach Pelphrey. Shan Foster, very, very deserving of player of the year. Ogilvy, all his accolades, two tremendous players, and Coach Pelphrey is one of the better guys in our league and proved that when he won the coach of the year award a couple years ago.

We did have our hands full. Really good players and a very good team.

I'm proud of our guys. I thought outside of fouling way too much in the first half, I thought we played pretty good basketball, and it was team basketball. We were able to take care of it, keep our turnovers down, had five guys in double figures, and when certain guys had to go off the floor, other guys stepped up. I thought Stefan Welsh gave us a huge lift, I thought Charles Rhodes was big for us, Gary stepped up, Darian had a big game for us offensively, it was good to get Steve back on the floor in the second half, makes our defense a lot different.

So proud of our team effort. Down the stretch, we really executed press offense every single time and made our free throws. So that was good. Very good team effort. We knew it had to be because of our respect for Vanderbilt.

Q. Gary, Coach Pelphrey said that you guys seem to play with a confidence against Vanderbilt that maybe he didn't see on tape, I guess, when you guys play other folks. Can you just talk about your approach against Vanderbilt? Do you feel like you guys are in their heads at this point?

GARY ERVIN: Not at all. It's just we wanted to come out with a sense of urgency to win a basketball game. That was the only thing that was on our minds. This is just something we wish we could have done throughout the whole day, to play smart basketball and play with that intensity and that urgency to win basketball games.

Q. This is for all three guys. You guys may have been in before today, but this pretty much puts you in for sure, the NCAA Tournament. Talk about winning a game like this that clinches that.

GARY ERVIN: You know, going into today's game, that's something that we wasn't worried about. We didn't come here to worry about the NCAA Tournament, we came down here to win ballgames, an that's something we wanted to do. To get to the championship game, hopefully, that's something we've been talking about doing throughout the season. We missed winning the Eastern Conference the Southeastern Conference championship or western division championship, and we just wanted to come out and play.

CHARLES THOMAS: Echoing what Gary said, it's one of those things where we wanted to come out here and take care of business, no matter what's going to happen, we were going to come out here and play hard every night, and that's one of the things we wanted to do coming into the tournament.

DARIAN TOWNES: We're not worrying about what people are saying on television. We come here for one thing, to win the whole thing. We got past one. The first game is always tough, and we've got another one tomorrow against Tennessee.

Q. Just for any of you who want to answer, a lot of times when you get a new coach and a new system and things change it takes some time and teams don't do it very well and very quickly. Can you talk about what it's taken for you to get back to this point with a new coach and what he did to ease that transition?

GARY ERVIN: It's all about, you know, buying into the system. I don't think our coaching staff got this job just by mistake. They're professionals at what they do, and they did a great job of taking us and helping us to become a better team and a better person. That's just the biggest thing, just to buy into what our coaching staff has taught us. By doing that, we'll be winning some ballgames. That's just the biggest thing.

CHARLES THOMAS: I agree with Gary (laughter).

Q. Darian, you obviously had a good offensive game, had several good offensive games. Can you talk about how your teammates are getting you the ball in good positions to score and how that's been key in your offense?

DARIAN TOWNES: I'm just posting up real strong, make sure they see my number and I'm holding the guy in the back and I'm moving my feet and the guards are delivering the ball to me, and I'm going to do one thing, to score.

THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse the student athletes back to the locker room.

Q. 21 more rebounds than Vanderbilt, 22 offensive rebounds, you got more loose balls than they did. That's the toughness you've been talking about, just the kinds of things you've been talking about. How gratifying was it to see that performance?

COACH PELPHREY: You know, we've had a tough time at times this year, especially on the road, being tough when we needed to be tough. Tonight I thought we were. Loose balls, we got some offensive rebounds, converted some shots when we needed to, Steven Hill going against a great player inside, getting it done, limiting Foster, even attempts, and then down the stretch to be tough enough to execute press offense, knowing they're going to grab hold and there's no way you can call them all, and to be big bodied, strong based, pivot, face up handle traps, not worry about it, knowing you're going to get hit, just split it, advance the ball and have the toughness to make free throws, yeah, it would be nice if we could duplicate some of those things. It was nice to see those guys do it. We tend to do that, but Walton today it showed up when we needed it to because it was not easy.

The thing, too, when you look at this thing, what happened with Sonny only got three points. So that's big. That's big for other guys to be able to kind of concentrate, understand what's going on and make the right plays over and over.

Q. Turning to tomorrow, what do you take out of your first game with Tennessee, and is it even relevant to a rematch at this time of the year on a neutral court?

COACH PELPHREY: I think Tennessee is awesome. Yeah, we'd like to go at JaJuan Smith maybe a little better. He was spectacular. They've got two guys at every spot. Tyler Smith is awesome. Chism and Crews have made great progress, got the coach of the year. Nobody has a Lofton and Smith. They just stretch you and put as much pressure on you as other guys. I think we need to play better together as a basketball team. We can't just have Sonny playing. From what I remember, I don't know if Pat had a very good game, I don't think Charles was very good. We need some of this where everybody is contributing and getting into it, but we know how tall the order is. Tennessee is awesome, they're probably No. 1 seed, to be four or five team in the country, and we're excited to have a chance to play them.

Q. You talked about two different things; one, the importance of what Walsh gave you offensively in the first half, and two, you had gone a long stretch without a three pointer and Gary got one to go down the second half.

COACH PELPHREY: Stef was tremendous. I think Stephen Walsh has really made a lot of progress. We're getting close the last two or three weeks. His attitude has been terrific. He's been a team player, taking coaching. I tell these guys all the time if you listen and take coaching and have a good attitude, and be a good teammate, you'll be surprised how well you're going to end up playing. It's not a surprise that Sonny Williams whose our most coachable guy had tremendous success individually, so I'm very proud of Stef. That was huge.

You know, the other thing is that Beverly popped his jaw out tonight. He played the last, I don't know how long it was, but when he got hit in the head, his jaw got dislocated again and he did not want to come out of the game. There's some desire and some understanding and concentration that was very good tonight. Our challenge is going to be able to do it tomorrow.

Q. Pretty much clinching that same bid, I know you guys want to keep winning, but talk about beating Vanderbilt again, and knowing your team is in, there's no doubt now.

COACH PELPHREY: You know I don't have a crystal ball. I'm going to give you that same old coach speak. I don't have a crystal ball. I'll be doing my team a disservice if I focus on anything other than trying to get them prepared for the next game. Being a kid who's from the Southeastern Conference, I've had a chance to play and coach in, I'm very, very excited about being here and having a chance to stay alive. This is good.

Q. To struggle at the free throw line early and then make 11 down the stretch, I know that's kind of crazy to think about

COACH PELPHREY: Yeah, I'm just happy for those guys, because if you don't do that, you know, Sonny said something at time out, he said, I know you guys don't want to go home. There was about 3:20 on the clock. Pat is over there mumbling something and I have no idea what he was mumbling, but he was mumbling, and he won't come out of the game. Darian was very, very focused. It was good to have Steve back on the floor, and Gary. Those guys, that's what they need to do.

Hopefully we can find a way to get that done again tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about the way you guys kept the ball away from Foster, kept him from shooting the ball, and then also the job you guys did on Ogilvy in the second half?

COACH PELPHREY: First half, you know, we struggled. He's tremendous now with his he's got a gift. He and Patterson. I don't know if I've seen two young guys with just a knack for posting up. Both those kids are very well coached, but they just do a great job of getting touches. And then Vanderbilt moves the ball with speed and precision inside, and it's just hard. He's too good. First half we just could not keep him from catching lay ups. Steven is a little bit different animal himself because of his size and agility and strength but Steve didn't play the first half. That was the biggest thing in the second half, that and probably a little bit more zone, although we played some zone down the stretch in the first half, as well, but probably the biggest thing was Steve.

Foster, you know, gosh, just watch him on film. Some of the performances, knowing how he closed the game in Fayetteville, he just scares you to death. Yesterday watching him play, I think they had 27 assists in the game. It's always a catch and shoot, and it's just something special. Coach Pelphrey does a great job coaching him. We just talked about whatever he's doing, man, just to be standing in front of Shan Foster is not enough. You've got to find a way to make him bounce it. Sonny has got great size, Pat's got great heart and determination. I thought Stef and Gary, when they were there they had a sense of urgency with it. A little surprised we were able to limit him to ten shots, but at times we were able to turn him into a driver and passer.

We wanted somebody else from Vanderbilt to shoot the ball besides Foster and Ogilvy.

Q. Throughout Gary's career he's been a guy that's really blown hot and cold and a lot of times plays at a speed too fast or takes a bad shot. Last five of six you put it in his hands and he brought you through. Talk about his maturity.

COACH PELPHREY: He made a huge three point shot there. Gary has made some plays for us on the clock. He made one at the half. He's been known to kick in a three here or make a tough shot. Certainly I've challenged him to stop going inside and keep getting hung up. At five foot nothing that's not the best thing for you, making post moves, but if you get up there and bounce off your feet and get to the guy before he gets to you, that's okay. He's turning down three point shots early in the clock, and obviously at the end we needed him to make plays and he made them. He made some free throws. That's what a point guard needs to do, he needs to handle traps, break it open, handle pressure, get him fouled, don't worry about it, and then you get your chance to step up there and put team in a situation where you've got a little bit of a cushion because you've got a chance to make free throws, do it.

Position was my biggest concern coming into the season. I don't think it's any different than probably any other basketball team, just the way it is with that spot. It's like the quarter back. I think if Gary and Stef could continue to give us solid play there with that, we'll have chances. We can't go much longer, though, with Sonny and his streak of not reaching double figures. We've got to get him back, and we will. But those guys, performing at that level, helps when Gary Ervin and Stephen Walsh play well.

Q. How much difference is there in this team when you get the kind of toughness that we talked about earlier as opposed to when you're not getting those loose balls, you're not getting those rebounds, the guys aren't on the floor?

COACH PELPHREY: I just think, you know, that in this league there's a lot of good players and there's a lot of good coaches, and it's going to come down to that type of stuff. You know, who's tougher I hate this term, but who wants it more, but kinda, sorta, that kind of rings true. I think it's hard at this age to recognize that as the game is going on, to be able to seize that moment. It's easy to go back and look at it and say, that was a big play, that was a big possession, just like when you're going through a season, you just don't know what game it is that can hurt you down the road. Oh, I wish we had that one back.

I think as you go on, you get experience at those things and that really, really helps players. I don't know if we recognized that tonight. But yeah, tonight was positive for us. I felt like when it got tough, we were able to make some toughness plays. That hasn't always been the case. I'll be anxious to see how it turns out again tomorrow.

Q. Obviously if you look at the stats in the paint scoring and off of rebounds you guys creamed them inside, and Charles Thompson looks like he's back among the living the last couple games. Talk about Charles Rhodes looking like he can still play a little bit.

COACH PELPHREY: Yeah, we had a terrible run there with opposing power forwards going against us. It started in Tennessee, I'm not sure, with guys getting double doubles. You know, that spot was we don't expect to lose in the front court. Worst case we should break even with our guys. So it's good to have him back. Obviously those guys competed at a very high level tonight when you look at Vincent and Charles and Michael Washington. Michael has five rebounds in four minutes, man, that's you get your chance, you're doing some things. Yeah, it is good to have him back among the living. I thought his concentration was better. He looked like he was able to recognize plays and seeing high lows, when to drive, when not to drive. I thought he did a very good job of a big, strong base down in the post and making strong moves as opposed to the seizures sometimes we see him have with the basketball (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: We'll end on that note.

Vanderbilt Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Stallings if he'll begin with some overall thoughts of the game, then we'll take your questions just for the two student athletes.

COACH STALLINGS: Well, we just got beaten badly on the boards, and we gave them way too many second opportunities and third opportunities and fourth opportunities. So that was the difference in the game. They just pounded us on the boards, which is disappointing, and our offense isn't good enough to recover, or cover, for when they get more of their misses than we do. That's a total breakdown on our part, but they played better than we did, and that's the story of the game.

Q. This question is for Shan. You obviously didn't have your typical shooting game. It looked like your leg or ankle or knee was bothering you. How are you physically, and what was Arkansas doing to make it a tough game for you?

SHAN FOSTER: Well, I did roll my ankle there a little bit, but that's no excuse for me not playing the way my team needed me to play today. I felt like I let the team down defensively and on the boards. They did a good job of staying close to me and not allowing me to get free on shots, but like Coach said, it really came down to defense and rebounding.

Q. It looked like you were matched up on Williams most of the game, and I think he was 1 for 9. Can you just talk about what you all were able to get done against him? I would think you would take that type of game from him most of the time.

SHAN FOSTER: Well, being that he's such a good player, we just wanted to stay close to him, not allow him to get open shots and try to trail him on screens and things of that sort. You know, he's a good player. He got a few shots that he usually makes that he didn't knock down, and we were able to get some stops on those possessions.

Q. This is for Alex. I think you were shut out in Fayetteville but obviously you had a great game today. Talk about the difference between here and Fayetteville. Talk about what you were feeling here that you weren't feeling there.

ALEX GORDON: It's the SEC Tournament, so Coach always talks about stepping up and taking it to another level and just playing harder, so I just wanted to come out and do whatever it took today to lead my team and teammates to victory. But unfortunately that didn't happen (that was Alex).

Q. Despite this loss, how confident are you guys heading into the NCAA Tournament now?

ALEX GORDON: We've obviously got some work to do as far as like our defense, like our Coach said, but we're not going to lose any confidence. At the end of the day, it's basketball. We've just got to keep the confidence no matter what.

We're a good team, we've just got to go to the drawing board and come up with the game plan that Coach gives us?

SHAN FOSTER: Just to piggy back on what Alex said, we've got some things to work on. We have to go back to practice and continue to work hard and get better at the things we didn't do so well at today and head into the NCAA Tournament with our heads held high and ready to play.

Q. Shan, what do you remember about last year when you lost in this round, and then you guys made a good run in the NCAA Tournament. What happened between losing that game and then getting yourselves back up for the NCAAs. What happened in that year and how do you think you'll approach it this year?

SHAN FOSTER: We just continue to believe in each other. Obviously we didn't want to lose that game or this one, but it's just one game. And fortunately for us we have an opportunity to right the ship in the NCAA Tournament. We have an opportunity to keep playing.

Same as last year, just continue to get better and practice and be ready to play come next week.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, fellows. You can be excused to the locker room. Thank you for coming. We'll continue on with questions for Coach Stallings.

Q. Can you just talk about Shan's game today, not a typical game for him, and what Arkansas was doing you thought made it tough on him?

COACH STALLINGS: Williams is a good defender and he's got good size and good strength. So he just he had a lot of help. I think that they were he had a lot of help, and again, their presence at the basket makes everything more difficult. Their athleticism at the goal is one of the deceiving parts about their defense because it's not as easy to get things right at the basket as it is against a lot of teams.

You know, I mean, they did a good job on him. I don't think we can expect Shan Foster to what did he have, 25 over in Fayetteville? I don't think we can expect him to be superman every night. He is most nights, but he can't be superman every night.

Q. Your team played great defense today when you hold Sonny Williams and Patrick Beverly to a combined ten points. Did you think you would walk out with a loss?

COACH STALLINGS: I wouldn't have thought we would have lost, but our first shot at defense was okay but it doesn't count if you don't get the rebound. We were able to get them to miss, but when you allow them to rebound the ball, then they get a second try and a third try and a fourth try, and eventually they're going to score or get fouled. I wouldn't go so far as to say that our defense was good. It was probably okay, but our rebounding effort was pathetic. And that's my fault.

Q. Losing to Arkansas four times the past two years, what is it specifically that gives you guys problems?

COACH STALLINGS: I think their length and their athleticism. How athletic they are in the perimeter. We don't do a good job of guarding Ervin, and he's hurt us in just about every game. I think that's it more than anything else.

Q. As disappointed as you sound right now, do you have any hope that you guys can make another run in the next tournament?

COACH STALLINGS: There's always hope. I'll feel better after we practice. I always do. We just need to get to practice and work on some things.

Yeah, I like our chances in the NCAA Tournament, quite honestly. But again, it's all about match ups and who you draw and how you fit against how they fit. So we'll just see what happens on Sunday, and then we'll go about our business.

Q. You mentioned Gary Ervin, he had a pretty solid game all around. I was wondering what you thought of his game. Also Arkansas free throw shooting hasn't been one of their strengths and they knocked them down pretty good the last few minutes. Could you comment on that?

COACH STALLINGS: They seemed to play with a confidence against us that you don't see when they play some other teams. So maybe the basket looks bigger to them when they play us.

Q. Could you talk about Gary Ervin's game overall?

COACH STALLINGS: Pretty efficient. He scored 18 points, took seven shots. That's usually a pretty good sign. A little better than he played in the last game against Auburn.

Q. I know you don't put too much stock into rankings or things like that during the season, but given what you guys have done this year, where do you see yourselves being ranked going into the NCAA Tournament in terms of seeding?

COACH STALLINGS: I'm not going to get into that speculative, we deserve this or we deserve that. The committee will decide what we deserve. I'm not I'm sorry, I just don't care to answer that kind of question because I don't think it makes any difference.

Q. Focusing on Arkansas if they clinched a bid and they weren't already in, how good are they and what do you think about them as an NCAA Tournament team?

COACH STALLINGS: They're good when they play us (laughter). They're good when they play us. I think their NCAA Tournament chances, probably like anybody else, it depends on who they draw. But they've certainly got pieces and they've got talent, so I would imagine it's just about match ups, and again, how they fit against who they draw compared to how who they draw fits against them.

Game 7 - [W1] Mississippi State 69, [W5] Alabama 67 (OT)

ATLANTA (AP) -- Jamont Gordon scored 23 points and Mississippi State survived a scary weather delay of more than an hour during overtime to beat Alabama 69-67 in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals Friday night.

Mykal Riley, who led Alabama with 18 points, forced the overtime with a dramatic 3-pointer that spun around the rim and hit the backboard before falling through the net for a 59-59 tie.

Then, a severe storm moving through downtown Atlanta ripped holes in the Georgia Dome and sent fans fleeing for the exits, causing a delay of 1 hour, 5 minutes with 2:11 left in overtime.

Riley missed another long jumper at the end of the overtime.

Mississippi State will play in Saturday's semifinals against the winner of the Georgia-Kentucky game.

At least two tears in a corner of the fabric roof were visible when play was halted at about 9:40 p.m. Wind blew small bits of insulation through the rips toward the court.

Players soon left the court. An announcement about 15 minutes later informed fans that an inspection showed the Dome to be structurally sound.

The Bulldogs led 64-61, thanks to a 3-pointer by Ben Hansbrough, when play was halted.

Charles Rhodes had 15 points and Barry Stewart added 11 for Mississippi State.

Hendrix and Alonzo Gee each had 15 for Alabama.

Mississippi State allowed only seven points in the final 10 minutes of regulation before Riley's 3-pointer forced the overtime.

Mississippi State, which trailed by 9 early in the second half, took its first lead of the half on Hansbrough's 3-pointer with 2:36 left.

A jam by Gordon gave the Bulldogs a 58-56 lead with 1:15 left.

With seven seconds left, Jarvis Varnardo blocked an attempted layup by Hendrix, who fouled Stewart. Stewart made one free throw to push the lead to three points.

Mississippi State scored the first 10 points but was outscored 36-19 the rest of the first half.

Alabama's first field goal was a 3-pointer by Brandon Hollinger, and it set the pace for the rest of the half. Eight of the Crimson Tide's 12 field goals in the half were 3s.

Alabama almost abandoned its 3-point shot in the second half but still stretched its 36-29 halftime lead to nine points. Hendrix had two jams and a tip-in in the first eight minutes as Alabama moved its offensive focus inside.

Gordon's three-point play with 13:06 left helped Mississippi State begin its comeback. Hansbrough hit two free throws with 3:24 left to cut Alabama's lead to 52-51, and Hansbrough followed with a 3 from the corner with 2:36 left to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half at 54-52.

Game/Tournament Notes

Mississippi State Notes

Alabama Notes

Mississippi State Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Stansbury for some overall thoughts on the game and then we'll take your questions just for the three student athletes. We'll excuse them to the locker room and then finish up with the coach.

COACH STANSBURY: Well, what a game. Number one, give Alabama a lot of credit. I've said this many times. They're as talented as anybody in this league, and when they play like they played last night and tonight, they're capable of beating anybody.

They were awful good again tonight.

Again, we planned for a lot of things. We certainly didn't plan for a tornado. What a moment that was, and for that moment it made you forget all about that game, for that instant. I had no idea what was left on the clock and what was going on.

To our team's credit, halftime Alabama was 8 for 15 from the three point line. They had four field goals at halftime, four two point field goals at halftime. They hit three three pointers, and we were 1 for 10. And we were only down seven. There's where we found the positive things to draw from. We've been playing a lot of zone late lately, but we decided the second half to do what we have done all year long, play man to man.

I thought our kids in particular, once we got down nine points, I thought these guys to the right of me here dug in, found that extra energy that you have to have to win. More importantly, they're 2 of 11 for a one hour break and whatever it was, that's a difficult situation for both teams, but that team is just going to come back out and have the will and have the toughness to is going to win that game, and I thought our kids found a way and did that.

Q. For any of the players, if you guys could just describe that last half second, what was mindset was defensively.

JARVIS VARNADO: Well, just don't let them score. We did a good job of denying Hendrix the ball, so when Riley came up for that three, I mean, I was just praying to God it wasn't going in.

JAMONT GORDON: Just got to let them get the loft and play solid defense.

Q. Charles Rhodes, what was this whole experience like, the delay, the noises, what you guys endured tonight? Did you have anything to draw from before, anything like that?

CHARLES RHODES: It's got to be one of the worst environments I ever been in as a player. You know, to see stuff falling from the roof, it really scared me, so I really didn't know what to do. Last time I've been in something like that a bat was in the gym, so this really tops that one.

Q. With the adversity you guys faced not only with that but being down in the second half, what does it say about this team to come back and get this win?

CHARLES RHODES: It shows the toughness and the togetherness that our team showed today. I think when we got down, we never thought that we couldn't win. We always knew that we could win the game.

With the motivational speech that Coach brought in there after the delay, I think that really pumped us up and got us going, so we've got to thank our coaches on that. We just executed just as they told us.

Q. Did any of you guys call home and tell your parents you were okay, stuff like that?

CHARLES RHODES: My phone was dead. Jarvis was trying to call his parents. A lot of the guys were. But most of our phones were down. There was just a couple phones that were working.

JARVIS VARNADO: I was just trying to see if my mom was all right because she came down tonight and I didn't see her in the stands, so I was just calling her to make sure she was all right.

JAMONT GORDON: Same way here. I just called my mom to see if she was all right.

THE MODERATOR: Fellows, we'll excuse you. You can return to the locker room.

Q. Sort of the same question I asked Charles Rhodes, about the adversity you guys faced, being down in the second half, how important was this win tonight?

COACH STANSBURY: I thought the second half he played they had five field goals the second half, four the first half, five the second half. We held them to 28 percent shooting 24 percent shooting the second half. That's the difference in the game.

Again, I say it all the time, to win, especially on the road, you have to defend and you have to rebound. That's what gives you a chance, in particular when you're not shooting very well. Obviously we didn't shoot it very well tonight. We're four for twenty, two of those was in regulation, two in overtime. So in regulation, we're 2 for 18 if that's right, 2 for 18. And just to have a chance to get into overtime you're very fortunate there.

Again, our kids did what you have to do. That's been something we preach about and we've sold on them. You've got to have it on the road. Particularly when you're not shooting the ball very well, and that's what we did, we found ways to get stops in that second half, particularly once we got down nine points.

Q. COACH STANSBURY talked about how this team has improved. It took a while at the end of the year to improved.

COACH STANSBURY: Talking about his team?

Q. Yeah. How different were they this time since the last time you last saw them in Starkville?

COACH STANSBURY: They're a good basketball team. I've always said the difference in their team is Riley. When Riley makes shots in the first half everybody was making shots. Gee is a 20 some percent shooter. He was 2 for 3 at halftime. Pickett was a 19 percent shooter or something like that, and he had made one or two. They had a lot of guys make shots the first half. I just didn't think they could keep doing that.

And again, second half, we played man, we got into the shooters, they didn't make many shots the second half. Like I said, 2 for 10 in the second half, 8 for 15 the first half, 2 for 10 the second half, and one of those was that last second shot.

We out rebound them, seven rebounds. We hold them to 27 percent shooting the second half. Defend and rebound. That's what gave us a chance to win the basketball game.

Q. Ben had drawn the collar before he hit that three to put you ahead in the second half. Is that always a green light situation?

COACH STANSBURY: Absolutely. It is what it is. When you're a shooter, that's your role and you've got to keep shooting. Ben is one of those guys that you never know what he's going to do sometimes. He's just tough enough to jump up and make shots. He was the same way at Vanderbilt. He was 0 for 6 in regulation and jumped and made two for Vanderbilt. We never went away from him, always gave him the green light. You'd like for him to make a few more than he did. Like I said, Ben is one of those young men, that again, he's just tough enough to step up there and make it when you have to have it.

Q. Considering you guys a week ago at Vanderbilt went into overtime in a similar situation on a three pointer at the buzzer, was there something there you guys could draw off of this time?

COACH STANSBURY: Well, it's totally two different situations. Absolutely totally different. Vanderbilt situation was 29 seconds to go and we went up three, and it was way too early to foul. We were fouling in this situation. I mean, we fouled. Like I told the refs, the only time I want you to call a foul, you don't call a foul. We tried to foul whoever it was, Hollinger or whoever it was at half court when they called the ball off of him. We literally tried to foul there and they didn't call it. We want to put him on the line with three points and I'll foul in that situation every time. That's why I was so frustrated the way that game came out because I want to foul every time in that situation. We just tried and it didn't happen.

Then Gee, the only person everybody in the gym knew he was going to catch the basketball, who they were going to throw it to. We just didn't cover it the way you've got to cover it. With two seconds to go, once you catch it, it's a fine line now of not fouling a guy and I have to shoot him. And kids, you can't let him catch it right there, let him throw to the rim, let him take a two pointer, but we didn't execute that very well. We were very fortunate to be able to come out on the right side of that score.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

Alabama Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Gottfried for some overall thoughts on the game, then we'll take your questions for the student athletes.

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, let me first of all say that I'm really, really proud of our team. I think that was a great game between two teams. Both teams I thought played great defense. Mississippi State is a great defensive team, and they give you some problems around the basket trying to score the ball.

But I'll tell you what I'm proud of, we had some key times where we had to execute certain things, and our guys couldn't have executed them any better. Sometimes it comes down to just the ball going in the basket, and I would go down again with the same shot in the corner off a great execution by our players, and if the ball goes in the basket, we're playing tomorrow. It's really that simple. I would do it again. I have that much confidence in Mykal. Just one of those tough things for our team.

I hurt for these guys. They played extremely hard. So did Mississippi State and they're a good team, but we're obviously hurting right now a little bit on that one.

Q. Mykal, if you could kind of take us through that last shot, how good a look did you feel like you got? How did it feel leaving your hand? Just kind of take us through that and just the emotion of missing it?

MYKAL RILEY: It was like I was starting on the other side of the court by the bench and it was wide overshot, like it was a good shot and it just didn't fall. I thought it was in. It just went in and came out. I thought it was in when it left my hand.

Q. Mykal, in overtime when the winds came and the tornado hit, what was that like out on the floor? I notice Hansbrough said something like that sounds like a tornado. What was your thoughts?

COACH GOTTFRIED: He mentioned to me after they shot a free throw, I think, and we was coming down the court, and he was like, sounds like a tornado. I was agreeing with him, and then like all of a sudden everything started moving and everybody started running.

Q. For both you guys, what was it like during the break, and what were you doing in the locker room?

HENDRIX: In the locker room we just tried to come together and be focused, keep Alonzo free so he could shoot his free throws, and just stretch, stay loose, and just focus on coming out and executing.

MYKAL RILEY: We were just in there like with our minds, ready to finish the game. Just two minutes left, just going to try to finish.

Q. Did either of you try to get in touch with any family members and did you have any success doing so?

HENDRIX: There was a lot of that going on, trying to call our folks. We all had a lot of family members here being in Georgia and us being from Alabama. I couldn't get a hold of them. I think everyone was calling and the phones were tied up so that was something to worry about. I finally got a text message through from my dad saying everyone was okay and just focus on the game.

MYKAL RILEY: I called my mom and dad and they were watching the game and I asked them if they seen it. They said they seen it, and I told them I was good, I was all right.

THE MODERATOR: Fellows, we'll excuse you back to the locker room. Thank you for coming down. We'll continue on with questions for Coach Gottfried.

Q. As far as the storm hitting, what did they tell you and how did you try to handle the team during that time?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, when it first happened, I could obviously looked up and saw everything swaying, and I didn't know what it was. I just knew something was happening and wanted to get our team out of there, and the officials immediately said why don't you guys take your team off the floor into the tunnel or into the locker room.

I think once we got back there, we were just kind of in a holding pattern. They did a great job of communicating to us and kind of telling us what was going on. They were checking out the building obviously to make sure it was safe. I think for a few minutes we didn't know if we were going to get to play or not. Then after about ten minutes I think everybody realized we would still get to play tonight. Then it was just kind of waiting for them to allow us to go out. We went out and got our families and brought them in there, too, and just kind of sat and waited.

Q. Do you think it was the right decision to go back out and play?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think that once the building you have people here that that's what they do. I don't know the right terminology, but to make sure the building is safe. I think once that's determined, that's obviously their call. I think once that's determined that it is, I think it's perfectly fine. I didn't have a problem with it. I think once the engineers and whoever needed to make those decisions, you trust that they're making the right ones.

Q. How tough is it to see this season come to an end, especially given the way that you guys played down the stretch? You beat Vanderbilt, you won last night the way you did and you played this game down to the final second?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, that's the hard part. We beat Arkansas, beat Vandy, beat Florida. I thought down at LSU we played great. We went down to Ole Miss and played for 39 minutes and 50 something seconds. I'll tell you, with our guys, I'm disappointed obviously, but I'll tell you, this group of guys, they played hard, they competed hard, they practiced hard, they were focused in mentally. I think we improved a lot. It took us a while, but I thought late in the year we definitely were a team that was improving, which for us it was too late, a little bit too late. But I'm very proud of them for that. Disappointed that we didn't get more done, and we all know that. Like I said, I'm proud at the improvement that our team made.

Q. You said a couple weeks ago that seniors can sense when the end is coming. I'd like you to talk about Mykal over this last stretch.

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think Lofton made one today late in the game for Tennessee. I just think that I remember back when I played in my sophomore year, junior year, that senior year everything is a little different. I think even Mykal Riley here coming down the stretch, you know the clock is ticking down on you and everything matters more. Practices are a little more important, games, everything. He stepped up for us I thought was just absolutely terrific. He carried us here I thought in the last five or six games. He played at a high level, shot it with great confidence and just played awfully well for our team.

Q. I've got two things. First, do you feel like there's any possibility of NIT, or would you all consider another tournament?

COACH GOTTFRIED: I hope we get to play. We want to play. Again, we've got young players, and I don't know how all that works. I think with the NIT that's changed a lot in the last couple years. I think it's a lot harder to get in the NIT than it once was for teams like us. I look at our team as a team that if you start doing the eye test and you use your gut and you say is this one of the next best 32 teams, we might be in that group. Now, record wise or RPI wise, I don't know. But I like our team right now. We're a team that could go into the NIT and win it, I really believe that, the way we're playing. But you have to respect however that turns out.

Q. Could you talk a little about the problems you had offensively in the second half? Seemed like they really took you out of everything.

COACH GOTTFRIED: Our problems offensively were a direct result of their defense. They're a very good defensive team. They're good on the perimeter. Gordon has size and strength, Stuart Hansbrough, guard, but then around the basket they make it very difficult for you to score the ball around the basket.

Our execution was awfully good. We just sometimes had a hard time putting it in the basket, and I think you've got to give Mississippi State a lot of credit for that. That's a result of their defense. They're terrific on that in the floor, especially with Varnado the way he blocks shots. We had a great out of bounds play. We ran and brought Richard there late in the game and he blocked it. He one of those guys that changes the way the game is played around the rim.

Q. What do you tell your team during a break like that to get them back emotionally into the game if they're sitting there trying to call your parents? It was a pretty scary situation there for a minute.

COACH GOTTFRIED: I think once everybody got a hold of everybody they needed to get a hold of, and I think everybody felt we weren't in any grave danger they were ready to play. They were excited. When they told us we could go back on the floor our guys had a great deal of enthusiasm. Let me say this, too. I think from our perspective, the SEC and the people here at the Dome did as good a job as you can do considering the circumstances. They got us off the floor quickly. They communicated with us frequently. They made sure our families and everybody was safe. Whatever the engineers did with the building was right. They brought us back out and gave us time to warm up correctly.

So those situations when they happen at the spur of the moment, I think the SEC personnel here obviously, I think they did a phenomenal job. They handled it as well as you possibly could. So I think you've got to give those guys a lot of credit for that.

Q. The low is right now, but talk about right when the shot went down in regulation to send it to overtime. That's a whole new life.

COACH GOTTFRIED: Our guys stepped up there again I thought in a tough situation. We had three or four of those where I thought just executed perfectly, and then you've still got to make a shot at the end of all that, and he did. He had a lot of courage, stepped up there and made it. When the shot left his hands on the last shot, I watched the ball, and my heart said, that is in the basket. We're winning the game. We're playing tomorrow. It seems like the ball went down in the net and came out of there, and that's kind of been our year. It's been in and out.

But they did a good job, our players did, in those situations.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.