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Georgia Notes

Kentucky Notes

Georgia Postgame Quotes

COACH FELTON: Questions?

Q. Can you just walk us through what the last 15 hours has been like for your team?

COACH FELTON: Well, we showed up we spent four hours at the Dome last night, showed up ahead of time to get ready to play the game, and obviously, you know, a major event happened that affected everything. We've just been trying to go with the flow and make the best of the situation ever since.

I'm certainly pleased that we've taken the safest route in terms of, you know, thinking about all the participants and fans' safety by clearing out of the Dome when we couldn't be sure that that would be safe for everybody. I really thought that had to be the first concern.

We got back to the hotel, had to actually walk part of the way, right smack through the Kentucky hotel because the police wouldn't allow our bus to get close enough to the hotel to drop us off on the curb. So we got off at the Hilton or Hyatt or whatever that hotel is and walked through there.

But anyway, by the time we got to our hotel it was about, I think, 1:30, and we had a quick meal and guys went back to their rooms. Later when we finally got news of what the schedule was going to be to resume playing today, we got them back together and let them know what was going on and encouraged them to just stay very, very focused and not allow themselves to be distracted.

We got up this morning just in time enough to have breakfast, watch film again and head over here and get to the gym about 100 minutes before the tip off like we would normally do.

Q. How much did you sleep last night?

COACH FELTON: I actually slept more last night than I did the night before. The night before I didn't get to bed until about 6:00 and got up about 9:30, but last night I was I was spending all that time getting prepared for the Kentucky game.

Last night there wasn't a lot more that I could do to keep me awake for the same opponent.

THE MODERATOR: We've been joined by Zac Swansey who hit the three point shot. Can we take questions just for him?

Q. Can you talk about playing in that environment, 1,000 fans, about 100 Georgia fans and how strange it was?

ZAC SWANSEY: It was different, not really your typical SEC Tournament game. This whole thing has gone on these past couple days. We didn't let that affect us. We came in a mindset it's just us against everybody. We were going to find a way to get a win anyway, and that's what we did.

Q. When was the last time you played in front of that few people? Was it like senior year of high school?

ZAC SWANSEY: Yeah, probably in high school when you play teams that aren't as good as you go to that place there's not many people. It's something we haven't done in a while, but it really didn't affect us.

Q. Can you just describe like the last 15 hours and how you guys had to change your plans and stay focused and just what it's been like the last 15 hours?

ZAC SWANSEY: Like I said, it's not really your typical time, especially playing two games today. You really don't hardly ever see that. But we came together with ourselves. We're going to find a way to make this work. We haven't been given the best circumstances, so we know we're going to find a way. We're going to go back and get some rest night now and come back and try to do it again in a few hours.

Q. What were your marching orders coming out of the time out? What was supposed to happen on that play and kind of describe how it ended up like it did?

ZAC SWANSEY: I think it was about eight or nine seconds to go and Coach drew it up. We were going to push it and have Billy come off a screen. Billy was open for a second, but I think my man kind of saw Billy as open and that kind of gave me the chance to spin back and hit, and I just knocked it down.

Q. Were you surprised at how outnumbered the Georgia fans were by the blue in the arena?

ZAC SWANSEY: Not really. Kentucky, they've always been known to travel deep. We had good fan support. I appreciate all the Georgia fans who came out. But we looked at it as you know there's no way that we can let anything like that bother us. We have to come out and get a win anyway possible, some way, somehow.

Q. Can you talk about filling in for Gaines and stepping up in a big situation where normally he excels?

ZAC SWANSEY: It was huge. Coach called upon me to come in. I told Yata I was going to find a way for him to have another game. I wasn't going to let his career end with him fouling out and us losing. You know, I found him, and he came and told me he loved me afterwards (laughter).

Q. How many spinning three pointers have you shot?

ZAC SWANSEY: (Laughing) not many. I think the only time you do that is in a gym shooting by yourself. You work on stuff like that. Not really a typical game shot. But I came back and I guess you could say it helped me a little bit.

Q. Where on the list of options in your mind was "I'm going to take this shot" as you got the ball there?

ZAC SWANSEY: If Billy wasn't open I was going to find a way for me to get a shot. It's eight seconds which is an eternity, especially at the end of the game like that. Once Bill wasn't open I looked for my shot and if I wasn't there I was going to try to get in the lane and get a shot for someone else.

THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse you. You can go back to the locker room. We'll continue on with Coach Felton.

Q. Riding back on the bus last night, you guys had to see obviously the war zone that it was out there. Was it shocking to you after what you'd experienced?

COACH FELTON: No, it wasn't. Most of the time when we were in the bowels of the Dome we were, you know, trying to keep up with what might happen by watching the TV telecast, especially before the Alabama Mississippi State game ended. And they took some shots and went out and got some shots of some damage and debris in the streets. And I'm certain that the path that we took back to our hotel, that we didn't see the worst of it, because also we had some people call and report as to how bad it was in some areas like around the CNN Center. So I was kind of expecting the worst. But on the path that we took, we didn't see the worst.

Q. Talk about you've had two games now in this tournament, two overtime games. Is this something magical? Do you think this is something special Georgia is doing here?

COACH FELTON: Well, I think it's a lot more grit and toughness and sweat than anything about Magic. You know, I think the story line of both games, and especially this game, was just how tough we were to stop Kentucky enough to have a chance to win. You know, in the latter stages of the game getting back to what we wanted to do offensively, and that was pound the ball inside more and play in the paint more.

But you still players have to step up and make plays, and we have had some players step up and make some if you want to call it magical plays, which you have to have to win games like these. So there have been some terrific individual plays made by players.

Q. What about having to play now two games in such a short period of time, and what steps have you kind of thought this out to make sure your team is not dead at the end of the night?

COACH FELTON: Well, I don't think there's anyway to avoid that. This is the hand we've been dealt. We just have to give everything we've got.

I talked about it leading into this game. You know, our players would like to keep their season alive just as much as anybody else in this tournament, especially our two seniors, because their next loss is their last game. I wanted to be certain that we didn't get caught up in trying to pace ourselves thinking about having to play again tonight because if we did that, you know, we certainly weren't going to win this game.

We came out just the way we wanted to come out, but in the latter half of that first half, we stopped playing as hard, and I felt like we started pacing ourselves. Fortunately we found out that we can't win that way without losing control of the game. We still were able to go into halftime a one possession game. So I just reminded all of them that if they wanted to pace themselves, if they wanted to try to be solid, then they were going to have a whole lot time to rest (laughter).

So we have to leave it all out there on the floor, and now we have to come back and find out how much harder we can play against a team that hasn't been made to play two games in a row.

Q. Do you know if anybody from Georgia objected to this format, or what are your thoughts on the format?

COACH FELTON: I objected vehemently, but I wasn't involved in the dialogue. I felt like the and again, I understand that there's so much that goes into the decision, and because I wasn't in the dialogue, I can't tell you that I know everything that goes into the decision.

But I think at the end of the day, what's fair and what's best for the welfare of our student athletes is what should be the overriding concern. My suggestion, and nobody has told me why we couldn't do it, but I don't see why we couldn't have played a game a semifinal game at 9:00, another one at 11:30 and the championship at 3:00. So now whoever is playing two games in a row, it's fair, because both teams have played two games in a row.

And if the teams involved in that last game didn't feel like they wanted to play it or needed to play it, like I heard there was some sentiment, then they could choose not to play a championship game, a second game for a championship and have co champions.

I very, very respectfully take great exception to the decision to make a team play two games in a row in games that are so important. I think everybody understands that this tournament is our only chance to make it to the National Tournament. I can't help but feel that when that decision was made, they made it knowing well that they were basically eliminating our chances of winning the tournament, making us play two games within hours against a team that's only going to play one game.

But again, I wasn't involved in the dialogue. I did make my opinion and my feelings known to our administration. But I don't know where it went from there.

But here we are, having to play the most important game of our season, the most important game to some guys' careers so far, after having just played hours earlier against a Mississippi State team that hasn't had to do so.

Q. Can you just comment on the irony of playing the SEC Tournament, your in state rifles, SEC and then ACC?

COACH FELTON: I don't get caught up in that story line stuff. I know you guys love to try to bring interest to the stories, but it just is what it is. I think the bigger story is that we've had to adjust because of the storm and the damage that it did to the Dome. You know, I'm grateful to Georgia Tech that we were able to use their facility and move on with the tournament. It's just pretty simple; it is what it is.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Kentucky will be in momentarily.

Kentucky Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Gillispie for just a couple of overall thoughts on the game and then we'll ask questions of the two student athletes.

COACH GILLISPIE: It was a real hard fought game. Both teams tried extremely hard and baskets were hard to come by, and a very, very physical game. They made a big shot at the end to win it, to their credit.

Q. Can you both talk about what the last several hours have been for you overnight, you dealing with the storm and not knowing when you were going to be playing, what it was like?

RAMEL BRADLEY: It was chaotic. I mean, we were waiting in the arena last night for a long time, and then we didn't know when we were going to play, so we waited up until about maybe 1:30, 2:00 last night, and then we found out we were going to play today at 12:00 so it was a lot of chaos and really hectic.

JOE CRAWFORD: Same thing.

Q. What time did you guys find out when you were going to play?

JOE CRAWFORD: 2:00 in the morning.

Q. Just how weird was it playing in a gym with about 1,000 people and that atmosphere, all the empty seats?

JOE CRAWFORD: It was definitely an atmosphere we're not used to, but I think we focused in and gave a hard fought effort. We just didn't come out with a victory.

RAMEL BRADLEY: Yeah, we're not used to playing in an environment like that, but I think we were focused and ready to come out and play.

Q. Joe, talk about you made second team all SEC and it was pretty apparent you weren't pleased with that. Talk about how you come into this game trying to make that statement?

JOE CRAWFORD: I wasn't focused on that at all. I just wanted to hopefully win the SEC title.

Q. It seemed like toward the end of the game it was going to be you and Sundiata Gaines who were going to try and determine the end of it. When he fouled out what were your thoughts?

JOE CRAWFORD: Thought we was going to get the offense going and get good shots, and they made a couple tough baskets.

Q. Talk about that shot at the end of regulation there that you could have won it. Did you think it was in?

RAMEL BRADLEY: Yeah, I thought it was going to go down, but it didn't.

Q. For either player, Georgia's game winning shot, how did you see the play develop and did you think Swansey might be the guy that pulled the trigger there?

RAMEL BRADLEY: No, I didn't think he would be the guy to shoot the ball. The plan was to go out and not let them have any easy baskets or three point shots. He came out, and I think it was a hand off that he didn't pass the ball, and he shot it and he made a shot.

Q. Your offensive sequence at the end of the overtime where you guys hustled would, kept the ball alive, and then you caught the ball with about 12 seconds left. Any thought to holding the ball at that point for the last shot again?

RAMEL BRADLEY: Yeah, I thought about it, and I saw Swansey ran out, he thought I was going to take the three point shot, and it just freed me up a little bit.

THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse you fellows. You can return to the locker room. Questions for Coach?

Q. Kind of the same thing for you. What's it been like waiting overnight, and were you inside the actual Dome area when the monitor started swaying, and what did you think was happening?

COACH GILLISPIE: I didn't really know what was happening. I don't think anyone did. I didn't really know it was coming. I don't think anyone did. The best thing about it was I think the Southeastern Conference, no matter what the situation ends up being in our championship, I think that they did a very good job of trying to ensure the safety of the players and the fans, and hopefully there's no fans that have suffered any damage or any injury or any of those kind of things.

So I think you have to commend the Southeastern Conference for putting that first. And then the second thing is usually in these situations, I think finances usually dictate what happens. It's obvious that I'm sure they're going to have a mess trying to deal with tickets and refunds and those kind of things. But they put competition before a financial decision, and I think they should be commended for that, as well.

Q. Talk about the last few hours leading up to this, and did you think that affected your team? They kind of came out a little sluggish?

COACH GILLISPIE: No, Georgia played very well, and they played good defense. We're built to handle any situation, and they beat us today, bottom line, period.

Q. Dennis said he preferred to play one game today and then have two semifinals tomorrow and make it fair that way. Were you part of the discussion at all?

COACH GILLISPIE: I don't know how much coaches have to do with those kind of decisions. They ask us or whatever, but they basically tell you what options that they might explore. But I don't think coaches get too many votes on those. But it turned out fine. You know, that's the way it is. I mean, you try to come up with something that was going to be a good situation. Mother nature came and visited us and put us in a tough situation that the safety of the people everyone involved hopefully has been taken care of, which is the most important.

We had a very, very competitive game today no matter what the circumstances or situation is, and they'll have two competitive games today and another one tomorrow, and the championship will be decided.

Q. I talked to Mitch Barnhart and he said he brought it to you, and he said I sure am glad I've got an accommodating basketball coach. Did you understand why it needed to be done and why you needed to go along with it, to play two games

COACH GILLISPIE: We're ready to play any time, no matter what they say. If they say you're supposed to play at 4:00 in the morning and you're going to play three games and you get a chance and you're lucky enough to advance, then that's what we'll do. Is it a perfect situation, no. But I don't think anyone who made any decisions had anything to do with the damage that was done to the Dome. That's not anything anyone could control. They tried to make the best of the situation, and that's what we have to do. You have to handle things that are beyond your control, and I thought we played really hard. I thought Georgia played extremely hard. They made the shot at the end and they won the game.

Q. Will you talk about the last I assume Perry Stevenson blocked that free throw on your direction. What was your thought process there?

COACH GILLISPIE: I just wanted to make sure that we were going to step in the lane and make sure that they didn't miss the free throw because we were going to try to throw another pass. We had already tried to throw a long pass, and it went out of bounds, and that didn't work the first time. We wanted to be three down, and I didn't know the rule. I didn't know it was an automatic technical. So that's my fault on that.

We wanted to make sure that we were three down, and we didn't want to give him a chance to miss the free throw.

Q. I just wondered what you thought of Ramon's defense on Gaines and then on Swansey there at the end?

COACH GILLISPIE: He played great. All these kids are awfully tough, and we didn't start out very well because of Georgia's defense. They were really physical, and we couldn't make a basket. We ended up shooting a very, very poor percentage. Joe and Ramel usually make more baskets. We didn't play as smart as we could, but I thought that Ramon showed as much heart and determination and courage it's a tough situation when you're up two points right there. You can't let them get by you for a lay up, you don't want to the most important thing is not to give up the worst thing you can do in those situations, give up an easy basket, foul or give up a three point shot. If we had to do it all over again and we could force them into the same situation with the same shot, we'd take it. Give Swansey credit, he made a big time play.

Q. Can you just talk about how disappointing this is after the way you all have come together after Pat went down?

COACH GILLISPIE: We came together today. If you watched the game, you saw that. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We got beat. It has nothing to do with coming together and being tough. They beat us today. Let's give Georgia credit. They deserved to win.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about Georgia's offensive rebounding today?

COACH GILLISPIE: It did us in. We couldn't get a defensive rebound even when we had inside position on a defensive free throw. We missed some assignments on that. We blocked out a little bit differently than we normally do, and a couple guys didn't carry out assignments on that. They got a basket out of that, and just too many offensive rebounds gave them too many easy baskets because we defended about as well as you can, but the last part of defense is defensive rebounding.

Q. How do you feel like this affects your NCAA chances?

COACH GILLISPIE: It doesn't.

Q. What did you see on the play right at the end where Albert Jackson ... it looked like you were hoping to get a call there where Jackson went into Ramel?

COACH GILLISPIE: I guess you could put it like that; I was hoping (laughter).

Q. Could you talk about I guess your first experience at makeshift "Catlanta"?

COACH GILLISPIE: I know this is a very talented group here (laughter). I don't know about that question. I don't think this is it was a great competition today, but I don't think this is indicative of the Southeastern Conference tournament, again, beyond other people's control. People's control, again, nobody could do that. I don't know how to answer that.

Q. Can I ask you about Ramel, he's been so clutch all year and then today struggled with his shooting?

COACH GILLISPIE: He made the shot to put us ahead. Let's give Georgia credit. They played great defense. It was a very physical game on both ends, and it was hard to catch the ball. It was hard to do anything with the ball. It was hard to finish plays. So let's give proper credit to them.

And then when you have had a tough day and you do make a big shot and put your team ahead with eight seconds to go in overtime, that tells you exactly how tough you are.

Q. As well as these teams know each other at this point in the year, how tough is it to beat a team three times in one season?

COACH GILLISPIE: It's hard to beat a team once. I don't buy into beating a team three times or four times or whatever. You try to beat them one time, and if you play them again you try to beat them one time that particular day. The last two games had nothing to do with this one. Both teams competed all three times when we played, and we were lucky enough to win two of them. No, but they all came down to the last minute or so, and today they made a big shot to win.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

Game 9 - [W2] Arkansas 92, [E1] Tennessee 91

ATLANTA (AP) -- Tennessee came up short of a Southeastern Conference double, and the Volunteers may have to do without a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

Steven Hill hit a turnaround jumper with 5.3 seconds remaining for his only points of the game and Arkansas knocked off fourth-ranked Tennessee 92-91 Saturday night in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, a serious blow to the Volunteers' chances of getting a top seed when the brackets come out.

The Razorbacks (22-10) surely locked up an NCAA bid and advanced to face either Mississippi State or Georgia in Sunday's championship game. Tennessee (29-4) claimed its first regular-season title in 41 years, but couldn't pull off a double in the storm-plagued tournament.

The game was played before an estimated crowd of 2,000 at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the final two days of the tournament were moved after a tornado ripped through the Georgia Dome during the quarterfinals Friday night.

The teams went back-and-forth the entire game, the last five of 17 lead changes coming in the final 3 minutes. JuJuan Smith dumped in a layup with 23 seconds left to put Tennessee ahead 91-90, and the Vols called a 30-second timeout to set up their defense.

Trying to create something off the dribble, Gary Ervin nearly slipped to ruin Arkansas' final chance. But the guard kept his footing and worked the ball inside to Hill, a bearded, 7-foot senior who had missed his lone shot of the game. Working down low, he caught the pass along the baseline, calmly turned and sank the winning basket.

Tennessee rushed the ball upcourt and put it in the hands of its most reliable player. Chris Lofton, who hit a 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds left to beat South Carolina in the quarterfinals, had another shot from beyond the arc. This time, it rimmed out.

Most of the Arkansas players jumped up and down and pumped their fists to celebrate. But Hill calmly walked toward the bench, not even smiling until he was mobbed by his teammates.

Charles Thomas scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks, who never led by more than three. Patrick Beverley added 17 points and Darian Townes 16.

Arkansas did its best work on the boards, with a 34-22 rebounding edge that included 13 at the offensive end. That led to a 14-6 edge in second-chance points. The Razorbacks also had a 44-34 scoring edge in the lane.

Lofton scored 25 points, hitting 5-of-9 from 3-point range but missing the one that counted most. Tyler Smith had 24 points and JaJuan Smith 18.

Game/Tournament Notes

Arkansas Notes

Tennessee Notes

Arkansas Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Pelphrey if he'll give us just some overall thoughts on the game and then we'll take questions just for the three student athletes and then we'll finish up with Coach.

COACH PELPHREY: First of all, we have tremendous respect for Tennessee and they've been the best team in our league and one of the best teams in the country all year long. Nothing has changed with that.

I love the way we played with the pressure they put on you offensively. Defensively Coach Pearl was outstanding. He's the winning he's coach in our league, and we knew it was going to be a very, very hard fought battle. It was.

But I was very proud of our guys for competing. Even when they got down nine points there, I'm not sure how much time was on the clock, they found a way to dig down and get some stops, started cashing in some free throws, got some huge, huge plays in terms of scoring the basketball and then was able to play it out.

The back and forth, there was a lot of it there down the stretch. So I feel like I obviously haven't had a chance to look at the stats sheet too much here yet, but I feel like for the second night in a row we had a chance when there came chances for us to be tough, we were able to be tough tonight.

I tell these guys all the time that you never know when your time is coming. Michael Washington doesn't play a whole lot right now, and with the way things are going, especially we got in foul trouble and going offense, defense, and we talked about over on the bench with the way those guys were driving the ball to the basket, maybe they'll get a charge, he gets in there, and huge play.

Steve obviously there was not a lot of stuff being run at him, but when he got a chance to do his thing, he did it. That's what a team does. The way those young men in the locker room responded when he walked through the door was remarkable. To me that's the coolest thing about the whole deal. Certainly very happy that we won. It will be very difficult tomorrow, but the way they were a team today was the thing I was the most proud of.

Q. Steven, did you expect to take that shot, and how difficult was it getting it over Chism?

STEVEN HILL: I obviously did not expect to take that shot or any other shot that late in the game (laughter). They gave it to me and time was running out, so I kind of threw it up there and put it in.

Q. Steven, on that front, is that a shot you practice a lot, though, in practice? I mean, that one shot in particular, the turnover?

STEVEN HILL: You know, not really, maybe in horse for fun or something like that, but that's not really my go to move. But it went in, like I said, so I can't complain.

Q. Steven, your obviously known for your defense. What does it feel like to make a game winning shot to knock off the fourth ranked team?

STEVEN HILL: It felt good, a little redemption. I didn't really play too well on defense today, so it was nice to get at least one bucket.

Q. Charles Rhodes, let me ask you this: Tennessee really had difficulty keeping you guys from just backing them down and scoring inside, getting putbacks that kind of thing?

CHARLES THOMAS: It's one of those things Coach talked about. Obviously the power forwards and the bigs haven't really been holding their own in the SEC play. A lot of people have been kind of hard on us, including the coaches, and we just wanted to respond.

Q. Did Tennessee play you differently than they did in Knoxville? Coach Pearl talked about how they wanted to front you and didn't really front you tonight?

CHARLES THOMAS: No, I don't think so. I think to be honest it was the same defense. I think today was just more intensity and more will to win.

Q. When Tennessee made that run what's going on in y'all's huddle? The momentum is on Tennessee's side.

CHARLES THOMAS: What was going on in the huddle? A lot of intensity. Coach got in our face and really challenged us to come back. Tennessee is a team that runs. We knew it was going to come down to a last second play, a one possession game, and we came out with a victory.

STEVEN HILL: Like he said, we still had some confidence. We're a veteran ballclub. We hadn't cashed in yet, so we wanted to continue to try to go out there and get some stops.

PATRICK BEVERLEY: The biggest thing for our basketball team was stay focused and don't let your face change and just keep fighting. Collectively we did it as a team. No one person really did it. We did it collectively, and we just are really excited about this win.

Q. Charles, for you personally, two good games in a row after you had gone several without double figures. Where does it come from?

CHARLES THOMAS: It comes from my teammates. It's not about the individual, it's always about my teammates and my coaches having confidence in me all year long. They wanted me to become the Charles Thomas of preseason. I credit Patrick Beverley with really challenging me and Coach Evans. Everything that I did would have been all for naught if we came out with the L. We came out with a victory and I credit the team for it.

Q. Patrick, what changed defensively for you guys after that time, 73 64? It seemed like you guys just got after it more. What exactly was it you guys did? Was there anything physically you did in particular?

PATRICK BEVERLEY: Coach Pelphrey tells us all the time to compete. That's what we did. We didn't want to lay down. We didn't want to back up. You have to give Tennessee a lot of credit, No. 4 team in the country. They have great players and great guards and great bigs. We just wanted to stay in there and compete. We understand the game of basketball is a game of runs. We were fortunate to make our run towards the end.

Q. This is for Steven. Coach Pelphrey said it was an amazing scene when you walked in the locker room after the game. How did your teammates greet you?

STEVEN HILL: It was the best greeting I would have imagined. They were all crazy, jumping all over me. It was impressive, the kind of emotion they put forward. It was really special.

Q. For all three of you, can you just explain the difference? In Knoxville it was a completely different game. What happened this game versus that game to make such a difference? Was it just in your style or the motivation of losing that bad there?

PATRICK BEVERLEY: First of all, I think it's real hard to beat a team at their home court. We played them there, and it's really difficult to beat a team in their backyard. We competed and played well at a neutral site.

Our defense was the key, and we got stopped towards the end and just played offense.

STEVEN HILL: To build on what Patrick said. We feel in Knoxville we played good for 20 minutes. Tonight it was a key to play good for 40 minutes and compete the whole time.

CHARLES THOMAS: I agree with both of them (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, fellows. You can return to the locker room. We'll continue on with questions for Coach Pelphrey if you'll raise your hands.

Q. Can you talk about when you see Lofton take that shot, what's going through your mind? Obviously the night before or I guess it was two nights ago you know what I'm talking about.

COACH PELPHREY: Yeah, just goes to show, it's a game. It's not played on paper, it's played on a court. It's bizarre that if I told you that this game was going to come down to the last two offensive possessions and Arkansas's Steven Hill was going to take the shot, Tennessee's Chris Lofton is going to take the shot, I don't know if you thought that the results would be like this. It was that close. If either one of those roles get reversed, which it easily could have, it's a different feeling right now.

So as excited as you are about the win, you understand that the margin between winning and losing is very, very small. So we're very humbled by that.

But yeah, he's awesome. My dad told me about it when he was in high school and the championships. He went to my teammate's high school there in Kentucky. My dad told me back then, the guy I was in south Alabama, I couldn't get him to south Alabama, but the game never gets too big for him. The bigger the game, the bigger the moment, he's got a lot of people. We're just very fortunate tonight he didn't get us. It came out of his hands beautifully, and I thought it was in.

Q. Can you comment on two things; one, Charles Thomas the last couple games, where that came from; and also, you said yesterday that you couldn't keep winning if Sonny Williams doesn't get hot, and he did, I guess, the last six minutes, but just those two things.

COACH PELPHREY: You know, it's a long season. I don't have all the answers with Charles. I think that any time Charles plays well we're going to give him credit for that. If he doesn't play well, I've got to take credit for that.

You know, the last two games he is when he plays like that it really, really helps. I thought he was awesome tonight. He was big, big time competing, being strong and physical around the basket. At times he's rushed things and looked like he had two or three thoughts going through his head at once. Tonight he had good purpose and composure. Boy, what a special night he had.

You know, that's what it took for us to beat this team. Let's not get carried away here. We're not a top 4 team in the country. I'm very proud of my guys and we're going to continue to strive to be better. But we needed a shot from Steven Hill and we needed a big time performance from Charles, and we got great play and contributions from everybody. We'll give Charles credit for that.

Sonny, he was there when things got the worst, he was there. I'm proud of Sonny. Sonny is our toughest guy on the team. That may shock a lot of people, but no matter what goes on, good or bad, that kid never changes. We've all got our snapping points, and Sonny doesn't. Whether it's bad calls or whether it's shots not going in or the frustration of not being able to get some shots, being a first team only guy and not being able to play at the level he wants to play at, he just keeps playing ball. The lobs that he caught if he had to jump over the backboard to get it, he was going to get it in. He made a huge jump shot there in front.

I love Sonny Williams. He's very, very coachable, and I just I don't know how much longer we can go to the well without him. What is this, three in a row, where he's not got double figures? But who knows, it's really allowing some of our other guys to step up and make plays. It's pretty cool for them.

Q. I can't remember, I don't think you called time out after Smith hit the shot that put them up 91 90. What was the strategy on that and just how shocked or surprised were you when Steven hit that shot?

COACH PELPHREY: I don't know what happened. The game Sonny scored four straight points and I think we went up three, and he was exhausted. And I had Darian in there and he was exhausted. I didn't want to go that was two misses in a game, and I ended up having to take those guys out, and then they had the possession that lasted forever down there.

I was concerned because later in the game when I subbed out for offense defense, I didn't have a time out to get those guys back in the game. I said, we're going to win it right here, and we turned around and gave him a lay up. I felt like there was the two minute mark when Sonny got us up, try to call a time out, try to get the right guys on the floor so we can play some defense.

The last play there, I don't really like calling time outs. If I would have had one I would have called it to get two of our better offensive players on the court. Gary did what we wanted to do, Pat got up there, tried to wiggle loose off a pick and roll, Gary kind of fell down, and I'm sure he saw some demons from the past, and he was able to hang in there and get it to Steve. He cut to the basket, and everybody just kind of stayed attached to their guy, and Steve had the courage to step up and try to make the play.

I'm proud of him for that. Everybody can be happy for a guy when it goes in, but they had the courage to go back to play and look around, be scared, I don't want to shoot this, let me find somebody else. You see that on occasion. Everybody was like, go, Steve, be aggressive, cut it loose. I wanted those guys to compete today and be aggressive. You never know until you try. I think that's really important. We're all going to fail along with success, and that's the best thing we did was keep competing.

Q. So you were out of time outs?

COACH PELPHREY: We were out of time outs.

Q. Good thing you didn't call it then.

COACH PELPHREY: That's a good sign. Thanks for the credit.

Q. The guys all talked about at that moment when it was 73 64 you were in the huddle and you challenging them. What went into your thinking in challenging them and how do you feel about how they responded?

COACH PELPHREY: The answer is twofold. One, I thought I was speaking the truth. It's just amazing when you think of Chris Lofton, you think of deadly three point shooting. He was beating us with his driving, getting fouled, handling pick and rolls, getting other guys shots. He was killing us with his driving. I told him when it came to time out, I said, guys, I don't think you have it tonight. You need to congratulate Tennessee right now. You don't have it. Chris Lofton is beating you right now, and not with his threes, with his driving. I said, I just don't think you've got it. I said, you can't win the game unless you start guarding.

Part of that was motivation. I wanted to get their attention. Obviously they know that I'm never going to stray from the course. I was willing to try about anything at that point in time to get them to lay it on the guard. We went to zone. Fortunately for us we were able to get a few stops and Darian showed up there and scored the ball, and Charles scored the ball. Those guys did a good job of executing offense and getting it where it needed to go and converting some free throws. But that was the conversation, if we don't start stopping them it doesn't matter how many points we score, we're not going to be able to pull this off.

Q. You've been a part of some great ballgames. Considering this stage, where does this one fit in?

COACH PELPHREY: Well, you know, I haven't really had a chance to reflect on it yet. Obviously my thing to the team was as soon as I got in the locker room, I was very happy for the way they competed. Again, my most special moment so far in this whole thing is to see the way all of them reacted to Steve. From the last guy on the team Beverley may have been the first one to get to him. The guy didn't get through the door two seconds until he was up in the guy's arms. So that's still a very special thing for right now.

As time goes on, it may mean something different. But unless we back this up tomorrow with another performance of competing the way we have the first two nights, it'll certainly change the way we feel right now. Yes, we know how fortunate we were to win. We're very, very appreciative and humbled to have the opportunity tomorrow. It will mean a tremendous amount if we can back it up with another performance tomorrow.

Q. You just alluded to this. Obviously your team was pumped up to play No. 4 ranked Tennessee, but now tomorrow even though this is the SEC Finals, how do you keep your team motivated to continue this against Mississippi State or University of Georgia?

COACH PELPHREY: Oh, I don't know. I don't pretend to have all the answers. There's a large part of me that says, hey, listen, fellows, you were here last year and weren't able to finish the deal. We've already talked about that before we huddled up and said our post game prayer. Vincent Hunter, our leader on the team, mentioned that. We weren't able to pull this thing off last year.

I think the seniors need to show some leadership and it needs to come from within. I think our job as a coaching staff right now is to make sure these guys understand that we have a game tomorrow and we've got a short period of time to get the game plan in. But I think they'll be motivated to play.

Like I said before, my whole thing is it was interesting because when I was a player at Kentucky and we'd go and play in atmospheres on the road that was just rock star status, so to speak, because it was the biggest thing on everybody's schedule. And then when they'd go play the next game, they'd lose. We're at Arkansas. We need to back up a great performance with a great performance. To me that's where character, that's where team's heart, that's where understanding who you are and how fortunate you are to have a chance to lace it up and you're only as good as your last performance, I think those things mean something to me. I don't want it to be a situation where you get up and you play against a really good basketball team, and we get to tomorrow listen, they both beat us, okay, so it'll be just as hard tomorrow as it was today, and we're going to need good fortune.

Winning and losing is something we all want to do, but whether we do or not, let's make sure we go play the right way and compete.

Q. Can you talk a little more about those match ups with Mississippi State and Georgia?

COACH PELPHREY: There's problems with both of them, two tremendous coaches. I mean, my days with Coach Felton go back to the Sun Belt. I mean, what heart and courage and resiliency his team has shown. I don't know what's going on right now, but they've had to play two games in one day right here. So I've got a lot of respect for Georgia. They handled us as well as anybody did this year.

Mississippi State, my favorite guy in the league, Charles Rhodes, man, he brings it every night, competes. Jamont Gordon, there's nobody else like him in the country, and there's nobody else in the country like Varnardo. I love the other guys, Stewart, Hansbrough and Turner. I think they've got a toughness to them.

I like both teams. We've got a lot of problems both ways. I think this time of year you've got to be able to rebound, get yourself some fast breaks, and offensively you've got to get the right guys shooting the ball and take care of it. Those will be some fundamental things regardless of who we're playing that we've got to do.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

Tennessee Postgame Quotes

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

COACH PEARL: It was obviously a great basketball game, two very talented teams. I thought the players stepped up and made big plays. For us mostly on the offensive end.

You can't win championships getting beat on the boards like we did. Arkansas has done that to others, and they were better scoring inside with Thomas and Townes. We were in pretty good foul trouble on the inside, and very ironic that the only post basket for Hill was the last basket, but it was the same kind of basket that they were beating us on all game.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student athletes.

Q. You've obviously had so many big shots. Can you talk about the last look, how good it felt?

CHRIS LOFTON: Yeah, I got a great look at the end. It was a perfect setting, it just didn't go down for me. Tyler, I'll address this to you. Arkansas just scored a lot inside, Thomas, Townes. What about you all's defense against them? You were bigger in most positions.

TYLER SMITH: We were supposed to front the post and we didn't do what the coach had us designed to do, and that's why they scored so many buckets on us inside.

Q. This is a question for JaJuan. Could you describe the match up you and Arkansas had in the first half and how hot you were, and definitely in the second half you kind of cooled off?

JAJUAN SMITH: No comment.

Q. Just how surprised are you that Hill is the guy that hit the shot because he's obviously known as a shot blocker, not a shot maker?

TYLER SMITH: Like Coach said, they were beating us all day on the inside. He got a good look at the basket, and it's the only shot he made.

CHRIS LOFTON: It was a tough shot for him. We contested it, and it just went in.

Q. For JaJuan and Chris, just this whole season has been about making history and you guys had your sights set on the SEC Tournament. Just your thoughts on how it ended. Are you stunned or shocked or upset right now?

JAJUAN SMITH: We're upset because we lost. We ain't happy. But we lost to a good team. You've got to give them a lot of credit. But we had goals to play tomorrow, but let the better team play on, and they were the better team tonight?

CHRIS LOFTON: Will you repeat the question?

Q. Just about the team's quest to make history and just your feelings right now. Is it shock, is it surprise? Is it anger?

CHRIS LOFTON: Of course we're disappointed right now. We had our hearts set on playing tomorrow for the championship and making history. But all along we were talking about the big dance, and we'll start that next week.

Q. JaJuan, could you just talk a little bit about the offensive output in the first half? I mean, you guys, obviously all three of you were hitting a lot, but in particular some of the long threes that you hit?

JAJUAN SMITH: I was just getting the ball and I was in the zone and making shots, making plays for my team.

Q. Who did Hill shoot over at the buzzer?

TYLER SMITH: I don't know.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about a 1 seed. Do you guys feel like you've earned that?

CHRIS LOFTON: I mean, through our schedule I feel like we played the toughest teams in America. They'll probably look at this loss and hold it against us, but in my opinion we're a 1 seed.

JAJUAN SMITH: Yes, we feel we deserve it. Like Chris said. We got a tough schedule, we go on the road, play the toughest teams and we feel we deserve it, but if we don't get it that's just going to make us more hungry.

TYLER SMITH: Like Chris said, every team we play they're going to at least make it to the big dance. You've got Xavier, top ten team. We hope we get the No. 1 seed. We think we deserve it.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for Coach Pearl.

Q. Second half y'all made a run to go up 73 64 and after that Arkansas fought their way back. Was it more something Arkansas did better or a breakdown in Tennessee's defense?

COACH PEARL: I don't remember specifically. I know they probably went inside and they scored around the basket. They got to the foul line a lot. We scored 91 points, we shot 55 percent, 46 percent from three. There was nothing wrong with our offense. We couldn't stop Arkansas. Arkansas was that go offensively. We couldn't turn them over. That was one thing that was difficult to do. They have got really athletic guards. Jordan Howell or Chris or JaJuan or different guys we put out there, out there with Beverly and Ervin and Welsh, and we couldn't turn them over. That was key. We've been able to do that the last two times we've beaten Arkansas.

Q. If you can comment on the physical play, and again, for the second day in a row foul trouble was a problem.

COACH PEARL: We tried to front the post. That was a big staple for us in the first game. They never lobbed it to the post, they just passed it directly in the post. Those guys got it, they backed us down, scored, and we were called for fouls.

Q. There were some possessions late in the game where Lofton, about 6'1" is guarding 6'6" Williams. How did that happen?

COACH PEARL: Williams is a guard. We have three guards that are 6'1", so which 6'1" guy would you like me to put him on?

Q. Just how shocked are you that Hill hit that shot? He's not known for offense at all?

COACH PEARL: Is he a senior?

Q. Yes.

COACH PEARL: It's wonderful. It's a wonderful thing for him to get that ball and make that shot and have them advance. He's a great defensive player, and I think as a senior it's great. But they beat us at the end the same way they beat us all game long. We made great defensive play. We had them all tied up. I mean, they threw it in there really out of desperation. Nobody else was open. And we were it. We were behind the post, where we were all night.

Q. Between JaJuan and Chris and Tyler's 77 points, a lot of output. Do you foresee it being a problem just relying on those three guys or are you looking for that fourth or that "X" factor?

COACH PEARL: I'd love to have some other guys. I thought Wayne played pretty well. He did turn his ankle. Your best players have to play biggest in the big ballgames, and that was a big ballgame against a very talented team that was picked to win the west. They have five seniors, and it's a good team. It's a real good team.

Q. You had mentioned yesterday about the foul situation and talked a little bit earlier about trying to front and not getting that done. Are fouls a concern for you since you've mentioned it two days in a row, or just the way it went down?

COACH PEARL: We have plenty of depth to withstand foul trouble. I had one guy foul out, right? You know, yesterday was fouls on the perimeter. We played a team that was very perimeter oriented. Today it was our post defense. They did a good job of getting the ball inside. Guards could have come down maybe and stripped and ripped a little bit more, and we did, and we got called for fouls. I'm trying to think of what else we could do. Front it, we didn't front it.

Q. Looking forward what do you tell your team to keep their morale up and keep their focus for the big dance?

COACH PEARL: There's time for that. Right now they're disappointed. Right now they came in to win this championship. They carried the banner for the SEC all season long. That Tennessee team carried the banner for this conference all season with the biggest non conference wins. We went on the road and won in very adverse circumstances. So we're used to this.

We have time to get them focused and get them turned around. Part of it is remembering this feeling. If we were happy about things, something would be really wrong with us.

I'd like to comment about the seeding. Over the last 15 years in the RPI, 1999, Duke had the highest RPI. Tennessee right now is the second highest RPI in the last 15 years because of the schedule. You look at the teams that we've played and the teams that we've beaten and how many teams are in the NCAA Tournament in the non conference schedule.

So I think we're right there.

Q. You talked about elevated play and that you thought that Tennessee had another level it could reach. Do you feel like that you showed that?

COACH PEARL: Absolutely. What did you think out there? Was that play not elevated? There were two great teams out there. Gosh, it was great basketball, back and forth, great players making great plays. I thought kids on both sides stepped up huge. That was as good a college basketball game as there was in the country right there.

Q. Just to clarify, you do expect to be seeded No. 1?

COACH PEARL: I don't know. I'm not in that room, I'm not on the committee. Wherever we're seeded, we'll go play. The question is do I think if we're the highest RPI other than Duke in 1999, we've got to be right there. We're certainly in consideration for it. You know, we've got two or three of the best road wins in the country, at Memphis, No. 1, Xavier is ranked tenth, we beat them, Gonzaga is ranked top ten, we beat them on the road. Mississippi State was ranked top 25 and we beat them on the road. Wherever we're seeded we'll go play. We hope to continue to represent the SEC with great pride.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

Game 10 - [E6] Georgia 64, [W1] Mississippi State 60

ATLANTA (AP) -- After winning four Southeastern Conference games all season, Georgia has won three in three days. Two of them came Saturday, improbably leading the Bulldogs into the championship game of the SEC tournament.

Sundiata Gaines scored 20 points before fouling out and Georgia, playing its second game of the day, overcame a thin roster and little rest to stun Mississippi State 64-60 in the semifinals.

Charles Rhodes scored 22 points for Mississippi State (22-10), which finished first in the SEC West, but his late technical foul helped Georgia, the last-place team in the East, pull off its second upset of the day.

Georgia (16-16) will face Arkansas in Sunday's final with hopes of completing a highly unexpected march to the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs were only 4-12 in the league during the regular season and entered the tournament with coach Dennis Felton's job status in apparent jeopardy.

``Nobody wanted to give us credit,'' Gaines said. ``We made history today but we've got to finish it out tomorrow.''

Gaines hurt his hip on a hard foul when picking up his fifth foul on a charge with 7:18 left, but he said the injury wouldn't keep him out of Sunday's game.

``I can't really worry about that right now,'' Gaines said. ``I'm not worried about the hip. I'm worried about my team. ... This just shows if we play together anything is possible.''

Georgia upset Kentucky 60-56 earlier Saturday in a quarterfinal game pushed back a day due to the tornado that damaged the Georgia Dome the previous night.

The Bulldogs' win over Kentucky was impressive enough, but few expected they would have enough left to even remain competitive against Mississippi State.

They did - and even had enough left over to celebrate the win. Corey Butler slapped hands with Georgia fans and Felton left the court pumping his fist and slapping hands with several boosters hanging over tunnel.

The semfinal was played before an estimated crowd of 1,000 at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the final two days of the tournament were moved after a tornado ripped through the Georgia Dome during the quarterfinals Friday night.

Mississippi State led 60-59 with 1:37 left but couldn't score again. Billy Humphrey, who scored all six of his points in the final 2 minutes, made two free throws for a 63-60 lead with 7.6 seconds left following Rhodes' technical foul.

Humphrey, who averages 12.4 points per game, scored his first basket on a drive with 1:54 left for a 59-58 lead. After a basket by Rhodes, Humphrey's jumper with 1:20 left gave Georgia a 61-60 lead.

Humphrey missed a free throw with 47 seconds left, but Georgia retained possession when Mississippi State knocked the rebound out of bounds. Butler couldn't inbound the ball and was called for a five-second violation before he could call a timeout.

Mississippi State's Barry Stewart missed a short jumper and fouled Georgia's Zac Swansey wth 21 seconds left.

Swansey missed the free throw, but Rhodes did the same at the other end, then was called for a technical foul after Butler grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Gaines carried Georgia with 16 points in the first half. Albert Jackson chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Ben Hansbrough had 12 points for Mississippi State and Stewart added 10, but the two combined to make only 5 of 24 shots from the field.

Georgia opened strong, taking a 10-2 lead on a dunk by Jackson and stretching the lead to 15-4 on Gaines' third 3-pointer of the first seven minutes.

Soon the lack of rest began to show. The Bulldogs' two top inside players, Dave Bliss and Jackson, each had three fouls in the first half. Georgia was called for 13 fouls in the half; Mississippi State had only five.

Bliss, tired and frustrated, was called for a technical after his third foul.

Gaines also picked up two early fouls and left the game as Mississippi State pulled even at 21-21 with eight straight points. Gaines was summoned from the bench, and he almost immediately delivered his fourth 3 of the half.

Hansbrough hit a 3-pointer to give Mississippi State its first lead at at 29-27 before settling for a 33-33 tie at halftime.

Game/Tournament Notes

Georgia Notes

Mississippi State Notes

Georgia Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We will begin and ask Coach Felton for some overall thoughts on the game, then we'll take questions just for the two student athletes and then finish up with Coach.

COACH FELTON: Well, I can just hardly describe how proud I am of our players. Just the idea of winning just the idea of playing two games within hours of each other against such heated competition and against such good competition is that's pretty that can be overpowering. But to be able to find a way to win and seemed like we played about 35 minutes of tonight's game in severe adversity with the foul trouble and then some injuries started kicking in, and for our players to be tough enough and good enough and step up the way they did to win the game over I think Mississippi State is a great team. I'm just really, really proud right now of our players, that we're also determined to come back and play with the same kind of conviction tomorrow.

Q. Dave and Corey, can you kind of give us a perspective of what today was like, playing two games, how you guys regrouped in the middle of the day and then just how you've gotten to this point despite Yata going down and things like that?

DAVE BLISS: Yeah, I guess it kind of started last night with the uncertainty of what exactly was going to be the schedule. But we got up at about 8:00 this morning, got some breakfast and started preparing for Kentucky. Obviously we were able to win that game in overtime.

Went back, got a little bit to eat, got about an hour nap in, and real short scouting report on Mississippi State and then came in and played the second game.

COREY BUTLER: I mean, it was a pretty troublesome day. The weekend has been pretty crazy, and overall I think I was just pretty disappointed I didn't get my pregame nap for the second game. But we still came out here and played well. We played as a team. I'm just real excited for our players, and we haven't been in this situation in quite a while.

Q. For both of the players, can you describe how physically draining it became in game two of the day?

DAVE BLISS: I mean, it was definitely a grind. But it's something we haven't done I've played probably 120 games and never two in one day. You know, it was just one of those things where we kept looking at each other and just not letting that be a factor. This team has really come together over the past few days, but even going back further than that. I was just really happy with the way that we rallied around each other.

COREY BUTLER: It was really draining. I mean, the fact that it feels like it's AAU all over again where you're playing two games in one day, and the guys, they were pretty tired, but our trainers, they took really good care of us, and our doctors and the other staff, they took pretty good care of us, so we were definitely prepared to play. The trainer, he did an awesome job.

Q. Corey, after Sundiata went out, did it give you guys any kind of emotional lift just to see your team mate we don't know how badly he's hurt, but did you guys kind of rally around that?

COREY BUTLER: Well, he fouled out of the first game against Kentucky, too, but he fouled out with seven, eight minutes in this game. It was really just Zac Swansey stepping up and taking control of the point, controlling the game. We knew we would have to buckle down on defense, rebounding, do everything he does. So we took care of that, and lo and behold, we're on our way to The Finals.

Q. There's only been one other team to go from the 6 seed to win the tournament. What was you guys' motivation? This is an incredible feat if you do it.

DAVE BLISS: I mean, I'm not really sure what motivation you need besides that automatic bid that lies at the end of the fourth game. That's something that for me, and I'm sure for everybody, has been a goal since day one. We haven't gotten there yet, and we've still got some work to do tomorrow in order to do that, and hopefully we can get it done.

COREY BUTLER: Well, my parents always say when you're at the bottom the only place to go is up. So we had nothing to lose and we just came out here and gave our all. Our coaches definitely inspired us, and we just fought the entire tournament and we're going to continue to fight.

Q. When you left here today you sounded pretty convinced that the SEC had not done you any favors by making you play two games in one day. You sounded very seemed pessimistic about your chances to come back and win.

COACH FELTON: No, it didn't have anything to do with pessimism about our chances or about the kind of effort we were going to put into it. Again, I just respectfully disagreed with the decision to make Kentucky or ourselves have to do such a thing in such important games.

Q. What is the status of Sundiata? Did he have a concussion or did he hit his head or what happened on that play?

COACH FELTON: He hurt his hip. That's all I know.

Q. You don't know if it will be okay tomorrow?

COACH FELTON: I just don't know. I haven't had a chance to visit with him or our medical staff yet.

Q. When he fouled out, how concerned were you with your team, how they would respond to their leading scorer being out of the game?

COACH FELTON: Obviously very concerned because he's probably the last player that we can do without, so I was very concerned. But we did have to I mean, earlier today was it earlier today that he fouled out? Yeah (laughter). He had fouled out earlier today with a lot of time left in the game.

You know, there's nothing I can do about it, but I think the fact that we had gone through that experience and came out victorious in the prior game that it gave the players an opportunity to be more confident that we could do it again.

Q. Can you give us as best as you can a timeline from when you left Game 1, the victory over Kentucky, what transpired in the interim, and then about what time you brought the ballclub back to the Coliseum?

COACH FELTON: I had the team leave me so they could get back to the hotel as soon as possible. We had food for them as soon as they got back. Then we told them that we would come back together at 5:45 for our pregame meal. We explained to them that they were going to give them two meals so that they needed to use their own judgment as to how much they want to eat in either of the meals. And we were going to eat at 5:45, meet for scouting report at 6:15 and leave the hotel at 7:00 to get here at about 7:15.

Q. What about after the game against Kentucky? Take me from there when you went back to the hotel.

COACH FELTON: The Kentucky game was today, right (laughter)? That was it, what I just described.

Q. I'm thinking in terms of the game is over about 12:00 to 2:30 or so, so you headed back to the hotel about 3:30?

COACH FELTON: We finished playing about

THE MODERATOR: It was right about a two hour game.

COACH FELTON: So we probably got out of here in about 30 minutes. I wanted to get them back as soon as possible, so I had the bus going to take the guys back. So that must have been around between 2:30 and 3:00. Like I said, they could eat as soon as they got back, and then we wanted them to get plenty of fluids in. We had five or six guys take IVs, not right at that moment but later, leading into the second meal, because we didn't just want to go to the bathroom and urinate it out. So we waited a while, and like I said, five or six guys did that. We just wanted to do everything possible that we could think of to help them replenish.

Q. Billy Humphrey, I think I counted, he missed his first 12 field goals from the first game into the second game. The last couple that he missed, they rimmed out. Did you tell him anything when he was going through that dry spell?

COACH FELTON: Yes. When I put him it was either right when I put him back in later in the game no, I think it was shortly after I put him back in later in the game, he made an aggressive first step move with the ball off the dribble, and he passed up a shot. He made an aggressive move but still didn't really look interested in scoring. So I just tried to, in as casual way as I could tell him, just to be more aggressive, you know, be more aggressive offensively. And he did; obviously he made a huge shot, and the drive in transition was momentous. But the step back, that had a whole lot to do with us winning the game.

Q. Did you do anything strategy wise to guard against fatigue in the second game, anything you might have done differently?

COACH FELTON: Yeah, we planned I went into the game knowing in my mind that we were going to need to play a lot of zone, and I didn't and I was afraid that we didn't have a fall back plan if we couldn't get it done with a lot of zone. And fortunately we did.

But I knew that zone was going to be a big part of tonight's game, for fatigue definitely, but also more the match up. Mississippi State is the most athletic team in our league, so they're hard to handle, especially if you're on weary legs.

And you know, Alabama had some good success with two three zone against them and that didn't go unnoticed. But that was the main thing was to try to play hope to play a good bit of zone.

And then I just reminded the players the last thing I told them before we left the locker room to take the court, I promised them that their bodies had more to give than they know and just to because I had to remind them in the first game this afternoon not to pace themselves because if they did, it wouldn't matter, we wouldn't be playing anymore, regardless. So I just tried to convince them that their bodies were capable of doing more than they've actually ever done for them in their young lives, to just lay it all out and give it all up, and we'll find a way.

Q. You just mentioned that you believe Mississippi State is the most athletic team in the conference. Did you expect them to do anything differently, defensive pressure wise, whether it be trapping or full court pressure, anything of a wrinkle in that sort?

COACH FELTON: At this point in the season you would be a little surprised if somebody jumped up and did something that they hadn't been doing all year. Mississippi State is one of the best defensive teams in the country, and the way they do it is they guard the goal extremely well because of their athleticism, guys like Varnardo, and because they're so good at guarding the goal, when you drive or post it, they don't have the same need to help as most teams. So they guard the three point line well because when you throw it in there and you drive it, instead of helping, and that creates pull and kick opportunities, they instead stay with their men on the perimeter and just let guys like Varnardo and Rhodes take care of it.

It was a good sign when we were able to aggressively attack inside with some success early in the game. That was really good for our confidence because I believe they blocked 13 or 14 of our shots in the first game.

Q. Even under these circumstances, though, with them knowing that you would be fatigued? These are special circumstances; it would be pretty rare for somebody to do something different.

COACH FELTON: I did expect them to be very, very aggressive about pushing tempo offensively. Mississippi State doesn't always do that, but I expected them to be more aggressive with fast breaking, and I thought they did that the whole game long. And again, the zone helped us some there because it allowed us to keep from being in open court with creases to find, with Gordon's relentless push up the floor.

Q. What do you think is more difficult, playing two games in one day or coming back the day after and playing again after playing two in one day?

COACH FELTON: Playing two in one day, without a doubt.

Q. Why is that?

COACH FELTON: Number one, the fatigue; and number two, the lack of preparation, the time to spend focused on this team, filling in your players on what they do and how we've got to guard it, and even coming up with any kind of strategy and game plan.

Q. Understanding fully how you feel about this format, after such a rocky season you already own a piece of basketball history in a sense, and you can make even bigger history tomorrow with another win. What are your comments on that, on just being part of a run like this?

COACH FELTON: Sure. Well, championships are really, really hard to win, all of them, regular season championships and tournament championships.

You know, I've been coaching for over 20 years now, and I've coached a lot of successful teams, as an assistant and as a head coach. But as an assistant, I don't know how many years, 12, 15 years, whatever, I've only been part of one tournament championship, even though I've been part of a lot of good, successful teams. I'm about to contradict myself, but as a head coach I've won three tournament championships. But still, I don't take for granted how difficult they are to win. So I guess I'd go back to my original statement, I'm just busting at the seams with pride right now in our players and in our team. And of course it makes it more special when we're able to do it under extreme circumstances like this.

You know, first time ever. Hopefully last time ever (laughter). But it does make it more prideful.

Q. Y'all are 3 and 0 in the last three days. What's different in these three days compared to the 4 and 12?

COACH FELTON: Yeah, that's pretty simple. I kept talking about the fact that I've felt like outside of the Mississippi States, Tennessees, I've felt like we were as competitive as any team in the league this year. You know, we just we rarely lost control of a game. We were always right there. Most of our losses went into the last 90 seconds with a chance to win, and we lost more of them than we won. Yet we always came back with great attitude, fighting back and kept coming at it.

So the difference has been we've had players step up and make some timely plays. That has made the difference between winning or losing one possession games. So that's been the difference. We've fought hard and competed extremely well in this league all season long, including in the vast majority of our losses.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

Mississippi State Postgame Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Stansbury for overall thoughts on the game and then we'll take questions for the two student athletes.

COACH STANSBURY: Well, number one, give Coach Felton and Georgia a lot of credit. I thought their team played with higher energy and a little bit more toughness than our basketball team did. It's easy for me to watch that game and see that happening, but I always look at one stat, and that one stat tells me where it lies. We got rebounded again, probably the most we got out rebounded all year long, 46 to 33. So give Coach Stansbury a lot of credit. His team played well. We didn't play our best, and when you don't play your best, this is what happens.

Q. How much of an advantage did you guys think you had due to the fact Georgia had already played a game earlier that went into overtime?

JAMONT GORDON: We kind of had a little advantage. They could have been a little tired, but they're still a good basketball team. They still came out and played hard and they executed and got the win.

BARRY STEWART: Of course we thought we had an advantage, but I guess they took a challenge today, playing two games in a row. And they jumped on us quick and they did a good job today.

THE MODERATOR: Fellows, you can return to the locker room. Thank you very much. We'll continue on with Coach Stansbury.

Q. What did you find out about Charles' technical and what kind of explanation were you given and what happened?

COACH STANSBURY: I didn't ask what the explanation was because it didn't matter. A technical is a technical, and it was a critical time in the basketball game. If I remember, it was a one point game. He goes to foul misses the free throw. And if he makes them both it's a three point game. But he missed it. It's a huge play in the game, absolutely, it's a huge play in the game. Did it determine the outcome of the game? I don't know. It definitely determined an outcome with an opportunity to win it, that basically sealed it right there.

Q. They jumped to a quick start. Did you sense your players did you see the concern in their eyes? Was something missing there tonight?

COACH STANSBURY: We weren't at our best; that was very obvious. We never talked about Georgia playing another game. I promise you, hey, we didn't talk about that at all. Was it an advantage for us? We didn't go in making our players think it was an advantage, so we never talked about it. It was very obvious, both of them thought it was an advantage. Again, hey, kids are at practice, playing for four hours, and we practice four hours, I can promise you. I look at one stat, as I said, 46 to 33 on those backboards. Getting that game started was kind of how it went all night long. They jumped on us 10 to 2 early, and we tried to play catch up. It gave them emotion, it gave them energy and we fought from behind. At one point I thought we had a chance to separate the game. It was a four point lead and missed a wide open shot in transition and that put us up seven. They sat in that zone, they played that zone, and it saved their legs physically. You can only do so much inside that zone. We tried to throw it there over and over and over, eventually you've got to make some shots. I think the second half we were 6 for 23 for the game. Second half we were 3 for 12 again. You've got to make some shots against the zone.

Q. Coach Stansbury talked about the effectiveness of that zone taking away any kind of up tempo game that you guys wanted to do. Do you think that was effective and did you want to push the tempo more in this kind of contest?

COACH STANSBURY: We want to push tempo any time we can. There's no difference. It's very obvious that we didn't get a lot of transition baskets. The zone definitely keeps Jamont out of that lane, but we've played against zones all year long. We played against one last night for however many minutes it was. We've found ways to be pretty effective for the most part.

Give Georgia some credit. They're big on that back line. I don't know if there's a team in this league that's bigger and more physical than they are on the back line. People forget that about Georgia and look at their record and think they're not a good basketball team. They're a very good basketball team. Again, their back line is as big and as physical they're the biggest and most physical back line in the league, so give Georgia some credit for this win. Hey, they deserve it, and they're a good basketball team, in spite of what their record has shown.

Q. Two questions really. One, did you have any indication that your guys might be a little flat before the game?

COACH STANSBURY: Absolutely not. You know, our kids for the most part all year long, we've been ready to play. I haven't had a big worry about our team emotionally having emotional highs and lows much. We've been consistent, and that's why we were able to do what we did. You don't go through the league and win 12 games without staying on a roller coaster. But tonight it's obvious we didn't have that edge that you need to have in these kind of environments. There's absolutely no excuses.

The one thing I talked about, forget all the things that's happened. None of that staff matters, all the distractions and changing buildings, hey, that stuff has nothing to do with winning and losing. Get between those lines, that's the only thing you can control, what happens between those lines. Everything else, you've got to block it out and find a way to play at that energy level that you've got to play with. We just didn't have that tonight for whatever reason. But again, take nothing away from Georgia. Georgia had a lot to do with that on those backboards. We got out rebounded. That's where it starts is with that energy. Probably the most we got out rebounded all year long. If we have, I'm sure it was a loss, but again, give Georgia credit. Give them credit.

Q. How do you think this will affect your seeding next week?

COACH STANSBURY: You know, I don't know if it moves us much. It may drop us down a line. I mean, y'all know what we've done. We've been pretty good. We had a big win last night. It ain't going to drop us much. It may move us one line, whatever that line is. It doesn't do me absolutely zero good to think about what happens with it, because hey, that's one of those things you have zero control of. It would just be speculation. Our team has been good all year, and we'll find a way to get back on it Thursday or Friday.

Q. What are you going to do tomorrow?

COACH STANSBURY: We'll go home.

Q. Where are you going to watch the selection show?

COACH STANSBURY: We'll be in the locker room. Is it at 5:00? We'll probably gather there about 4:00, 4:30.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.