Game 5 - [W1] Mississippi State 84, [E4] Kentucky 82 (OT)
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- Kentucky was set to advance in the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Wildcats merely needed Jodie Meeks to sink one more free throw, and the freshman had not missed from the line all day.
Then the improbable happened.
Kentucky was called for a lane violation before Meeks even attempted the clinching free throw. Jamont Gordon raced down to hit a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Mississippi State went on to an 84-82 overtime victory in the SEC quarterfinals Friday.
It was another disappointment for the Wildcats (21-11) in a season that failed to meet expectations. The stunning loss is sure to turn up the heat on coach Tubby Smith, especially when he took blame for the unusual call.
Meeks swished the first of two free throws to put the Wildcats ahead 76-73 with 5.1 seconds left in regulation. He never got to shoot the second one.
Smith instructed Sheray Thomas to drop back on defense, and the player started to comply. But he jumped away from the lane a split-second after the official had flipped the ball to Meeks.
"We wanted to get somebody off the lane," said Smith, already under fire for a fourth-place finish in the SEC East. "I didn't see the official pass the ball. It was probably my fault to tell him to move off the line."
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury stormed onto the court to protest, but the officials has already picked up the violation. They cut off Stansbury near midcourt, wiped out Meeks' second free throw and awarded possession to the Bulldogs (18-12).
"It definitely shocked me," Thomas said. "I've never seen anything like that before."
Stansbury said he willing to risk a technical to make sure the officials spotted the mistake.
"It was a very obvious lane violation," said Stansbury, who was so hoarse afterward he could barely speak.
Gordon, who scored 26 points, took the inbounds pass and raced up the court, slipping away from the defender with a cross-over dribble and launching a shot from at least 2 feet behind the arc. The ball hit nothing but net as the buzzer went off, forcing overtime.
The officials took a quick look at the replay, but there was no doubt it was good.
"Coach called a great play," said Gordon, who was 9-of-16 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. "He told me to line up on the opposite side of the ball so I could get on my left side and curl into it. Oh, man, giving my team a chance, it was a great feeling to me."
Stansbury wasn't taking any credit. "Coach didn't shoot the ball," he pointed out.
Gordon fell on his back as the shot went through, then got up thumping his chest toward the Kentucky bench.
The Bulldogs, who were the top-seeded team from the weak SEC West but might need to win the tournament to receive an NCAA invitation, got another huge break in the final minute of overtime when Meeks missed an open lay-up after slipping loose under the basket.
Mississippi State took off the other way, passing ahead to Barry Stewart on the fast break. He went up strong, rolled in the shot for an 83-82 lead despite being fouled by Randolph Morris with 24.7 seconds to go.
Stewart missed the free throw, giving Kentucky another chance to escape with a win. But Joe Crawford's driving shot was blocked by Richard Delk, Stewart claimed the rebound and was fouled with 3.7 seconds left.
Stewart made one free throw, and the Wildcats quickly called time after getting the ball to midcourt. Again, the Mississippi State defense came up big. Stewart slapped away the inbounds pass for Crawford, Gordon grabbed the ball in the corner and held on until the horn went off.
Only then did Gordon hurl the ball toward the roof of the Georgia Dome. The Bulldogs advanced to Saturday's semifinals to face either Vanderbilt or Arkansas.
Morris had a huge game for Kentucky with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Crawford had 20 points, while Meeks, who was 5-of-5 at the foul line, added 14.
"My intent coming into the game was to play physical and get their post player in foul trouble," Morris said.
He did just that. Mississippi State center Charles Rhodes fouled out in the opening seconds of overtime after scoring 15 points.
Kentucky overcame a 14-point deficit in the final 11 1/2 minutes of the second half but couldn't complete the comeback. Even so, the Wildcats are still likely to receive an NCAA tournament invitation.
Of course, it might take a while to get over this one.
"Jodie," Smith said, pondering the free throw that never happened, "probably would have made that shot."
Game Notes
Kentucky Notes
Mississippi State Notes
KENTUCKY POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: All right, we're ready to begin with Kentucky. Coach?
TUBBY SMITH: Well, certainly, it was a hard-fought game. A very great basketball game. Great college basketball game. Certainly we were proud of our effort. Certainly want to compliment Mississippi State, they did a super job there. They've got a very talented team.
Q. Randolph, will you just talk about how physical it was inside, and just how both teams just gassed out in that last five minutes of the game.
RANDOLPH MORRIS: Well, that's what my intent was coming into the game, just to play physical, and try to, you know, get their opposing players into foul trouble and gain an advantage that way. Like you say, the closing ticks of the game, everybody was running out of fuel, but you get to that point in a game, you just got to find a way to win, and they did.
Q. This is for Joe: Joe, can you just talk about the last possession, what happened on that play? You got the shot block trying to drive to the basket.
JOE CRAWFORD: You know, I was just looking at the clock, it was running down, I was looking to just drive and, you know, hopefully draw some contact and get a foul call. But they played great defense, and they recovered and got their hand on the ball.
THE MODERATOR: Fellas, you're excused. Thank you.
Q. Tubby, if you could just talk about Jamont Gordon's play, particularly in the second half.
TUBBY SMITH: He's a clutch player, very talented, athletic, strong. We couldn't stop him off the dribble all day, and that was our biggest challenge, not just with him, but especially in the second half. Anytime that somebody shoots 61% against you, a lot of lay-ups. You know, we really didn't take away his left like we should. But again, when you have a player of that caliber and that ability, he can do a lot of things. He'll hit that clutch three to tie the game up and go into overtime just proves his ability to do things. So they made some big plays. That was probably the biggest of the game. But he's very talented. Hard to stop.
Q. Tubby, can you talk about what exactly happened on the lane violation play, where Jodie was trying to shoot the second free throw.
TUBBY SMITH: Well, we probably wanted to get somebody off the lane. I said to Sheray, Back up, Sheray, go back." At that time I didn't see the official passing the ball, so it was probably my fault for telling him to move off the lane. Again, I thought he was saying, "I got it," and my call. But I guess the rule is once it leaves his hand, you have to stay still.
Q. Coach, so many things didn't go right at the end of the game for this to turn out Mississippi State's way. I'm wondering if you're looking back on it, was it the lane violation, couple missed lay-up opportunities, couple of missed free throws, what is it you look back on and say, that's probably what didn't get us in there?
TUBBY SMITH: No, I look at lack of defense in the second half. You know, you dig yourself a hole by not guarding people like you should. Then you have to reach down. In basketball, it's a whole culmination, it is the total sum of all the things that you don't do during the course of a game that leads to a loss, not one or two plays. Yeah, it will win the game for you, but when I look back, that's what I saw.
Q. Tubby, how much do you think having to play an extra day affected you guys down the stretch in the overtime?
TUBBY SMITH: Well, you know, we were pretty gassed, but we scored right off the bat. We were energized, we played with a lot of energy. It takes a lot out of you when they score so easily. That was the tough thing. That's why you don't want to be playing on March 9, 2007 visit our archives at asapsports.com $ASQ188-7304 2 the first day. You want to get that bye because guys like Joe and Randolph had logged a lot of minutes in two days, and you could see they were really spent. But we got a tremendous effort out of some people, especially Jodie, Sheray, and Bobby. They stayed up. Ramel struggled some today, but otherwise I thought we had a good effort all the way around.
Q. Coach, when you guys came back from 14 down, did you feel that the team had turned the corner, and it was just a matter of putting a couple more baskets in and that would have been the difference?
TUBBY SMITH: Yeah, I really felt good that we went to that zone, were making some stops. Again, they were still getting too many easy looks. We had a chance. If you make your free throws down the stretch, which we did. Again, taking that free throw out of that, because Jodie probably would have made that free throw, would have made a big difference. But, you know, we fought so hard trying to get back in it, I knew we'd be spent. But I thought our kids, especially guys like Joe and Randolph, stepped up and made some clutch plays. I thought that we had the game, because they were a little bit -- we had some momentum, they were a little shaky with the ball handling at the time, and I thought we could -- what was it, five seconds, 4.3 seconds, if we don't have that violation, we'd probably do win the game.
Q. Tubby, the last play there where you had the timeout with 3.1, you tried the inbounds and it got knocked away, what were you looking for there on the last possession?
TUBBY SMITH: We were looking for a throw to the basket on Randolph. They did a good job. They peeled him out of there. And if he didn't have it, Joe was going to back screen and step towards the ball. The kid got a piece of it and just deflected it, which was a great play. And that's all you had to do and then go get it, because the clock starts as soon as you touch it. But that's what we're trying to do. First throw it at the basket, step for a jumpshot or maybe get it off as quick as we could and get a second shot. We tried to get it to half court and set it up, and we did that.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.
MISSISSIPPI STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: We're ready to continue on with Mississippi State. Coach, would you begin.
RICK STANSBURY: You know, excuse my voice again, but I thought Kentucky came into this game, and particularly after watching them yesterday and even today, I thought Kentucky was playing the best basketball of anybody in this tournament. And that's a credit to the job Tubby does. He had them defending. They made shots, they played hard, they utilized Morris, and again, I know Tubby had them ready to play, and Kentucky played. And somehow we managed to hang in there long enough without Charles Rhodes in foul trouble for most of the game, to keep ourselves in striking position. I thought the first five minutes of the second half was critical for us. I know we were down at halftime, we came out and I hadn't seen the running stats, but we came out on a run to take that lead. When Charles picked up that fourth foul, we had enough cushion and were able to survive without him. Jamont Gordon was a warrior all day long. Can't say enough about what he did. That last shot was a big shot. Just give us a chance to get it back into overtime. Again, just proud of the effort. We all know just how important it is when you play Kentucky. When you look up at the success that Kentucky's had in this tournament, and the fans they've had, just how big it is for your program. Again, these guys deserve all the credit, because they never gave up today. When things looked bleak they kept fighting and giving themselves a chance at the end to win the basketball game.
Q. Jamont, just take us through the shot right before the end of regulation on the three pointer.
JAMONT GORDON: Oh yeah, Coach made a great call --
RICK STANSBURY: Coach didn't shoot it (Laughter).
JAMONT GORDON: He told me to line up on the opposite side of the ball, and curve into it, so I could get the ball in my left hand, and when I got the ball, I just went down and made a great play.
Q. Charles, how tough was it for you to have to watch as much as you did, and then foul out? Were you surprised at maybe how tight the game was being called?
CHARLES RHODES: It was just real tough, but I knew that they were going to come in. I knew the refs were going to be on me, but I told my swing players to win this one without me, and they listened to me. That's the thing about having players, when one goes down, one steps up. And that's what we did tonight.
Q. Coach, if you can, a couple of your players, if they will, the final play of the game, they were planning some back screens for Morris, and then again for Bobby, and what your thinking was defensively, and they said you defended the play extremely well?
THE MODERATOR: That question was for?
Q. Coach, and then players.
THE MODERATOR: Just players now.
Q. Rhodes and Gordon.
CHARLES RHODES: They were coming to Morris mostly every time. They saw I was in foul trouble, and just getting the ball at will. And helped us out and did a great job on it at the end of the game. Can't say too much about the defense we played. It was just the best I've ever seen. I was just a big cheerleader on the sideline.
JAMONT GORDON: Like he said, the help-side defense. We took them out the game. We double-teamed so he couldn't get the ball, we made other players step up and beat us. We played great defense, and we got the win.
RICK STANSBURY: You're talking about that last play of the game? Our plan was to switch all screens in that last situation. Switch all screens. And our guys switched all screens and they never got a look March 9, 2007 visit our archives at asapsports.com $ASQ188-7305 2 in there.
Q. Jamont, you took us through that last shot, could you take us through that celebration routine. Was that practiced? Have you ever celebrated a shot so long?
JAMONT GORDON: No, something just went through me, I don't know. I just got a great feeling inside me, I don't know what made me do that celebration. But it just felt good to put my team in a position to win a game.
Q. Charles, just talk about the battle you and Randolph had inside in the game.
CHARLES RHODES: The battle started right when the game started. We were bumping each other, and the refs were just whispering in my ear, This is a big game, so don't get into foul trouble." It was just rough down there for me and him. And you know, my team came out with the win, that is the most important thing.
Q. Jamont, you've hit a lot of big shots, big three pointers in games before. But how personally gratifying is it to hit it on such a big stage, big opponent, that kind of stuff?
JAMONT GORDON: Oh man, it's good, you know. It gave my team a chance. It was a great feeling to me. I was just grateful, you know, it gave us a chance to win the game and win another championship, that's what we came to do.
Q. Ben, could you just talk about the three-pointer that you hit that gave you guys the lead for good in the overtime period?
BEN HANSBROUGH: To be honest with you, I was just ready to shoot it. As soon as that ball was going to touch my hands, I was going to let it go. That's what I was thinking?
THE MODERATOR: All right, we'll continue with questions for Coach Stansbury.
Q. Rick, were they going to call the lane violation before you went into your voodoo dance there on the sideline?
RICK STANSBURY: The voodoo, "who do" made them call it. I'll be glad I did the who do . I don't know. But I was going to make sure something was going to happen right there. I don't know what that who do" was going to lead to, but it was a very obvious violation, and I'll leave it at that.
Q. With such a big emotional win there at the end, how hard is it to just immediately forget about that and reset everything?
RICK STANSBURY: You know, this time of year, that's not a factor. We came down here, it's a three-game season, and unfortunately you win the West, and you have to play Kentucky first round. You know, that's never what you want first game. But that was the first team in that three days that we had to play. We understand that's one win. We got the next winner now. The next hard one will be Vanderbilt or Arkansas. Our guys will be ready again.
Q. Rick, with Charles out as much as he was, are you surprised that you were able to do what you did against Morris with guys like Goodrich and Varnado in there for a lot of time?
RICK STANSBURY: Those guys were great. Jarvis did it in foul trouble. Second half we held them to 39% shooting, And we shot 60%. That's where we were able to win that basketball game, our ability to defend. We did it with a lot of different people. We kept running different people at Morris. I thought Vernon came in and gave us some good minutes. He for sure came in and gave us a big jump hook late in that game. Vernon Goodrich gave us 12 minutes, he hadn't played 12 minutes in his last seven or eight games probably in total, but that's what you have to have sometimes. We talk about sometimes people go down, other people have to step up, and tonight was Vernon's opportunity to give us some minutes. But I thought Jamont Gordon controlled the flow of that basketball game, even when we weren't scoring much in that block. But he was able to get in that lane, get to the basket and score, get in that lane, create fouls, get in that lane and pitch out to Hansbrough for that big three-pointer. Again, that was Jamont getting in that lane that created that.
Q. Coach, Dietric came in already banged up and hit the floor two or more times today. I saw you talking to him a couple of times. Were you talking to him about how he was feeling?
RICK STANSBURY: No, I know how he's feeling. It don't matter. We're going to tape him up and get him ready for tomorrow. He scored 13 points today, 7 or 8 rebounds, and things that don't show up on the stat sheet, defensively, he's the key out there. He's the key that makes all those other things happen that we're trying to get done with that small lineup. We don't do it as well with anybody else at that four spot. Even though Jamont slides down and plays that four, he doesn't do it as well as Dietric does.
Q. Rick, was there any point during this week or this morning that you looked at Jamont and said, this is one that you're just going to have to take over?
RICK STANSBURY: No, because y'all know Jamont Gordon; he's ready every game. You don't want him just -- we heard that in the season. Now he's become a player. He understands when to push down on the gas, when to let up. It's very obvious now when you're playing without Charles Rhodes, there's times that he has to do more. He senses that now, and we understand that with him and allow him to run some visit our archives at asapsports.com $ASQ188-7305 3 things a little bit different that allows him to get in that lane and do that.
Q. Rick, they went down the stretch, 1-4 with Crawford trying to take it to the basket several times. He got to the basket, but the last couple of times he didn't get it there. You blocked that last shot on him. Did you change anything defensively?
RICK STANSBURY: We changed the guy we had on him. We had Barry Stewart on him some, he overpowered Barry Stewart. Got in that lane on him, shuffled the jumpers. The last three or four minutes of the game, we had Richard Delk on him, and Richard Delk's range went up on that last shot and contested it and blocked it. I thought Richard did a great job right there.
Q. Coach, you said on several occasions that Jamont Gordon's not your typical point guard. Does this game today maybe best exemplify that with how he was able to perform?
RICK STANSBURY: Well, he does so many things, scores inside. He's got the build with that basketball in his hand to get it to the rim and finish against just about anybody, even those bigs. He's become so much harder to defend because he shoots that basketball so much better than he used to. His ability to rebound that basketball, how many point guards will get you eight or nine rebounds a game? But the key to that is he just doesn't get the rebound, it starts our break. He starts our break as a forward player or a point guard, and gets us out in transition quick, and that's a big key.
Q. Rick, with the trouble you guys are having hitting the three in the first half, did you guys talk about attacking the glass offensively more in the second half?
RICK STANSBURY: We did. Kentucky gets into you pressure-wise, they started the second half into us again. And we made it a point, we've got to drive the basketball more, get into the lane, get in the lane. We were 1 for 11 at halftime, 2 for 11, whatever it was, and Kentucky went zone. And they played a lot of zone in that stretch. But I felt the key against the zone again was we didn't always continue to settle for that three-point shot. Jamont Gordon again did a great job getting in that lane, and getting it to the rim and creating the in for a good three-point shot.
Game 6 - [W3] Arkansas 72, [E2] Vanderbilt 71
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- Gary Ervin sank a jump shot with 11 seconds left to give Arkansas a 72-71 victory over Vanderbilt Friday and send the Razorbacks to the semifinals of the SEC tournament for the first time since 2001.
The win gave Arkansas back-to-back 20-win seasons, improved the Razorbacks' NCAA tournament hopes and possibly provided job security for coach Stan Heath.
Ervin, who twice set personal scoring highs last week while being named Southeastern Conference player of the week, scored only six points but made the biggest basket of the game with his jumper.
After Ervin gave Arkansas the lead, Shan Foster missed a 3-pointer for Vanderbilt.
After the final buzzer sounded, Ervin was at the bottom of a pile of Arkansas players near press row. "That's big time," Ervin yelled as he rose to his feet.
Patrick Beverley led Arkansas (20-12) with 18 points. Sonny Weems added 17 and Charles Thomas had 11 with nine rebounds.
Derrick Byars led Vanderbilt (20-11) with 15 points. Foster had 13 and Dan Cage had 12.
Vanderbilt reached 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1998-99.
With Arkansas leading 70-69, a miss by Beverley gave Vanderbilt possession with 45 seconds left. Byars missed a 3-point shot. Weems rebounded for Arkansas but turned the ball over, giving the Commodores another chance with 30 seconds left.
This time, Ross Nelter scored an easy layup on the inbounds pass from Alex Gordon, giving Vanderbilt a 71-70 lead with 23 seconds left. Gordon faked his inbounds pass to his left before finding Nelter open near the basket.
Arkansas led 22-13 before Vanderbilt rallied for a 26-26 tie with 3:52 left in the first half. A 3-pointer by Weems with 45 seconds left in the half gave Arkansas a 33-29 lead at the break.
Arkansas kept the lead until a 3-pointer by Foster tied the game at 48-48 with 12:28 left.
A basket by Darian Townes with 9:54 left gave Arkansas a 52-51 lead. Vanderbilt then scored nine straight points. Jermaine Beal capped the run by hitting a 3-pointer with 6:39 left for a 60-52 lead.
Arkansas answered with a 14-5 run. A three-point play by Beverley with 3:36 left put the Razorbacks ahead, 66-65.
Vanderbilt Notes
Arkansas Notes
VANDERBILT POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: All right, we're ready to begin with Vanderbilt. We'll ask Coach Stallings for some opening comments on the game, and then we'll take questions just for the two student athletes. Coach, would you begin.
KEVIN STALLINGS: Yeah, I thought it was a great college game. I thought both teams played just as hard as they could play. They made one more play than we did, but we would take that same look that we got there at the end. Derrick made a great play getting it to Shan. And we'd take that same look again if the game were on the line and be pretty sure that Shan would make it. We congratulate Arkansas. They played a good game.
Like I said, even in defeat, I thought it was a terrific game.
Q. Dan, for you or Derrick: You guys got down in the first half, were able to get back into it, and take control around the six minute mark, I guess. What happened through that stretch that allowed y'all to get some shots to go down? What did you feel like happened from there?
DAN CAGE: Well, they played good defense. They pressured us away from the basket. When we were successful and we started making a little bit of a run, on the defensive end we were taking care of business and getting rebounds and things like that. But offensively we were making good screens and cutting to the basket and starting to have them compact a little more. Then we were able to step out and hit a couple jumpers which gave us some momentum. Unfortunately that momentum wasn't enough to propel us all the way through the game. You know, we didn't make the plays we needed to.
Q. Derrick, I was going to ask you kind of the same thing, where did you feel the game got away from you guys today?
DERRICK BYARS: We didn't start the game the way we wanted to, and we had to try to climb back from behind. We made a valiant effort there in the second half, you know, got some good stops on the defensive end. Made shots and as Coach said, they made one more play than we did.
Q. On Arkansas' last possession, what were y'all expecting of them coming from out of the timeout there?
DAN CAGE: Well, Coach is probably better at answering that question than we are, but they were having some success driving to the basket, and their big guys were a handful for us. So we knew they were going to try to get at the rim. We just didn't execute maybe the way we should have. We'd have to go back and look at film to see exactly what went wrong. Coach and Derrick said it, they made a big play, and that's why they're on the winning end of this one.
Q. Both guys, could you talk about how you feel about yourselves going into the NCAA Tournament, based on maybe how you played today, how you feel about the way things are going headed into that?
DAN CAGE: Well, we have a lot to prove. You know, we've lost two in a row here, which hasn't happened to us in a long, long time. There's going to be a lot of naysayers out there talking about how we're overrated or maybe we're not deserving of getting in, things like that. But we feel like we have a lot to do to improve and prepare for the NCAA, which is why you play college basketball, that's why we practice so long, that's why we work out in the summer and things like that.
So we've got a little chip on our shoulder now. Hopefully we'll be able to prepare well and perform when time comes.
DERRICK BYARS: Yeah, I agree. We have a lot to prove. We haven't lost two games in a long time. One thing though that's positive, we played a lot better on defense than we did Saturday against the Razorbacks. And we're going to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do going further into the postseason. But anytime you play in the postseason, one play can decide whether you win or lose. So we just have to tune up on those things.
THE MODERATOR: All right, fellas, you can return to the locker room. Thank you for coming.
Q. Kevin, you guys are obviously primarily man to man. Were you expecting to show them as much zone as you did today, and what went through the thought process of doing that?
KEVIN STALLINGS: We anticipated playing more zone today than we customarily play, in part because of our disadvantage inside size wise, and also in part because we think they're a little bit more effective against man to man than they are zone. That was compounded by the fact that Dan and Ross got early fouls.
I wouldn't say that we played more than we intended to, because we thought we would play a lot of zone today.
Q. Kevin, can you comment on what your guys said about sort of having a chip on their shoulder and there being naysayers, do you feel anything has happened at the end of the season that would cause some question whether you're ready to play in the next tournament?
KEVIN STALLINGS: I don't think there's anything that would cause us not to be ready to play in the next tournament. I think that these guys feel like people have doubted them all season long. Today's the first time that we've lost two SEC games in a row, and we're the only team in the league that didn't lose in the regular season two games in a row, even Florida did. And I believe if I counted right, Florida was the only other team in the league that only did it once. I think everybody else did it twice or more. I think that they generally feel like people don't respect us. They think that we kind of fell into that second seed, so I think that's what they mean.
Q. Coach, Derrick said you guys performed better than you did last time playing Arkansas, do you agree with that assessment?
KEVIN STALLINGS: I think we're significantly better than we were a week ago. If we hadn't, I would have resigned. I couldn't have taken one more performance like that. Since I'm responsible for it, that was my fault last weekend. Anyway, we worked hard defensively this week. We played better defensively. And I thought Jermaine did a very good job this afternoon. Ervin spun around him, got by him and got to the goal on that last play, which is a shame. But I thought Jermaine played a very good game for us, as did a number of other guys.
Q. Coach, would you just talk about the improvement Arkansas has made in these last few weeks. You've seen them twice here, what is your thought about them going through this tournament?
KEVIN STALLINGS: I didn't see them much early, so my opinion would be a little bit skewed. After playing them twice, I don't know how they lost nine games, but we all go through stretches where we play well and don't play well. Maybe we just happened to play them when they were playing well. But that doesn't make any sense to me, because they're right now a very, very good basketball team, I think.
Q. Kevin, just to follow up on what you said, why do you feel people feel you backed into the two seed?
KEVIN STALLINGS: There are a number of things that were written, number of things that were said, so these guys aren't immune. They see that we beat Florida, and all anybody talks about for the next week is the fact that we got fined for rushing the court. Nobody says anything about how they played. We see Michigan State rushed the court a few nights later when they beat Wisconsin, and did you guys even know that they rushed the court?
Q. You talked about the defensive effort, but you guys also shot it better than you did Saturday, what was different there?
KEVIN STALLINGS: We couldn't have played any worse than we played last Saturday, so that just goes under the category of a very poorly coached, very poorly played performance game by our team, by our coaches and by me. We just had more life to us. We played harder, we played smarter, we took care of the ball better, and we just played a better game. It's a shame that we didn't win. We did enough things to win the game. Arkansas just did a little bit more than we did.
Q. Coach, talk about the inbounds play at the end, Ross' lay up, is that exactly how you drew it up?
KEVIN STALLINGS: Well, I didn't draw it up, it's just something we had in our system and have had all year long. We thought that if they went man, that they would be expecting us to throw it over the top, because we had gotten the lay up in the first half. The one time that they went man, we got a lay up then in a different way. So that's just kind of a counter to the play that we ran in the first half. I said if they go man, just run that, and Red made a great pass, and we kind of got the shot we wanted.
Q. Dan said that you guys would go into your next game with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, do you feel this team should have a chip on its shoulder at this point?
KEVIN STALLINGS: I don't know that we should have a chip on their shoulder. If they want to have one, that's fine. Like they said, we're kind of proud of the fact that this is the first time we've lost two games in a row since league play started. As a matter of fact, it's the first time we've lost two games in a row since the first two games of the season.
These guys have been remarkably consistent, and remarkably competitive. I just don't think that they feel like people respect who they are, and how they play. I think that's just how they feel. And it's not something we talk about. I've probably talked about it too much already here. You asked why they think they've got a chip on their shoulder, I think that's why. Thank you.
ARKANSAS POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Heath for opening comments. Coach, if you would begin.
STAN HEATH: Amazing game for us, to be down eight and things not looking very good. I knew I had to rest a guy here or two, and be able to come back and fight and scratch and play with some heart and toughness. That showed a lot of character from our basketball team. Sometimes you're just blessed. I think tonight we got a nice blessing that things went our way.
When Foster was wide open, it looked like a shot that was going to go down. So we feel very fortunate, and hopefully we'll have some gas in the tank for tomorrow.
Q. Gary, you're obviously familiar with your opponent tomorrow; this will be your third time this season. Just what goes through your mind after such a big game you had today, and now you're having another emotional game tomorrow?
GARY ERVIN: The only thing I can say is Mississippi State's a very good basketball club. They're going to come out and fight tomorrow, and we need to go to our hotel rooms and get ready to prepare for their team. And they have Jamont Gordon, and Charles Rhodes that we have to prepare for.
Q. Gary, this year you've had a lot of times where the ball was in your hand at the end of the game, to finally have one where you pull off the winning basket there, how does that feel for you? Can you just talk about that point.
GARY ERVIN: It's just good for our team, you know. We finally got a chance to get a last second shot. Things didn't go our way at the beginning of the season, but we never put our head down. We just kept fighting and fighting to get a win. It was a great win for us this afternoon.
Q. Gary, could you just kind of take us through that play? Was that the primary goal on that, for you to get to the basket? Or were you surprised you got there as quickly as you did?
GARY ERVIN: I just came out of the huddle and listened to what my head coach had to say, what the coaching staff told us. To try to get the ball down low, and get an easy basket or try to get to the free throw line. Things didn't go our way. We couldn't get the ball down low, and then I tried to look for Sonny, and things didn't go as planned. I just tried to penetrate and see if they'll double. If not get to the basket and try to finish.
Q. For any of you, do you think that tomorrow's game against Mississippi State is a play in game for the NCAA Tournament?
SONNY WEEMS: We're not thinking towards that. It's going to be a rugged game, you know. They're a great team. Just we have to go back to the hotel and prepare for it, you know.
THE MODERATOR: Any other player want to respond to that?
PATRICK BEVERLEY: We faced Mississippi State twice, at their house and at our house, we're kind of tired. So we know they're going to come out with a lot of intensity on the defensive and offensive side. They're a great team. But for us to continue to do the things we've been doing that's been helping us win basketball games. Just go back to the scoring board and continue doing the things that we have been doing.
Q. You guys got down by eight and just the comeback, talk about that, Sonny, and Patrick, about how that came about when you could have wilted, y'all just stepped up strong.
SONNY WEEMS: We were down by eight, you know, and we came in the huddle and stuck together as a team. We didn't fold for nobody. And we just put our heads together. We came out, we wanted to win. We wanted to win. You know, and I think all our hearts were in it. We came out with the victory.
PATRICK BEVERLEY: I can add to that, I really think our freshman guard, Stefan Welsh, him coming in and just giving a great boost of energy for us to continue going.
And like I said to a reporter earlier, that Sonny Weems was our emotional leader today. For him to just in the huddle, for him to just keep telling us, "Keep fighting, the game's not over." It got us pumped up. And I think those two things really changed the momentum of the game.
Q. You talked a little bit in the locker room about how you think this team deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament. Just talk about why you feel that way, in your case, to get to the NCAA Tournament.
STAN HEATH: Well, we still have some basketball to play. We definitely don't want to leave anything to chance. And winning is the only way that guarantees you the spot. We won some good games against some quality opponents. Sometimes when you just look at teams and you say to yourself, does that look like a team that should be in there? I would think without a doubt we would be one of those teams if you watched us over the last week, and even if you watched us early in the year, if you watched us as different times, because we are capable of beating people. But the thing is right now, not to be premature and jump ahead, is we have to win. We have to continue to win because you never know. There are probably other teams that have those same sort of cases.
Q. Stan, after such a heated game and such an emotional high, 19 hours later you have to play another heated game. How do you get the guys to kind of come back down to earth, and really dig in for another battle?
STAN HEATH: Well, I think they're emotionally pretty charged right now. They probably will be for the next few hours. The key is tonight when we get together tonight, we'll watch film and we'll talk, and we'll go over game plans, and preparation things for Mississippi State. I think at that particular time they'll come back to reality of what we've got, another task at hand.
Q. Coach, from where you were, what did you see differently out of Vanderbilt from Saturday that created the different outcome?
STAN HEATH: Well, they were much more aggressive in this particular game. I thought defensively, they were really trying to get into us, and pressure us harder. They did so at Vanderbilt, but I thought for 40 minutes, they were really getting against us. We were never able to maybe get a good rhythm into the game of a flow offensively. It just seemed like we'd sputter and get some things going, and they'd switch the defense. It would take us a while to get going again. So it wasn't a fluent game for us, but I thought we battled, we fought, we competed defensively, we were trying to just every single time make it a challenge for them. Fortunately, we were able to come out on top. We could easily, if that shot goes in, be on the other side of that coin.
Q. Stan, when y'all had a couple of games early in the SEC where Gary had the ball in his hands and it didn't work out for him. Did you counsel him any in the wake of that? How did you handle him in that situation? Because at the time you did talk about trying to get Patrick more involved in those situations and kind of taking it out of Gary's hands.
STAN HEATH: Well, I wouldn't say we necessarily didn't want Gary to take a shot or didn't want him to have the ball in his hands. We just wanted him to make sure that our priority options were the first looks, and if they weren't there, then obviously as a point guard you have to make some plays. We weren't able to get the ball to D, we weren't able to get the ball to Pat, but the floor was spaced well enough where this scenario was different from the other ones; the others were he just went. This one was he probed the floor, didn't see one option, two option, and with time winding down, had no other choice but to try to make something happen. He made a great choice, great decision, and was rewarded. Our team was rewarded.
Q. I've just got to understand something, you already talked about Patrick, but I know Gary in the game when he shot with Patrick, there were a lot of big shots down the stretch, just talk about his game. And he was talking about how tough it was in the first half. Just talk about his first half and second half, and the way he played.
STAN HEATH: It was obvious he was struggling the first half. An 85% shooter clinks two free throws, that should tell you a little bit. Patrick's had to loosen up. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. As a freshman, he's trying to carry a load on his shoulders, and he doesn't need to do that. Nobody's asked him to do that, but that's just him.
To see a freshman respond, not going to the tank or saying hey, this isn't my day, it's just not going to work. But to come out of that and perform at a high level and make plays at key times, and he was the one guy that I don't think I'm not sure if I took him out of the second half, maybe I did for a brief minute, but he was out there, and I'm sure he was gassed. At the same time, he stepped up big. He's a special young man.
Q. How much of the Kentucky Mississippi State game did you get to see? Some of your impressions of that game?
STAN HEATH: I really didn't see I walked in and saw maybe the first three, four minutes of the second half. Then I watched before regulation and the last minute. That's really all I saw. I watched the film, my assistants scouted the game. I'll know a little bit more.
But we played them twice, so I have a good feeling of what they're doing. I know about Jamont Gordon, I know about Charles Rhodes and I know they have some other guys that are really good, too.
Q. Coach, talk about Sonny, and the leadership he did show out there today.
STAN HEATH: You know, Sonny's kind of been coming out of a little bit of a shell. I think as a newcomer, sometimes you're feeling your way around of, do I say anything, do I step on anybody's toes. And he was very reluctant until about maybe a week and a half, maybe right after that Tennessee game, I'm not sure, but right around then, he decided in practice to talk a little bit more, be a little bit more of a leader. And I encouraged him to do that because he's a guy that's won a lot. He's a guy that I think, he and Steven Hill, guys like that, people really respect them, because they play in a way that's about winning. That's, I think, permeating around our team. But those are two of the guys, and there are some other guys, too, that really set a tone about winning, and not individual play.
Q. You know, we kind of have talked about it a bunch with the tournament in Orlando, and back to back to back days and what it's like to do that. Do you kind of remember what it was like for you guys coming into that championship game that third day? Were you gassed? Were you tired? I know it was earlier in the season. And also, are you going to kind of relate back to that at all as you prepare for tomorrow? Or is there going to be any real talk about that?
STAN HEATH: We've used some of the same things that we did in Orlando in terms of preparing our time schedules, our meals, our walkthroughs, things like that. However, the difference is we had a day break between the championship game. Wish we could have one right now.
Q. You beat Vanderbilt by 17 points on their home court a week ago, how were they different today than they were in that game?
STAN HEATH: It was 15.
Q. 15.
STAN HEATH: Believe it or not, that score wasn't indicative of that game. It was actually a five point game with about five minutes to go. And I think Derrick Byars was at the free throw line, and couldn't cut it to three. Then from there we scored, we were able to get stops and just kind of expanded.
But they were Senior Day is always, I think for every team, a unique day, and some teams respond well, and some teams get a little bit out of rhythm. I think, and I'm just speaking from my point of view, and I haven't talked to Coach Stallings, I don't know his point of view, I think they were a little bit out of rhythm. They started a different lineup, guys were emotionally excited about their last game, maybe even a little tight, I don't know.
But today was a little bit different of a Vanderbilt team that we saw. I saw the team that won ten games in the conference, that's going to go to the NCAA Tournament, that has had an outstanding season.
Q. Stan, I think a team from the West is assured of going to the finals for the first time since '03. What do you think that says about the decision considering a lot of people before were talking about a lot of the 7 9's and 8 8's, and the quality of the league.
STAN HEATH: The coaches all know this league is off the charts. It's so talented. Very well coached, good players, different styles and systems you have to play against. And we have no bottom feeders. That's the difference in our league. There just aren't the bottom feeders where you get six wins just because you go out and play and win. That's why in our conference, it would just be a travesty if six teams, and maybe even more, don't get a shot to go to the NCAA Tournament, because we beat each other up. And that doesn't necessarily happen in some of the other conferences as much as it happens to us.
I know the other leagues are good, but I just can't believe there is another league from top to bottom, from 1 through 12, that has the quality of teams that we have.
Q. This is an emotional time in the last week or so, getting here. How much more do your guys have in the tank as far as for playing and with the momentum that you have?
STAN HEATH: We better have a full tank. If we don't have a full tank against Mississippi State, we'll have problems. That's just the way it is. We've got to play games, and guys like to play. We practice, we try to practice as hard as we play, and we practice consecutive days. So we just have to go out there and perform.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
Game 7 - [E1] Florida 74, [E5] Georgia 57
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- After a sluggish finish to the regular season, the Florida Gators started the postseason as if they're fully capable of winning another national title.
No. 6 Florida scored the first 17 points of the game, built a 25-point lead before halftime and romped to a 74-57 victory over Georgia in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday night.
Taurean Green scored 19 points to lead the Gators (27-5), but this was a devastating group effort by a team that looked vulnerable when it closed February by losing three of four.
Florida opened March with a win over Kentucky, and the Gators are hoping that a third straight SEC tournament title will be enough to lock up a top seed in the NCAA field.
Georgia (18-13), which hasn't been to the NCAAs since 2002, was looking to bolster its credentials with an upset of the Gators. The Bulldogs didn't even come close, likely ensuring a trip to the National Invitation Tournament.
Florida showed off its imposing depth and versatility before the game was 4 minutes old.
Joakim Noah started the onslaught with a short jumper. Al Horford got loose on the inside for an easy hoop. Green swiped the ball away from the Bulldogs and went in for a layup. Corey Brewer drew a foul and hit both free throws. Green came up with another steal and fed it to Noah, who converted a three-point play. Finally, Lee Humphrey swished a 3 for a 14-0 lead.
That made Florida 5-for-5 - all five starters had scored, while Georgia was still stuck on zero.
In fact, when the Gators got to 15-0 on Chris Richard's free throw with 15:53 left in the half, they could have gone the rest of the period without scoring and still been ahead at the break.
As it was, Florida was up 35-14 by halftime. Georgia missed its first 13 shots and needed a late surge to reach 7-for-37 from the field, heading to the locker room after shooting a dismal 19 percent.
The Bulldogs kept pounding the boards, getting four shots on one possession through shear effort. One was blocked, the other three missed. It was that kind of night for Georgia, which put up several airballs and even missed a dunk. Takais Brown went in for the slam with about 6 minutes remaining, only to have the ball spin out and fly over the Georgia bench.
The Georgia guards were especially woeful. Sundiata Gaines was 2-of-13 from the field, while Levi Stukes went 1-for-10. The Bulldogs didn't put a player in double figures until Billy Humphrey hit a pair of free throws with 2:50 remaining.
Brown finished as the top scorer with 12 points.
When the horn sounded for halftime, the Gators charged off the court like a team that still had plenty in its tank. The Bulldogs staggered away in a collective daze, probably wishing they could just hop on the bus back to Athens instead of returning for another 20 minutes.
Maybe the Gators were inspired by the pregame festivities. Shortly before the tipoff, they gathered at midcourt to collect the trophy for winning their first outright SEC regular-season title since 1989.
Florida, which will meet either LSU or Mississippi in the semifinals Saturday, is even more of a tournament favorite than it was a day earlier. The Gators' top rivals in the SEC East - Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Kentucky - have all been sent home.
Of course, Florida has its sights on a bigger prize than the SEC championship, returning en masse to go for a second straight national title.
They're off to a good start this postseason.
Georgia Notes
Florida Notes
GEORGIA POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Georgia. Coach, would you begin.
DENNIS FELTON: Well, obviously this game was so much about the beginning of the game, and how far we fell behind from the outset. We had some poor turnovers early on that led to some easy offense for Florida. When we weren't turning it over, we got some excellent shots, but we just didn't knock them down. And Florida came out and shot extremely well at the same time. I believe it was 17 0 before we scored. So obviously we were on our heels for the rest of the game. That was pretty much the story of the game.
I was proud of our players, proud of our team, how we battled the entire game and kept fighting, proud of the fact that we came back and played much better in the second half to score and score more efficiently, and just kept fighting for our lives to try to creep back into the game.
Q. Steve, is there any way to explain that start for y'all? Just feel like a bad dream? Like nothing was going your way?
STEVE NEWMAN: I wish I could explain what happened. We came out, I guess the best word is we just came out soft. It appeared as if we weren't ready to play out there. Some careless turnovers and that is the one thing you can't do against Florida, give them more possessions than you give yourself.
Q. For both players, just wondering, what is the most important thing coming out of this game? Obviously you're going to keep playing, is it kind of picking up the pieces of your confidence, I guess it is?
STEVE NEWMAN: Well, we definitely turned things around in the second half. We outscored in the second half, did a lot better job taking care of the ball, outrebounded them in the second half, so that's a good step forward. Hopefully we can just take that on into the next game, wherever that may be.
COREY BUTLER: Well, basically what Steve said. I don't want to reiterate anything, but we've proved that we could play with these guys in the second half. But unfortunately, we didn't do that in the first.
Q. Yeah, Corey, Takais said yesterday you almost have to play a perfect game to beat Florida, but at the beginning of the game, did it feel more like the other way around, that Florida couldn't do anything wrong?
COREY BUTLER: I mean, everyone puts Florida on a pedestal as though they're not human or anything like that, but once we really get into the guys and really play with them, you realize that you can play with them. ?
Q. Coach, Sundiata Gaines didn't play the final 9:27, can you explain why you sat him?
DENNIS FELTON: He was really struggling, because he was trying to take on an awful lot by himself. We were trying to get away from that, and his competitive nature was getting the best of him a little bit. So clearly he was struggling. And at some point, too, I wanted to make sure that he didn't get injured in a way that could hurt us possibly down the road. But primarily it was just because he was struggling.
Q. Coach, Corey just said that people want to put Florida on a pedestal, do they deserve to be on that pedestal?
DENNIS FELTON: They're an outstanding team. That's been well documented by anyone that talks about them, not just others, but also by me. I have a tremendous amount of respect for their team, and their ability as a team, and their ability to defend their National Championship.
They really stretch you in every way possible as you figure out a way to stop them, to score on them, and all those things.
So that's the best answer I can give you.
Q. Dennis, when Steve says it looks like y'all weren't ready to play from the beginning, do you agree with that assessment? Can you explain that in a game that I know you've put a lot of importance in?
DENNIS FELTON: We're certainly, I feel that we were as motivated as ever. I'd say we were probably a little tight. I think that's the best way that I can explain how we struggled offensively at the outset. As we struggle a little offensively, I think we found ourselves in a little bit of a daze, in terms of just all of it coming at us so quickly. I think clearly if we'd make a couple of those open shots that we got off, good team work and execution, both behind the arc. You know, you had Levi, who obviously shot it superbly yesterday. He got some great looks in the opening minutes. Couldn't ask for any better rhythm shots. And then we also had some great opportunities inside. We just had trouble finishing them, as a matter of fact, more trouble than we've ever had.
Florida struck fast. They really capitalized on our shortcomings. Once again, before we knew it, it was a major, major deficit.
Q. Dennis, they had only played one game in nine days, were you concerned they might come out and press you as they did in the beginning of the game?
DENNIS FELTON: We expected them to come out on fire with a lot to prove. We expected them, yes, we did expect them to press from the outset. Had every expectation of that. So yeah, we did expect all those things. We expected them to have great energy.
Q. Coach, same question I asked a couple of players a while ago, is the biggest fix after this the psyche and confidence that may have been lost in those first few minutes of the game?
DENNIS FELTON: No, I don't think tonight is going to create a loss of confidence. I really don't. I think it will be just a matter of continuing to work to be the best we can be every day and focus preparation on an opponent, if we get a chance to play again. I really don't think this will leak into any extended confidence issues.
You know, when you get beyond those first 10, 13 minutes or so, we held Florida to two points the last seven minutes of the first half. And in a big way, I'll tell you who really, really helped us was Corey. Corey really came off the bench and gave us tremendous energy, and gave us the ability you know, the beating stopped at the seven minute mark of the first half. But we just couldn't eat back into that lead enough for the rest of the game. After the first 13 minutes, I think we won the rest of the game.
You know, I really liked the perseverance and tenacity that our team showed to fight back and try to give ourselves a chance. Like I said, Corey really helped us there. He had a lot to do with that. So I don't worry about extended confidence issues.
Q. Coach, I've been watching you guys all season long, and it looks like Rashaad Singleton has all the right attributes to succeed, except when it gets down to it, it doesn't feel like it's there for him. Can you tell me how he's developing or maybe lack thereof developing?
DENNIS FELTON: He's developing. He was very much a project when he came to Georgia. He's the kind of guy that would typically certainly be a red shirt as a freshman under normal circumstances, but we didn't have enough bodies to be able to afford to do that. And he is getting better. For him to turn the corner and make the next step to be a consistently effective player, he just needs to learn how to play harder and with more aggression. That's going to be the difference in his game, growing and developing, and being more consistently effective.
FLORIDA POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: Okay, we're ready to continue with Florida. Coach, if you'll give us some opening comments, we'll take questions just for the players so they can go and we'll finish up with coach.
BILLY DONOVAN: I was really proud with the way our guys came out and handled their first game. We got off to a great start. I thought on both ends of the floor we were able to create some turnovers with our press. We moved the ball, we got good shots. We shut Georgia down, I thought during the first half. When I say we shut them down, they missed some shots. But I don't know, maybe a combination of our defense and them missing. Really the thing that hurt us in the first half was offensive rebounding, because we gave them so many.
But I thought we really had a great opportunity to really open the game up the last three, four minutes of the first half. Taurean, Lee, Walter, we had some guys that got some wide open looks that we just didn't knock down, that could have taken the lead to 22, 24, maybe above 30. And I'm sure they feel the same way about their offense in the first half.
You know, I thought the second half, give the Georgia kids credit, they're going to come out and compete and play hard. They kept battling, and it was a very evenly matched game in the second half with both teams going back.
I was proud of the way our kids came out. The guys came out and played. And we're excited about the opportunity to move forward to tomorrow.
Q. For both players, you guys have played one game in nine days, so you obviously had some time off. Was that about as fresh as you felt in a long time?
COREY BREWER: Yeah, I felt like we were really fresh right now. We had a couple of good days, and I felt refreshed and trying to make a run now.
TAUREAN GREEN: Yeah, we practiced for the last nine days, and Coach had us get our rest in, and we had three or four days of practice. And Dave Werner did a good job of just rehabbing us and making sure we were refreshed.
Q. Do you personally or as a team have a theme going into this second season, starting tournament time? Do you have a personal theme?
COREY BREWER: We just want to be the best we can be. That's our personal thing, the best we can be. And we feel like if we can be the best we can be, we can make another run.
TAUREAN GREEN: We want to peak at this time of the year. We're going to be playing our best basketball at this time, and taking one game at a time, because if you lose, you go home.
Q. Corey Butler said that your team has been put on a pedestal by a lot of people. First, do you feel like you're on a pedestal? And second, how much of that pressure do you feel now in March?
COREY BREWER: I wouldn't say that. All I know is game in and game out, every team plays their best game against us. They play the hardest. We just have to be ready for that. I think it's respect. I wouldn't call it being on a pedestal. We just have to be ready to fight, and fight to the end every night.
TAUREAN GREEN: Any given day we could come in and get beat if we don't bring our A game, and we just want to come in with the right focus and mindset. Just get our game plan, and get a win.
Q. Getting back to that fast start, was it just being rested, that you think caused that or were there other factors?
COREY BREWER: You could say we were rested. But also we came out aggressive and we were pressing early. They made some turnovers, and that helped our offense. Because when they turned the ball over, we were able to convert and we got some easy baskets.
TAUREAN GREEN: That started off from our defense. We pressed them a little bit, forced some turnovers, and got some easy buckets.
Q. Same thing for you, Coach, on the pedestal, is your team on a pedestal? And is there extra pressure with that for March?
BILLY DONOVAN: I don't think we're really concerned about how anybody views our team except how we view ourselves. That's really the most important thing.
I think our team realizes that every given night, you know, we're going to get everybody's best shot, and teams are going to play well. How teams feel about us, we really don't have any control over. We don't. I think our kids try to go out and play the game the right way. They try to play hard, they try to play together, and I think they enjoy playing. What the view is and how our team feels, I don't think these guys walk out there feeling they're above any team at all. They don't. They walk into games with a great amount of respect for everybody we play against. And we have great respect tonight coming in against Georgia.
Q. Billy, did you start with the press because your guys were a little fresher, because you've had some time off? Did that play into the thinking of pressing early?
BILLY DONOVAN: No, I think the biggest thing was for us to continue to try to stay aggressive. That's what we wanted to do, was to stay aggressive, push up the floor a little bit.
I was concerned a little bit later on in the press after we got some turnovers, I thought that the one thing that concerned me was Georgia's ability to shoot threes with Stukes, and Humphrey and Gaines. And there were a couple of times in that first half where they beat the press, and they made some passes and got some open threes. Maybe early on in the game the press we were able to get some steals, but then they started to do a better job handling it. And we wanted to make sure we got back and were solid in the half court.
But the reason we started in the press was nothing more than just trying to stay aggressive. Really, that was it. Had nothing to do with us being fresher or anything like that. Plus the other thing, too, I think everybody talks about us being fresh, and how many games we've had and all that stuff. I think at this time of the season, a lot of it is mental. You know, it's mental. They can be physically fresh, it's mentally how you feel.
Q. Billy, how much of that slump there at the end of the regular season motivated you guys coming into the postseason?
BILLY DONOVAN: I don't know. We don't look at it as a slump. We lost to Vanderbilt, who finished in second place, who is an NCAA Tournament team, on the road. We lost to Tennessee on the road. We lost to a team at LSU, that obviously losing Glen Davis, people thought that we should go in there and handle the game. But give LSU's kids credit. Leading into the Kentucky game, the last game of the year we had played five out of seven games on the road. I don't know.
I think winning and losing gets overdramatized. On one end you're talking about a slump we went through, on the other end we're talking about our team being on a pedestal. Could there be some type of medium ground? Could we move it closer to the middle just a little bit? It's hard to get into saying a slump, we're down, our team's on a pedestal. We've lost to some good teams. And I don't know why teams won't give Vanderbilt and Tennessee the proper respect that they deserve. I think it's disrespectful to those teams to think that we're just going to walk in there and, you know, walk all over them and win the game. We should never lose a game.
Here's the thing that's interesting, if I would have asked any of you guys before the season started, do you think our team will go undefeated, you would have said no, impossible, not going to happen. But at the same point every game we play, we're supposed to win. So I think it's important that our guys understand who they are, and losing two games there was a reason why we lost. We're getting better at it. It's not when we win we're just better than everybody else. And we just hey, we're going to step on the floor and win.
I think our kids, I think any kids, get hit with so many different things, keeping it them grounded in the proper perspective. At least you try to do it the best you can.
Q. Coach, you had said that at this point maybe it's more mental, that start at the beginning of the game. Just getting off to the hot start, what's that say about where the guys are mentally right now?
BILLY DONOVAN: I think there's been some games, whatever you want to call it, if you want to call it a slump or whatever it is you want to refer to it as. There are certain times, and there's been certain times this year that we have not been able to match the emotional level of the opponent. We haven't been able to, and it's not for lack of trying. And I think mentally every game knowing you have to get to your highest possible peak to keep yourself in position, I think our kids have done an unbelievable job of trying to get to that level every game.
I think that if you look at some times after we've played some teams, I would be anxious to find out was there a little bit of a mental letdown for the team that we just played a little bit. Because it's so hard after a big win or tough it's so hard to stay at this mental level every game. So I think a lot of times you get mentally fatigued.
Physically, I think our guys are okay. But it's that mental challenge. I think mentally we're okay, too. I think we're okay right now. But it's hard to get to that magical level every single game. And I thought today they came in and tried to get to that level. We played at that level for most of the game.
Q. Billy, two and a half minutes to go you called timeout and brought your team over. I think I read your lips, it was, "play the right way." Concerned about some loopy passes, there's another turnover, but turnovers have been an issue for you guys, is that still a concern?
BILLY DONOVAN: Yeah, it is a concern, without question. I think that we made some plays that guys are trying to make things that have a low percentage chance of happening. You know, our guys get out on that break and want to attack and be aggressive, but they're trying to make passes and decisions where it's a low percentage. And it's led to some you know, Joe had one, a couple on the break, and Al had a couple on the break, and Lee Humphrey threw one. What happens is, it adds up over time. If there's an area I'd like to see us improve in is the turnover area. Sometimes we get going too fast. And we've got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. I think that's an area of improvement that every guy on our team could improve from. It's a fine line. From the coach who wants to stay aggressive, you don't want to take confidence, but at the same point, you want freedom. But with freedom comes responsibility. When you have the ball in your hands, everybody on the team is relying on you to make a good decision. Everybody's relying on you to make a good decision. We've got to do a better job of balancing, being aggressive, and not being a team that becomes too passive.
Q. Coach, the potential of three games in three days, and the big lead you got toward the end, was there a thought of going a little deeper on the bench than normal?
BILLY DONOVAN: You know, I would have liked to. It's hard, it's a 15 , 16 point game with three minutes to go. We had a stretch where we missed four or five straight free throws. We could have kept the lead at 21, 23, but I think it's a dangerous time when there's two and a half, three minutes to go, and a team's down by 15 points or down by 16. Because you sit there and you throw in some new guys that aren't fresh, and they're going against pressure. All it takes is two turnovers and two threes within 15 seconds, and now you've got a 16 point lead, and now it's 10 or it's 9. And now you get caught having to put your guys back in. We could have finished the game a little bit better from the free throw line with our turnovers, which would have enabled us to get them out.
But is one and a half, two and a half minutes going to make that big of a deal going into tomorrow? Probably not. If I could have rested them eight or nine minutes, a little bit longer. If we would have taken the lead from 22, 21 to 32, 33, maybe we could have gotten them out and have gotten a little deeper.
But I thought we went a little deep today. Werner got more minutes than he's got in a while. We had Speights in there, Walter Hodge in there. I thought we balanced it up pretty well. Joakim didn't play a lot of minutes today. Our minutes are going to be relatively evened out. To be honest with you, these guys hadn't played as many minutes tonight as they had playing up to this game. So you certainly want to rest them. But we had a chance to finish it out, and get a better lead and put those guys in there. If they do turn it over a couple of times, it's not the end of the world. They turn it over, up 15, and you have a nine point game with two and a half to two minutes to go. Now you're putting all five guys back in the game.
Q. Billy, could you just talk about going to the press early in the game, and how that impacted things, particularly what was your mindset there?
BILLY DONOVAN: I think we pressed on and off. I don't think we're a team that presses all 40 minutes of a game. But if we can put the press on and off, and our guys did a terrific job of being disruptive and got some steals, got us out to a 17 0 run.
Defensively we did a nice job. They shot 18% in the first half. We could have cleaned up some loose rebounds and knocked down our threes, we could have extended our lead in the first half. But Georgia's kids, you know, Dennis does a great job with his guys, getting them to play hard and competing. You knew those guys were going to compete regardless of what the score was.
Game 8 - [W2] Ole Miss 80, [W6] LSU 60
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- LSU's Big Baby was knocked out of the SEC tournament by Mississippi's Big Bam.
Bam Doyne scored 26 points and Ole Miss built a 20-point first-half lead over cold-shooting Louisiana State and beat the Tigers 80-60 in a quarterfinal game on Friday night.
Glen "Big Baby" Davis powered LSU past Tennessee with 26 points and 15 rebounds in the first round Thursday night, but Davis and the Tigers couldn't match that success against Ole Miss.
Davis (6-9, 289) had only six points on 1-for-8 shooting as the countered with their own big inside players - Dwayne Curtis (6-8, 280) and Kenny Williams (6-8, 240).
LSU (17-15) is left to await a possible NIT bid, a bitter postseason reality one year after playing in the NCAA's Final Four.
Doyne, a senior guard, finished two points shy of his career high and also led the Rebels with eight rebounds. Williams had 12 points and Eniel Polynice added 11.
Tasmine Mitchell led LSU with 15 points. Darnell Lazare had 13.
Ole Miss (20-11) will face Florida in Saturday's second Southeastern Conference semifinal game. The Rebels will play their first semifinal since 2001, when they lost in the final to Kentucky.
A win over the No. 6 Gators might be enough to earn the Rebels an NCAA tournament bid.
Arkansas will face Mississippi State in Saturday's other semifinal. The SEC championship game is scheduled for Sunday.
LSU hoped its 76-67 overtime victory over Tennessee in Thursday night's first-round game would provide momentum for a long run in the tournament. Instead, the Tigers came out flat with their worst first half of the season.
LSU made only 4 of 29 shots (13.8 percent) from the field in the half.
Before Friday, LSU's season-low total for first-half points was 24 in a 64-53 loss to Vanderbilt on Jan. 24. The Tigers set a new low, trailing 37-17 at halftime.
After Lazare's jumper tied the game at 2-2, LSU missed its next 18 shots from the field. The long drought finally ended with only 5:43 left in the half when Lazare scored under the basket.
LSU was 1-for-13 on 3-pointers in the half. Mitchell's 3-pointer with 2:29 left in the half cut the Ole Miss lead to 26-15, but Doyne answered with two quick 3s for the Rebels, who led 37-17 at the break.
After the two 3-pointers, Doyne was outscoring LSU 16-15.
LSU picked up its scoring in the second half but couldn't overcome the poor start. Back-to-back baskets by Dameon Mason and Terry Martin cut the Ole Miss lead to 14 at 47-33 with 13:34 left. The Rebels pushed the lead back to 20 before LSU again pulled to within 14 at 55-41 following a steal and layup by Garrett Temple.
LSU Notes
Ole Miss Notes
LSU POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: We're ready to continue with LSU. Coach?
JOHN BRADY: Let me see, I'm 52 years old, and I've been coaching since I was 21, so that's 31 years. I don't know if I've ever experienced a 20 minutes of basketball, from an offensive standpoint, that I saw tonight. I mean, we missed every shot imaginable, lay ups, open three pointers, good shots that we normally make. There was nothing special our opponent did or anything that was out of the ordinary. But I don't think and I believe it goes back to a mental approach of maybe concentration or preparation, because you can't play as well as our team did 24 hours last night, and then come out tonight and offensively be almost anemic.
I don't fault our effort, I don't fault we outrebounded this team. We had 17 offensive rebounds and that is a stat of hustle and doing the things that you're trying to do. It just didn't happen. I felt bad for our team. I felt bad for you know, sometimes when you try to do some things right and execute, you like to end them with made baskets from time to time. But tonight, the first half, 4 for 29? Come on. 1 for 13?
You know, it wasn't like people were up in our face every time we shot the ball. I've never experienced that. Hopefully I don't experience it ever again. In the second half we got a little bit better, we scored 43 points, and scored 17 at least we got it to the rim, started playing with a little more involvement.
But it seemed overall, I don't know if we didn't prepare ourselves mentally to expect, whatever the case may be, when you can't make lay ups or open jumpshots, or open three pointers. It's baffling when you do it the night before so well. 53% against a team I think is as good as any in our league, and then tonight, you know, you just miss open shots.
Hopefully, we'll get a chance to play again. I asked the players in the locker room, all the guys, if they wanted to play another game if we get the opportunity, and they all said to a man, "Yes, that's what we want to do." So we're not going to pass up an opportunity to play again. It's not where we'd like to play or where we want to play or where we're expected to play. We don't like that, but we want to play again, if we're given the opportunity.
Q. Guys, the Ole Miss players said they were aware of the fact you guys wanted to play them again. They've considered that a challenge and made it a point to win this game. Could you have a response to that. Do you think it affected the outcome?
DARNELL LAZARE: You know, we were ready to play those guys too, just because of how we lost that game in Oxford. I thought going into the game we were prepared to play against them. Like Coach said, mentally we might have been at the same way we were the night before last. But, you know, they hopped out on us early, got a couple of offensive rebounds back to back. They made a couple shots early, we couldn't get the ball in the basket. We let the gap get too large early. So that hurt us a little bit.
But I think at least we kept competing. We kept giving the effort. The baskets were just falling and they seemed to make some baskets, so give credit to them. But I definitely feel that we were a better team than what we displayed tonight.
TASMIN MITCHELL: Well, reflecting on what Darnell said, I'm not going to say we weren't mentally prepared for the way our season went. We didn't take nobody for granted. We couldn't take nobody for granted, but we just probably didn't come out with the intensity that we'd like to and, Ole Miss came out and a maxed our intensity. Therefore, they wanted the game more than us. You know, they came out with intensity, ready to play some ball. That's what they did. They're a great team.
Q. Tasmin, the perimeter shots, were they there for you all tonight and you just didn't put them down, or was the offense not in a rhythm?
TASMIN MITCHELL: Well, I don't think well, you know what I'm saying, they showed a little mannish in the zone. We had a couple of open shots, they just didn't fall. You know, we would have liked for them to fall, we weren't missing intentionally. You know, but they just didn't fall at that particular time.
Q. Were you guys tired at all, or mentally drained from that game last night?
TASMIN MITCHELL: Well, I wouldn't say that, but I know we played hard last night, and then coming back 24 hours again, like Coach said, you got to be mentally prepared, and I think our minds were more tired than our bodies.
Q. Knowing what you've been through a year ago, and what happened this year, how much more difficult was it to keep the focus on just what's in front of you, when you know what you really want is to win not just this game, but the next game, because that's what you have to do? I mean you guys know what you had to do to get where you were a year ago, is that something that could be part of the issue of focus, not living in the moment, but thinking about the big picture beyond just Ole Miss for both of you?
DARNELL LAZARE: It was definitely a different season this year than what it was last year. We put ourselves in that position at the same time, and looked at it as a challenge. I think we were ready for that challenge to come to the SEC Tournament and win four games in a row. We got off on a good foot last night. Tonight wasn't our night. But, you know, I thought the team did a good job of responding to the challenge. You know, every game this year we've played hard. We maybe didn't make the plays down the stretch we needed to make to come out with the victory. But it was a learning experience for myself, for the team, for everybody. It's definitely going to prepare those guys for the season next year, and prepare me for whatever life has ahead for me.
But it was still a good season in my opinion, because we came together when we needed to. We had some good wins. You know, we stayed together. We didn't blame each other. We lost our best player for a couple of games and rose to the occasion and competed every game. We beat Florida when they were riding pretty high. We did some good things this year, but if we get the opportunity to play again, we look at that as another opportunity and another challenge to go to the NIT Championship. You know, South Carolina did it back to back, and hopefully we can go and win it also, if we get the opportunity.
TASMIN MITCHELL: Like I said, last year's season was wonderful. Coming in as a freshman, and doing it in my freshman year, it kind of spoiled me. You know, I went to the Final Four my freshman year. But I was always the type to always say this is a new season. I hate when people ask me, you know what I'm saying, what y'all got to do to get back next year. We've got a couple of the same guys, but it wasn't the same team.
We had guys who led by example, like Darrel Mitchell. He wasn't too verbal, you know what I'm saying, but having him on the court at the same time made us feel more comfortable.
It's just a lot different from last year, and I always said I mean, last year was great. That was a time you live and remember, but this year was a time we needed to grab some. Like we said, Ole Miss came out and played with the intensity we really couldn't match.
Q. Coach, the players alluded to what the difference was from last year, for you, what was the biggest difference from last season?
JOHN BRADY: I don't know. I don't know if I want to get into all that right now. You know, you can never take anything for granted or think it's just going to happen. And I think in retrospect maybe the team that we had returning, it never, never was as good as the team a year ago, and the league is better. We haven't replaced or didn't replace Darrel Mitchell and Tyrus Thomas, and for anyone to think we have, for whatever reason, we didn't. And the league's better. So it's maybe too much for this team, with the expectation level and what we accomplished. Most of our preseason accolades were based on a year ago of what we did. And you know, we didn't replace two of our cornerstones on our team. We had some things happen to this team along the way that never brought it along as well as I would have hoped.
But on the other hand, you know, we're 3 3 against teams in the top 25, we're 2 0 against teams in the top 10. We have at times played with the best teams in the country. Beat A & M when they were No. 6. We beat Florida when they were No. 3. And we've had three or four other wins against teams ranked in the top 25, and we've lost three games to teams in the top 25. So if you really break down the league, there's not many teams in the league that have that kind of record against ranked teams.
On the other hand, we haven't been able to win the games a year ago that we did win. What I said last night, the margin of victory of 6.3, compared to the margin of defeat of 6.7, is four tenths of a point. If you put Tyrus Thomas, and Darrel Mitchell with this group, then I think that flips. And we never replaced those guys with the guys that we're counting upon to maybe develop, didn't develop as well as we thought. An injury or whatever the case may be, didn't let it progress as well.
This team was inconsistent from an offensive standpoint. You know, the glaring is the first half tonight of really how inconsistent it was. I never thought it's be exposed to that point. But we changed offense during the course of the year. We did some different things offensively to give our team an opportunity to score more easily and get some easy baskets. But I think this team from a chemistry standpoint, and the intangibles that make championship teams, it never took place here. It did at times, and it did at different moments, but it never crystallized to make it through the whole season. And the team last year, it worked, and this year we had too many things go on to keep that from happening.
So whatever that means, you know, figure it out (laughter).
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you.
OLE MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Ole Miss. Coach, would you begin.
ANDY KENNEDY: Yeah, I thought our guys really came out with the proper approach. I felt like we were really aggressive from jump. LSU's a team that's had their way with us on the glass, in our two previous meetings. We've had a hard time with their size, across the board. I thought tonight we really did a good job of getting to all the 50 50 balls, the loose balls. We knew in order to have a chance, we're going to have to win effort areas, which I thought we did. These two guys led the charge for us offensively, and stepped up and made some timely baskets.
Every time LSU would make a push, which we knew they would, our guys responded. That's a credit to our kids. I'm really proud that they put Ole Miss back in the picture.
Q. Bam, they were pretty vocal, it seemed like, in wanting another shot at Ole Miss, were you guys aware of that? Did you all talk about that? And what is your response to that?
BAM DOYNE: Yes, we was aware of that. We talked about that, and we used that as motivation. For somebody to call you out, you know, you have to accept the challenge, and that's what this game is about. Accepting challenges, and trying to get better as a team.
So yes, we was aware of that. If fueled us.
Q. Bam, did they seem tired right off or later on?
BAM DOYNE: I didn't think they were very tired. I don't know what they were. I was just trying to be aggressive, and I thought that's what my team was trying to do. No, they didn't seem very tired to me. They looked pretty strong to me.
Q. Bam, can you talk about your night individually. You hit a lot of shots early and often, open shots, mid range shots. You know, just talk about your night and how you felt.
BAM DOYNE: I mean, I was more open than I thought I was going to be, and the opportunity presented itself. So I was confident in myself, and I made some shots tonight. A lot of times I was driving, trying to create for other people, And found myself a lot more open than what I thought I was. Just took advantage of it.
Q. Todd, from your perspective, in memory of the Florida game, since you're playing them tomorrow, you guys got well behind, then made a strong push in the second half. Was that second half early in the season kind of emblematic of the toughness of your team? Give us some sense of perspective on being down 23, 24 points and then having a chance to cut it to 5, I think it was at one point late in that game.
TODD ABERNETHY: Well, I tell a lot of people that I think just that second half against Florida was really the turning point for the season for us. And going into Florida, the No. 1 ranked team in the country, I think we were a little shocked at first, wide eyed, and they put it to us the first half. But I think when we came out aggressive second half, pressing them, and just coming back in general, it kind of fueled us a lot. I think has made us believe. You know, if we can hang with the No. 1 team in the country, then we can win some games in the SEC. So that's really how we ended up the SEC, 8 8. And I think it was really good for our team.
So I think we'll be confident tomorrow. We definitely need to get off to a better start than the last time we played Florida.
Q. Todd, obviously J.P. and Kenny started tonight, probably because of Dwayne's toe, I'm not sure, but what did those guys mean early on? What sort of lift did they give you, especially Kenny with his offense?
TODD ABERNETHY: They were huge for us. LSU's a big team, with Big Baby, and a lot of length. They've killed us in the past on the offensive rebounds. Just stuff like that. So those two just stepped up tonight, had some blocks, and they were focused right from the jump. You could tell who wanted this game and we did. We pulled it out.
Q. For both the players, do you think a win like this is enough or do you need to win tomorrow?
TODD ABERNETHY: I'm not sure if it's enough or not. We want to win as many games as possible. I think definitely this made a statement, beating LSU by 20, who just beat Tennessee the night before. But we don't want to worry about that too much.
We have an awesome opportunity tomorrow night playing Florida, one of the best teams in the country. So we just realize how big that game is, and we're going to go out and give it our all.
BAM DOYNE: He said that perfect (laughter).
THE MODERATOR: This will be the first time Ole Miss and Mississippi State have been in the semifinals the same year of this tournament.
Q. Coach, could you talk about Kenny's play? I thought he was the real difference in that first half, gave you that spark that got everybody else going.
ANDY KENNEDY: You've seen us play a lot. I think Kenny has really grown by leaps and bounds with his confidence offensively. There were times weeks ago where he would have never thought about stepping out to start a game and looking for his offense 12 to 15 feet, but he's worked at it and grown more confident throughout the course of the year. I think that's typical of a first year guy. We knew he had the physical attributes and now he's really starting to put forth the necessary effort to be an everyday contributor.
Q. Coach, talk about the match up with Florida and how their bigs and their ability to handle the ball, what that does to guys that are low post players for you, that yes, they're active, but they may not have the same skills to come away from the basket that some of the bigs for Florida might have?
ANDY KENNEDY: Jimmy, that's why you make the big money. You said that I know what you're saying. No, we can't match up with those guys on the perimeter. That's the good news/bad news part of the equation; the good news is we advance to the semis, the bad news is we've got to play arguably the best team in the country, who have obviously righted the ship and are on a mission.
It's going to be a monumental challenge, but it's one that our kids are looking forward to. We'll have to be on top of our game. We'll have to mix and match our defenses. We're going to have to throw our bodies around. We do have girth, so we're going to have to lean, and hold, and push, and pull, and everything below the rim, we've got to get them all, because we're not going to get many above the rim.
Q. Was D.C. on the bench because of the toe?
ANDY KENNEDY: He hadn't practiced. We played against Auburn, and you remember, Robby, we were fortunate because Auburn plays four guards a lot of the times. They had Quan Prowell which would allow us to play a fourth guard. We didn't do it effectively, but we were tempting because he was a perimeter oriented guy, and he's been lame prior to that game. Well, we've had all week, and he hasn't practiced very, very little. We tried to do some things for his timing, but his foot's been bothering him. Tonight we wanted to get out of him whatever we could. I think it was good for his confidence. I saw him stretching out, trying to make some plays and hopefully that will carry over to tomorrow. We certainly need production on the offensive end tomorrow.
Q. Can you just talk about Bam. I know he had been struggling from the field the last seven games or so.
ANDY KENNEDY: Really, really aggressive. We tried to spread him. We talked about the fact that LSU has great size and length from 1 through 5. We tried to really work on getting our spacing better. And Bam did a great job of knifeing through and finishing it. And I think he made some shots early and he was really, really confident, in attack mode. It's the best he's played offensively in quite some time.
Q. One last thing about this West versus East thing: You know, we see three out of the four teams from the division. Help me out with regard to what that means. I mean, the East is clearly top heavy, but it seems like in these match ups in the postseason, it is a case of more desperation for the teams.
ANDY KENNEDY: I'm hopeful you're not the only one that's seeing this. I think there's quality teams in this league, 1 through 12. East/west/north/south, I don't know about all that. Jeff and I were talking before our game on Saturday, and I've known Jeff forever and ever, And we were saying isn't it funny, here's Auburn and Ole Miss playing for the SEC West title, and we almost have to apologize for it. You know, are you kidding me? If we would have taken our rightful place, SEC would be a six or seven bid league, now because we've improved they're talking four. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
I'm hopeful that through the actions of the last couple of days, maybe people will come back to their senses on that topic.
Q. You're saying it's more fluff than stuff? We're not being substantive in terms of the national approach to the league?
ANDY KENNEDY: I think if indeed you're going to put any relevance on this RPI number, and if indeed the RPI number is what it is, and if, indeed, we are doing what football's done forever and ever, and that is beat each other up, then I think people need to look into that. I know that I'm not going to name names because they're colleagues, and I don't want to throw guys out there, but there are a lot of teams with resumes similar to ours that everybody says are automatically in. And we can't even people don't even think we're on the bubble. And I don't want the fact that this team has not experienced the success that we aspire to over the last four or five years.
We've had to start from so far back in the pack. Please don't discount where we are in the race. Hopefully today's game made a statement, as Todd said, and we realized the light is shining on us. And we've got a huge opportunity tomorrow. But regardless of the outcome of the game, I'm hoping that people will look at this team and value what it's been able to accomplish.
Q. Coach for those of us that didn't see it, how did you come back against Florida in that last game? I guess you were down by 25.
ANDY KENNEDY: I think it was a couple of things. Florida played exceptionally well and had us on our heels. We kept attacking. And I'm not foolish, human nature, you're up 25, you lose a little bit of your edge, we made some shots and got some turnovers. It put us in a position, if memory serves, the game was at 7:00, and we had a steal and a three about two minutes to play, which would have cut it to four, which maybe could have made it interesting. We didn't execute the play, we didn't make the shot. And they kept it in that eight or nine point range. But our kids fought, and we used it as a springboard, as Todd said, to say hey, man, we've had so much respect for Billy and their program. And I really believe they're the best team in the country, and I think they're going to show people that over the next three weeks. For us to be able to battle and put ourselves in that position, I think made these kids believe, and belief is a strong thing.
Q. It was a 1 2 1 press?
ANDY KENNEDY: We did a little bit of everything. I can't give you all my secrets. We pressed. We had a football player in there. And we pressed him and tackled a little bit. We worked for a few minutes. Thank you.