You know, just what can you say? Proud of our team.
We had a couple unbelievable days of preparation.
Our guys are in a great place
We beat as well a coached team with Cuonzo's team,
a team that's playing, you know --
Like you said, they're top 10 in America,
and they're deserving of all the wins that they've had.
They've been a great road team.
Thought the big key, you know, we out-rebounded them by 15.
Twenty-one assist was terrific.
We found a different way to win tonight, too.
You know, Romello was just spectacular Saturday.
Well, he just fouled trouble,
never really got any kind of rhythm,
and we found a way to play.
I thought Sammy and KJ were really, really good.
Robert gave us great effort,
and, you know, Jarkel was really, really good tonight,
so it was -- We ran good offense, beat a great team.
So, I mean, obviously we feel good
and got to turn our attention to South Carolina tomorrow.
Howard, start us off.
Coach, can you give me one word
to describe what the locker room was like after the blowout win?
Yeah, you know, I think just happy.
You know, it wasn't maybe like a couple other ones.
I think that winning is good,
that they feel really good about how they played,
but it wasn't just -- I guess because of maybe
the margin of victory the jubilation,
but they're very proud of their effort.
They were very proud of how they prepared,
and they put some things into the game
that we talked about as a staff, so that was good.
Ben, go ahead.
Kermit, you had your concerns,
but coming into this season, you really liked your team.
Is this, over this last span of eight days,
what you thought they were going to look like?
It has been -- You know, if we can just make
a few threes, you know, and made eight of them tonight,
and, you know, we've always, you know,
been a team that's tried to guard.
We haven't been perfect in that area either at times,
but, you know, just where you keep going and keep scoring,
and it was a high-scoring first half,
and when we can do that, you know,
then our team we think can play with anybody,
so, you know, we're playing well at the right time,
a lot of basketball ahead, but it is, Ben.
It's kind of starting to look like the team
that we envisioned.
And KJ, I mean, everything he's been dealing with,
to come off the bench and place with Romello
and to play like he did with the energy and also,
just big plays, steals, and all kinds of --
a number of different winning plays.
I mean, what do you think of him
and how he responded through that?
Yeah, you know, we're all just pulling for KJ.
He's got such a great heart.
We've known him for a long time,
and he's had his two best days of practice,
so you knew it was coming. You knew he's got --
I knew he was going to play well, and he did.
I thought he was just well-rounded,
from rebounding, playmaking, steals, scoring.
He just did everything tonight.
He guarded his tail off.
He switched some four ball screens
and guarded their perimeter, which they're a hard guard
for a guy his size, so he was really good tonight.
Go to Courtney.
Coach, one of your more higher-scoring games
that we've seen in conference play,
but also with the defense
that we've kind of gotten used to seeing.
Did you feel like this was your most well-balanced game
that your team has played in conference play this year?
How would you kind of sustain that going forward?
It was. There's no question about that.
When you rebound the ball, how the ball moved,
21 assist, defensively hold a really good offensive team
to 59, it was the best we played
in all the areas for 40 minutes, no question.
And then how do you plan to keep that going forward
and how to get your team to recognize tonight
is what you want to see from them for the rest of the year?
You know, we'll watch the tape.
We watch a lot of tape, you know, with our guys,
and we'll watch it tomorrow at 2:30,
and again, like I always said,
it's just back to preparation of practice,
and that's why I never gave up hope with our team
because they're always a good team to come to the gym with.
We just had our struggles in some offensive areas
but just get right back to basics tomorrow,
and I think too, you know, even the last couple weeks
been a lot more cognizant of mental fatigue, physical fatigue
and how we're handling our guys on the court,
the time, the physical things, so we'll have to --
Those things I think really, really matter
starting in the middle of February.
Thank you. Adam, go ahead.
Coach, just coming off the end of the first
half to the subsequent half,
can you talk about that little transitional run that y'all had?
Yeah, we thought that was a critical part.
You know, got up five, you know, and Jarkel missed it.
We thought the first 4 minutes, and it is all the time.
I know it's a coach's cliche, but especially against Missouri,
they've been fast starting,
and I thought our team got out and transitioned.
We really guarded well then.
We got our hands on balls, got out and transitioned,
made some really good plays in the break.
Like I said, just, you know, created offense for others,
which was great to see.
Neil, go ahead.
Hey, Kermit, kind of two questions,
one big picture, one sort of small picture.
I'll start with the small picture.
You told us about Romello getting in foul trouble early.
How critical were those minutes for Sammy,
the last 7 or 8 minutes of the first half?
Yeah, I mean, Sammy's just --
He's really starting to be better, you know, just maturing,
and the thing we've got to remember with Sammy,
I was just telling Keith, you know,
he's with the COVID years really a freshman.
He's a guy that can pick and pop.
You know, Sammy plays with great length, you know,
and so I thought the follow-up dunk --
He made a 15-footer in pick and pop.
I thought he really showed his length and presence.
It was huge, Neil, and huge for us down the stretch that,
you know, we get a guy like Sammy to come around
and start playing with confidence.
Good for him.
You guys didn't play well in Fayetteville,
and you followed that up with kind of
a lackluster effort in Athens.
Since then, you guys have played really well.
Was there something that you could point back to,
to sort of say, "This was a turning point"?
You know, I don't know.
We spent a lot of time with our team individually
and in groups after Georgia,
and it wasn't so much we went out
and, you know, and hammered them physically.
We did some toughness things.
We went for three-hour practices,
did probably more mental stuff and with gathering our team,
and we still knew we practiced good, Neil,
but, you know, I think it's just having success,
and when you beat a team like Tennessee,
and everybody in the country knows how good they are,
our players know.
It just gave them that confidence, Neil,
like, "You know, we do belong.
You know, we can close these games out."
We closed it out against a really tough team,
and I think that really, really from a confidence
standpoint helped us a bunch.
Go to TJ.
Hey, Coach.
Was there anything that you did adjustment-wise
to kind of slow down of the play-makers from Missouri?
I believe Dru Smith was, like, 106 early in the first half
and then had a couple turnovers.
Yeah, you know, just, you know, we've guarded them.
They know us real well.
We know Missouri real well.
Those three guards are elite.
The biggest thing is transition.
We didn't give up many buckets in fast break points.
I think Missouri got zero.
When you watch them play, they are so fast in transition,
so the biggest thing is, you got to make them
run half-court offense,
and we did that, and I thought we stayed in front.
I thought our ball stream defense was better.
Our switch, we had some timely switching that was good,
but the biggest thing is just getting back
and not let those guys play downhill on the break.
Go back to Ben.
Yeah, Kermit, Devontae talked about his leadership
throughout this process, and I was just curious
if you've seen a different type
of just determination with this group
or just earnestness knowing that it's the end of the season.
If they're going to make a push, do you see a change in them
as far as, it's got to be now?
Yup, and I think Devontae is a big part of that.
I hear his voice more on the sideline.
Like, he's not a real --
He's not going to be a rah-rah guy.
He never will, but you can just tell, boy, his voice
with talking to player on the sidelines.
Well, he's maybe out communicating,
scouting information on the floor,
all those kind of things that mature, senior guards do,
so that's a big plus for him.
He's really helping our team in that area.
No more question for Coach. All right.
Thanks, Coach. Thank you, guys.