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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014Jabari BrownFrank HaithErnest RossJohnathan Williams, IIIATLANTA, GEORGIA Missouri – 91 THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH HAITH: Thank you. Obviously it was a heck of a win for us. I thought that we obviously made some mistakes during the game, down the stretch there. But I will tell you this, we showed a lot of character and do what we needed to do to find a way to win the game. THE MODERATOR: Take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Jabari, you saw Texas A&M roughly a week ago. Did you guys maybe have a chance to get adjusted to them playing kind of a slower game? JABARI BROWN: Yeah, I feel like we were anticipating that. We wanted to take care of the ball offensively and kind of make them guard for awhile, too, to even things out. Make them defend. Q. Could all three you guys talk about playing against Florida now, the number one seed in the tournament. JABARI BROWN: It's a good opportunity. They're the number one team. They had a real good regular season, but it's post‑season now. It's a new season and we're looking forward to playing them. JOHNATHAN WILLIAMS, III: Florida is a great team. They play hard, they play pretty good on defense. We got to study them on film tonight and prepare for them for tomorrow. ERNEST ROSS: I just think it's a great chance for us to go out there and just showcase what we do and how we play.  That's just play hard and give everything that we got and just leave it on the floor. Q. Jabari, I think that's the first time you've ever fouled out. What was that feeling like? Was it kind of helpless to watch and what did you think of the way your teammates pulled it out there? JABARI BROWN: Yeah. First, it's kind of like a helpless feeling. But I got confidence in all my teammates, and I knew that we were going to be able to pull the win out. So credit to all the young guys who stepped in and made plays down the stretch. Q. Johnathan, you obviously had 15 rebounds. Was there any specific challenge issued to you before the game to get you so aggressive on the glass on both ends? JOHNATHAN WILLIAMS, III: No, sir. I just came out with a mindset that I wanted to make the tournament as a freshman, and so I just wanted to play really hard for my teammates. I know that's E.J., Ernest Ross last year, so I wanted to help him get to the tournament, too, so I just want to play hard for my teammates. Q. This game ended up being tougher than you expected as well as you played? You guys have had some trouble shooting, but as well as you played, there was a 15‑minute stretch there where it seemed like you guys were playing as good on offense as you have in the last month or two. Just talk about why you guys were able to get things kind of going again offensively. JABARI BROWN: I feel like coach has really emphasized and shown us certain things on film, and we have been trying to capitalize that on the game. As far as it being a tough game, everybody's fighting for their lives, so we didn't think they were going to roll over or anything like that. They're a really good coached team and a really good team, so we knew they would give us their all for 40 minutes. It ended up being 50 minutes, I guess. Q. Earnest, when Jabari and Jordan went down, you kind of seemed to have the mentality like, Put this on my shoulders, let me go out. Is that accurate? ERNEST ROSS: I guess you could say that, yeah. Pretty much. I was just trying to win. It wasn't so much that I got to do whatever I got to do to put the team on my shoulders. I was trying to win and just be a senior. I think that just being a senior on this team, I have to lead. I just tried to lead the younger guys, and I think they did a great job of just embracing the senior leadership. They made plays down the stretch such as Shane Rector, Wes Clark with big free throws, and I just think they did a great job of embracing it. Q. Earnest, in looking at Florida again, I mean, you guys led them at halftime down there. Just what do you take away from that game? ERNEST ROSS: Just playing with great intensity. I think we gave everything we gave in the first half, just play with great heart. In the second half, we came out a little slower than normal. But I think that for us to be able to get a second chance at them again in the SEC tournament at a neutral site, I think that's a good chance for us to go out there and showcase what we do. Just play hard and give everything we got and leave it on the court. Q. Was fatigue a factor in this game? Obviously Ernest Ross played 48 minutes and the rest of the starters did play 35‑plus minutes. Did fatigue kick in at any point in the game and did it have a factor on the game at all? ERNEST ROSS: No, I just think that we work hard in practice each and every day, so just being able to play these type of minutes with games like this is something that is pretty much instilled in all of us, inside of us. But I just think that just making plays and just winning a game down the stretch is something. It's not so much about the minutes, it's just about your heart and just playing hard and just finishing the game out. Q. E.J., you scored the first seven points for this team. How were you feeling early on? ERNEST ROSS: Good. I was just feeling it, so scoring was something that I guess I did in the first few minutes. THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll excuse the student‑athletes, and you can return to the locker room. Take questions for coach. Q. Why do you think you guys are so effective on the boards, especially on the offensive boards? COACH HAITH: Well, it's something we have been really harping on with our guys. Last time we played these guys, I think we were plus‑16 on the boards. Again we felt like that's something we could do. Obviously Johnathan was terrific, but all of our guys... Torren Jones played nine minutes. He had nine rebounds. I thought that was the difference in the game, our second chance points and our ability to get second shots for our guys. Q. Last time that you guys played the Gators, they forced 12 turnovers on you. What can you guys do to prepare to break out of those traps that they put against you? COACH HAITH: I got to go back and look at that game. I don't know that they trapped us that much. How the game played out. 12 turnovers is not a huge number, but it is a number that we want to be less than 12. We just got to continue to do what we do. Share the ball, have great spacing, and hit the first open guy. What you cannot do is try to always try to dribble through it. Q. Defensively you were pretty effective in the first half against Florida. What can you do to kind of carry that over into a full 40 minutes against them tomorrow? COACH HAITH: Again, we were really focusing on Texas A&M. I think we did a really good job, if I call, for the most part, the whole game. There was about a three‑ or four‑minute stretch there where the game got away from us, and Frazier made three threes, and we didn't score. We didn't continue to score. I think we missed a couple lay‑ups in the front end of a 1 and 1. If we continued to score, we could have made it interesting. But I got to go back and look at it. We have got to have a 40‑minute game plan against them. They're the best team in the country. We're the only team in the country that has this opportunity tomorrow, so we got to look forward to it. Q. Having to play a double overtime game and then comeback and play again at noon tomorrow, how do you think that might affect your guys in terms of being able to recover? COACH HAITH: Nobody's going to feel sorry for us, so we got to get them back, get some fluids in them and get some food in them and just go rock and roll at 1 o'clock tomorrow. Q. Will there be any adjustments to the starting lineup, because you started Keanau Post today? Do you think that he'll start again tomorrow against Florida? COACH HAITH: We'll see how it goes. Q. Some thoughts on Ernest Ross today? COACH HAITH: He was terrific, particularly early in the game. We talked about him being ready against their zone. They stymied us in their zone the first time. I thought we were really prepared and our execution was really good. Particularly early in the game, we got good shots. But he was terrific. He was terrific even when both those guys fouled out. J‑III, Wes Clark, Wes hit some tough moments there. He had the intentional foul, and then he came in late in the game and made some huge free throws. You got to look at that and just be proud of those guys and not hanging their heads and coming back and make plays. Shane Rector, he sits for 45 minutes and goes in the game and has two steals and makes two free throws. Great contribution by everybody and that was a great team win. Q. How much did you feel like your team got back playing offense the way you like? You got to the line a bunch and were attacking, unselfish a lot, too. COACH HAITH: Yeah, it was great to see. And we spent a lot of time talking about that and watching tape, breaking. The guys were telling you about spacing and hitting the first open guy. I thought we were back on track offensively tonight against a very good defensive team. It's one of the best defensive teams in our league, Texas A&M is, along with Florida. Q. What do you think when Jordan and Jabari foul out and you have to play the last four minutes without them? COACH HAITH: Well, I don't know if I had some good thoughts. Obviously, those guys have been our best two scorers all year and we count on them. But I felt good about Wes having some burn and being ready. And then Shane, obviously you just got to go out there and play and kind of interject encouragement to those guys. I'm proud of them. Obviously it's not an easy thing to do. But when you play without those guys, and hopefully it's something we can move forward with those guys and know we can go out and still have a chance to win a game. Q. Does the whole bubble aspect of this with your team being in the SEC tournament, do you even mention it? Is it a distraction or how do you view the chance to possibly pick up another statement win in terms of where you are in the NCAA tournament? COACH HAITH: We got a great opportunity tomorrow to play the number one team in the country and we're excited about it. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. COACH HAITH: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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