Jan. 14, 2006

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

USC Head Coach Dave Odom

“It was a hard fought game, it comes down to two possession. One possession where we did not take advantage and the other they did.”

“Levi Stukes was a pain in our side all day long. We never got a handle on him.”

“We have a day off tomorrow and we will get back at it Monday afternoon.”

“We had a little slow start in the second half, but we came back and played well.”

“There are a lot of things that go into making a season good and a lot of things that make it bad, not just one game.”

“Throwing the ball in with three seconds on the shot clock and scoring. Things like that wins games.”

Senior Forward Tarence Kinsey:

On the game:
“We fought hard tonight, but Tre’ (Kelley) and I turned the ball over in key situations and we couldn’t get one of them off at the end.”

On the team’s struggles:
“Truthfully I don’t know what to say or how to say it. We need to tighten up and play hard. I’m sure it’ll turn around. We need to do it quickly because we’ve got three good teams coming up. I don’ think anyone would’ve thought we would start this slow, but we need to turn around and get out of it.”

Junior Guard Tre’ Kelley:

“I can’t struggle, because when I struggle my team feels that and struggles too because I’m the point guard.”

“We’re out there playing a little bit of defense to stay in it. We just couldn’t make the big stop tonight when we really needed it.”

Georgia Head Coach Dennis Felton

“There were a lot of big plays in this game. Obviously (Mike) Mercer’s runner with three seconds left was big, as was the steal in overtime.”

“It was very emotional for me to see them erupt with that kind of unbridled passion and happiness. We got back to playing with passion on defense, and it was our best performance of the year in terms of playing tough.”

Junior Guard Levi Stukes

On game-winning shot:

“I saw (Renaldo Balkman) running at me, but I was more focused on the rim. I knew if I could get one foot of room, I could get it over him and over the rim.”

“We haven’t beaten South Carolina since I’ve been here. We always play them tough in the first half, but don’t do so well in the second. For us to beat them is one of the best moments of my career.”

Freshman Guard Mike Mercer

“South Carolina is one of the better defensive teams in the SEC, so we wanted to come out and prove we were one of the better defensive teams too.”

“I knew (Stukes’ game-winner) was in. When he gets his feet set, you know it’s going in. I was just ready to celebrate.”

“It’s not difficult (to win in Columbia). We just wanted to show we can win at South Carolina. We can win anywhere on the road.”