Dec. 31, 2005

Final Stats | Notes

South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom:

“Defensively, we played very, very well. This team that we just beat today will probably finish in the upper half of their league, and their league is very good. That’s the same league as Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which went to the final 16 (in the NCAA Tournament) last year.”

“Defensively we did exactly what we wanted to do. When you’re not playing really well, it shows up offensively more than it does defensively. We had a chance, I thought, in the first half to break it open and get it done. It was more of an offensive problem than a defensive problem. I will give our team a lot of credit. They recommitted themselves offensively at half time and were much more fluid, much more relaxed, shot the ball better, got the ball to the rim and ran the court better. We did the things you’ve got to do to be a pretty good offensive team. We will be a good offensive team. We’re not right this minute because we’re going through a bit of a transition trying to get our big guys involved. Until we get that done, it’s going to look a little awkward. But I do believe we’ll be a good offensive team.”

“It was an important game for us, one that we had to have, a must-game for us. It’s going to be the same thing on Tuesday night. South Carolina State came within a shot, or a second or two of beating us (last year). We had to go to overtime to do that. If you’re not ready to play, it is more than possible that a game like that can rise up and bite you. I’m going to push our team tomorrow and Monday to get ready for Tuesday night.”

Junior Guard Tre Kelley:

“We just tried to have fun tonight. We got off to a slow start in the first half, but we picked it up in the second half. We got out on fast breaks, got a couple of dunks, and made things happen.”

“We got steals. Rocky Trice held his whole side down. He was tipping balls and getting steals. That’s what started it. Rocky started it and the crowd started getting into it.”

Senior Guard Rocky Trice:

“Any given night we can be up or be down. We just have to come out and play.”

Junior Forward Renaldo Balkman: “We had tough practices the past few days to prepare for the game, and everybody had their confidence back.”

Detroit-Mercy Head Coach Perry Watson:

“It was about as bad as we can play. We didn’t shoot the ball well, and Carolina shot better.”