March 15, 2006

Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery

Coach Odom Quotes:

“They were able to play well defensively and I was very proud of that. We have plenty of time to get back now. We need some rest. We took care of the ball really well.”

(on 16-2 run by USC during final stretch)
The catalyst during that particular run was Rocky Trice. I love him.”

“We had a really good crowd tonight and I appreciated everyone that came.”

Senior Guard Tarence Kinsey:

“It’s a blessing to be in the postseason. We feel great. We’re just out there having fun. Just to have one more chance to play in front of your crowd is awesome.”

(on bouncing back from SEC Title game):
“Truthfully, not really (tough). The meeting we had once we got back from the tournament is what got us going. Coach said, `Look, we’re not in the NCAA. We’re in the NIT. If you want to, we can cash it in if you don’t want to go to the NIT, or we can play.’ The question was, if you want to play, let’s play to win it. Everyone wanted a chance to defend the title, so that was our attitude.”

Junior Guard Tre Kelley:

“We had a day off yesterday and that gave us our legs back. We’re a team that normally executed on defense. We got it going in the second half. We got on those guys and forced a lot of turnovers, which turned into fast breaks and points.”

“We were motivated because we were in the postseason. We could’ve gone into the SEC tournament and fell flat on our face in the first game had we had the mindset that we had to win the tournament just to get into the NCAA. Had that happened, we wouldn’t even be in the NIT. But we came out and played hardball and live to see another day.”

WKU Head Coach Darrin Horn:

“I’m unbelievably proud of my guys for this entire year and tonight as well. We have an excellent effort against a lot of odds, with the injury to Courtney Lee and coming on the road against a tough South Carolina team.”

“When you look at the stat sheet it’s clear that turnovers were the difference in the ballgame. They got 35 points off of turnovers, but we won the battle on the boards and held them to 41 percent shooting. Even when got within six there in the second half, we turned it over two straight times and they turned those into baskets on the other end.”