Nov. 7, 2008

Recap | Final Stats

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement… The one thing we promised everybody is that it wouldn’t be boring and I don’t think it was, by any stretch. As a whole I’m really pleased with our guys’ effort. I don’t think it was really pretty, but really pleased with the effort that our guys showed. One of the reasons we scheduled Kentucky Wesleyan, I know Todd (Lee) really well and I know how good his teams are and I know how hard they play and how well coached they are. I knew they would give us a challenge in terms of not going away when we got up, they did that. Obviously we didn’t handle that stretch very well. There are some obvious concerns. Probably shot too many 3’s, not shot too well, and obviously didn’t rebound the basketball. Those are all things we can work on and get better at. Again, our focus coming into tonight’s game, as a whole was effort related, continuing to play. I’m really happy to see the response when the lead was cut to three at one point. Now we have to get back to work. We have a few days to get ready for one that counts Friday.

On the play of Devan Downey…
It’s important to understand that he got two steals back-to-back because of what other guys did defensively. That’s one of the things that make him a good player, he can make plays on both ends. I’m really happy that it was a result of our team defense tonight and him within our team concept, I thought it was really good.

On the play of reserves Branden Conrad and Austin Steed…
He (Branden) did some good things. One thing about Branden Conrad is that you’re going to get a good basketball IQ. He’s going to do exactly what you ask him to do and as he showed tonight on a couple of occasions, he can make an open shot. So we are going to need quality minutes like that like we’ve been saying from the beginning from some of those guys. You know Austin Steed, being another I thought he gave us a great lift, with a couple great rebounds and couple finishes. You know just effort, that’s what we need from guys in those rolls.

Junior point guard Devan Downey
Anytime you start a new season with a new system, you can’t expect things to be perfect. This was our first time in a real game trying Coach Horn’s system. We did some things pretty well and not at other times. But I’m not disappointed because everything we practice is new and it’s going to take some time.

On his performance in the second half compared to the first…
I just felt like I needed to be more aggressive offensively. Being one of the leaders on the team, I had to do whatever it takes to win.

Senior guard Zam Frederick
On playing with a small bench…
Most teams in the country don’t play more than eight or nine people. We play eight or nine just like everybody else. So as far as the bench being thin, I think we have a pretty solid bench. When we rotate and everybody gets rest then we just go out and play as hard as we can.