Jan. 21, 2009

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement…
We were very fortunate to come out on top. Terrific play by Mike Holmes and Zam Frederick. There’s not too much more to say, but there were two teams that played their hearts out.

On Mike’s final pass…
We want to make plays, but it’s rare that you’re going to have things work out perfect. We didn’t draw it up like that, I think those two guys made a terrific play. We were fortunate to do it.

On tonight’s crowd…
The crowd was phenomenal. Our fans were a big reason why we won tonight, led by our students. Tonight was the home environment that we need. There were big 3s at right times, and big steals.

On Florida’s defense…
They were playing well, which they do. They are extremely long; they have a 6-6 point guard. I think we got really stagnant. We didn’t move very well, and they were guarding very well at that point.

On having a winners mentality after tonight’s game…
I think it helps. The next part of that is not thinking that you have it all figured out. It will be continual steps that we have to take throughout the season.

South Carolina Player Quotes
Sophomore Forward Mike Holmes…
When asked about the final play of the game…
It felt really good. I looked at him (Zam Fredrick) and said `just go long, I’m going to throw it to you,’ and then we just executed the play.

Senior Guard Zam Fredrick
When asked if the final pass was planned…
The only thing (that happened) was Mike (Holmes) looked at me and told me to go long. So I just listened to what he told me, he missed the free throw and I just ran down the floor and he made a good pass, in stride, I just took a drill and layed it in. Nothing was said but go long.

When asked if he was worried at all about the time in the final seconds of the game…
I didn’t even look at the clock to be honest, I just tried to get to the basket as fast as I could, I got there one- tenth of a second on time and dropped it in.

Junior Guard Devan Downey
When asked how big of a win it was for the program…
Very big, Florida has been one of the big faces in the SEC for years. To get this game, this is huge for us. We really had a good game shooting the ball, but we believed, and we stuck together.

When asked about the fan support, and the fact it was one of the biggest attended games of the year…
We go to other teams and see how packed they are and it’s so nice to have this support at South Carolina, how loud they were and just being in the game. It was a good experience.