Dec. 1, 2010

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

Post Game Quotes vs. Delaware State
Dec. 1, 2010

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement…
This really was a game that was a tale of two halves for sure. As coaches, we knew coming into this game that Delaware State is a tough team to play against. They controlled the ball. They have some guys who can really shoot. We didn’t particularly want to just sit in the half court and just guard, we wanted to try to come out and be active. Early, we had some really good things for us. We went up 13-4 pretty early in the game and then for whatever reason, our energy and our emotion dropped a little bit. You just can’t press without that. They got a few easy ones. They got in the bonus and got to the foul line and were able to get ahead at half. We really just challenged our guys at halftime and said come out and let’s guard. Sit down in the half court and defend. To our players’ credit, I think they’ve responded every time there’s been a challenge like that. They did that tonight. We held them to 24 points (in the second half). Six of those were in the last couple of minutes. They had a low shooting percentage, and we got a lot of points off of our defense without having to press, trap, and rotate. I think those things are some positives to take away from this game. Obviously we had four guys in double figures again. Johndre Jefferson was terrific off the bench. He really gave us a good presence. He finished it well at the rim. I’ve said it before, I’ll keep saying it, I think the strength of our team is going to be the team. A guy like Johndre Jefferson was the standout guy tonight, and he may not do that again the next night, but it could be somebody else. For us to score 74 points, just guarding in the half court and having guys like Johndre and Brian Richardson. I thought he was really good. He gave us a big spark to start the second half. Those are all positive things that we can build on going forward.

On Lakeem Jackson’s first dunk of the second half with Delaware State’s Marques Oliver getting the technical foul…
I think it was a big play. Not so much him (Oliver) going out, as much as the dunk, getting some free throws, and getting the ball back. I just think it got us going a little bit. It got our energy up and our focus up. We created a lot of offense off our defense in the second half without pressuring full court. That was a positive for us.

On the adjustments made at halftime…
Mainly just individually challenging guys of not doing what we’re capable of. As a team we weren’t. Malik Cooke came into the game leading the SEC in offensive rebounds, and he had zero in the first half. We felt like their point guard was controlling the game and our point guards were not. Sam Muldrow needed to finish around the basket. When we don’t do what we can do individually, it’s hard for our team to be good. The thing about this team is we do have a lot to learn, but we have a tremendous amount of pride in that locker room.