Jan. 3, 2012

Recap | Final Stats

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn

Opening Statement
“This was the fourth game in a row here at home after Ohio State where we feel like we had a unique challenge. All of these games have had something, whether it’s heading into or out of Christmas break or New Years or whatever it might be, where there’s a potential for lack of focus. I think that it was a positive to see our guys come out the way that we did, especially offensively. We really shared the basketball. Obviously, we shot the ball very well from the perimeter. I think a large part of that was because we were focused on taking the right kind of perimeter jump shots. With the exception of a couple, I thought that was really good tonight. I think all the ones we made, especially in the first half when we built our big lead, were a result of taking the kind of 3s that we want with that off the ball movement or inside out action. I think that was a positive to see. I think anytime heading in to league play when you can get everybody some minutes and looks and everybody gets in the scoring column, including apparently our crowd favorite Shane Phillips, that’s a positive. Seventeen assists on the 28 baskets. It says we’re really trying to share the basketball well. Those are good things. As I mentioned, for the fourth game in a row our guys have found a way to get out and start with the kind of focus that we’re going to need heading into league play.”

On what has changed while winning six of the last seven
“I don’t know that it’s anything special. We’ve talked a lot about that over this stretch. It’s a collection of things. I think a big part of it is we’ve got a really young roster with one senior and one junior. They do what young guys do and continue to get better. I think we’ve seen some individuals show some more consistency. Damontre Harris is one that sticks out in terms of being solid and doing what he needs to do night in and night out. I think just understanding and getting better at what we need to be as a team in order to get better, be our best, and give ourselves our best chance in league play which obviously starts on Saturday.”

South Carolina State Head Coach Tim Carter

Opening Statement
“It has been a telling tale for us. Second shots (and) athleticism on the inside kind of weighed us down. South Carolina did a good job of hitting open shots tonight, and for the most part I thought we battled. We just weren’t big enough or strong enough to contend with a lot of what happened inside. I was very pleased in some points of the game. We got it down 14 or 16 in the second half, but we just couldn’t close that thing.”