March 5, 2015

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South Carolina Head Coach Frank Martin
Opening Statement
Story of our season. Our kids practiced well, I knew we were going to play well today. They fight, they don’t back down. But we put ourselves, game after game after game, in a place to win and those last four minutes of the game are always an adventure. I’m disappointed with the loss but proud of the guys in the locker room. It’s frustrating.

On Ty Johnson’s senior night performance
We’re real proud of him. Somebody gives their body to a point of exhaustion the way he did today; you’ve got to respect that. He finished his home career like a champ and it’s disappointing we didn’t get him a win, but he finished it like a champ and I’m real proud of him.

South Carolina Senior Guard Tyrone Johnson
On how he felt after leaving the game due to cramps
I feel great. Well not as great but I’m breathing. My legs are done. I gave everything I’ve got and it didn’t end the way I wanted it to end. I’ve just got to thank my teammates and my coaches … trying to pull out the win for me for the last four minutes I couldn’t be in there, three minutes, whatever the case may be. At the end of the day, my goal is to play each game like it’s my last and tonight it was my last home game. We didn’t come out with the victory but I gave it my all, I gave it everything I had and we came up short but that doesn’t stop me from trying to be a better person tomorrow. It’s starting to sink in a lot now that this is my last game as a Gamecock here playing inside the Colonial Life Arena but, like I said, thank my teammates for fighting for me. It’s been an up and down season but I just played that game with a lot of passion and heart and my legs gave out on me, which sucks. But I gave it my all.

South Carolina Sophomore Guard Duane Notice
Thoughts on the end game and not being able to close the win
It’s been a common theme the whole season. It’s kind of become habitual, which kind of makes it kind of painful for us because we know we’re right there and that we can compete with all these teams but it’s just the little things that we’re doing that’s allowing games to slip away, whether that’s at the end or in the beginning of the game when we dig ourselves a hole. It hurts the most because we couldn’t get a win for our guys on senior night in front of our home crowd. We’re going to come in tomorrow and try to move forward.

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement
It was certainly a game of runs. We had our runs early on, went up by 20 and sure enough, it’s a Frank Martin team and I’ve played them enough to know they’re never, never going to quit. They came out in the second half and just took the fight to us. They attacked the glass on us, they made shots, got to the free throw line and I thought they just out-played us. Our guys had enough in the tank and some resiliency to finish a game off; making plays down the stretch. When (South Carolina) went to the zone, I think we got out of attack mode, but then, with seven minutes to go we found that energy that we could attack the zone. Our defense picked it up and that’s been the thing with our basketball team; we get some leads and it seems like our defense kind of lets up and we just try to play offense. We had a lot of unforced turnovers and South Carolina did a really good job of taking advantage of it. (Tyrone Johnson) was having a great game for them and that’s what seniors do on senior night. I feel very fortunate to win this game and we just had a couple more possessions than South Carolina did.

On the slow start in the second half
I thought we were tentative against their zone. We did make some (shots) and I think we had the same mindset on defense because we weren’t very aggressive in our defense, so they came and took the fight to us. Again, that is a sign of a well-coached team. Frank Martin does an outstanding job with his basketball team. Like I said, they are known for their physical play and they looked like the more physical team during that stretch (in the second half).

Arkansas Sophomore Forward Bobby Portis
On how valuable a win like this is on having to come back after being up by 20
That just shows the toughness of our team. Just to get a lead, then lose it and then for our guys to still come out and still battle hard. That shows our toughness and our togetherness.