Mississippi State 76, Mizzou 62 - Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Kim Anderson

Opening statement
"We obviously didn't shoot the ball well and that probably was the difference in the game. I'm not going to lie to you that I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in our performance. I think we are a better team than this. I think we are better than we played tonight. I think we struggled with confidence and guys were obviously having trouble making shots. All we can do is keep coming back and working at it. I know it's disappointing, but we've got to keep plugging away and try to get better. In regards to Tramaine (Isabell), I've had some great conversations with him the day before. My responsibility is to help him grow as a person. I still believe he is doing that and I will continue to do that as long as I'm the coach. I know he will come back, the question is when and that decision will be made by me."

On playing against zone defense…
"We practice against zone every day. I know a few games ago (Ben Howland) said he was going to start playing man-to-man but then when Ware didn't play, I told our guys before the game that they were going to play zone or at least some zone. I thought we just did a poor job of attacking the zone. We had segments and spurts when we did, but in order to beat the zone you have to get the ball in the middle of the floor and you have to get the ball in the short corner. You have to move the defense a little bit especially when you are not making shots. I think when you go back and look at it the middle of the floor was open some. The baseline was open some. If you get it inside then the outside stuff becomes a little bit easier, but when you just pass it around and jump up and shoot it you really won't make shots. Really there's not much excuse for going 2-25."

On keeping team morale up…
"I think it's confidence. It's been a tough go. You go to Kentucky and you don't play well and then you come home and you have a chance. I've watched Mississippi State for the past couple weeks and I think they are a pretty good team. I think they have some good pieces. Obviously, without Ware it changes a little bit, but Newman is a big time player or Sword. Weatherspoon is a match-up problem, too. They played well and we didn't play well. I think our job as coaches is to try and get some confidence back in these guys. You get beat bad at Kentucky and sure there's maybe a little bit of doubt in their mind, but that's our responsibility and we will come back on Monday and just keep working."

On getting over the wall…
"There is and unfortunately everybody hit the wall at one time. I think confidence is a big factor especially when you are young; confidence and being comfortable on the floor. I didn't think tonight we looked very comfortable. I thought we looked like a team that was struggling mentally, as well as physically. All you do is go back to work."

Sophomore guard Namon Wright

On Mississippi State's zone defense…
"We were prepared for everything, but we were just not aggressive enough. Attacking the zone, attacking the gaps. We were too stagnant. We passed the ball around the perimeter."

Freshman guard Terrence Phillips 

On energy in the start of the game...
"I thought we did. The zone really kind of slowed the game down, but what it really came down to was that we didn't make the shots."

On preparing for Mississippi State not having Gavin Ware…
"It did not change our approach, at all. We went into the game with the idea to out-rebound them, but that did not happen. I think we did not really take advantage as we should have."

Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland

Opening statement...
"That was a great win for us. We really needed it. Obviously playing short handed without Gavin Ware, our starting  center. We elected to go back to the zone, which is something I promised we wouldn't do the rest of the year. We were worried about foul trouble big time, because we had two traditional posts and we thought it would really be hard to stay out of foul trouble playing them man-to-man when they put the ball in the post so much. I am really thankful for the way we came out and the way we started. We really got out to a great start and they were 0-13. Thankfully we were able to stop the run and end up with a nice report. So we were really pleased with that."

On winning on the road…
"It is just huge to get a win. Period. To get it on the road, is always sweeter because I always tell my teams the funnest wins are the wins on the road where it is us against the world."

About their zone defense…
"We had not played zone in the last four games. I do not think there was any preparation by Missouri for us to play zone, and we did not tell anybody that Gavin was not going to be here. It probably helped us. We were fortunate because I am sure they did not prepare at all for zone because I had actually come out outspokenly and said we were never going to do zone again."