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March 19, 2015
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
XAVIER - 76
OLE MISS - 57
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: Yeah, tough afternoon for us. Obviously the end comes to most every team at this time of year. Really proud of our group for getting to the NCAA Tournament, for advancing to the NCAA Tournament. We certainly did not play well today. All credit goes to Xavier. They had complete control of the tempo from the start, and we were never able to wrestle it away from them.
Q. M.J., how much did it affect your game to pick up those two fouls so quickly in the first half, and also can you talk about what it was like to go against Matt Stainbrook and try and contain him?
M.J. RHETT: I mean, he's a big body. He got me in foul trouble two minutes into the game. Me being out of the game affected the team because I could have brung way more energy in the first half, and I had to sit for the last 18 minutes. I mean, it was just tough.
Q. Was the vibe in the locker room at halftime this time any different from BYU or what were you guys saying this time?
M.J. RHETT: I mean, I don't think it was really too much different. BYU had a larger lead than Xavier did, and I mean, we just didn't impose our will today. Like Coach always talked about our three keys, energy, toughness and focus, and we didn't come with none of those today.
JARVIS SUMMERS: I feel the same way. In the locker room we really wasn't active and just got our heads up and things like that, and it's like we were just moping around. I kind of put that on me because I'm the senior leader and I didn't get my guys ready, and we just lost.
Q. Did it seem like every time you guys made a run, tried to get back in, that they had an answer whether it was a basket or a big three-pointer? Did it seem that way?
M.J. RHETT: Yeah, it was like that. Every time we tried to get a little spark, any spark, they had an answer for it the whole game.
Q. Not only Xavier's play down low, but they also had the three-point ball going, specifically Dee Davis. How big was that to have the presence down low and then have to defend the perimeter, as well?
JARVIS SUMMERS: Well, it's difficult because they was getting a lot of scoring in the low post from the big guy, and then whenever we tried to double-team him -- he's got a good IQ for the game, and he was just passing out to the guards, and they was making shots.
Q. M.J., with that 17-point comeback to BYU last week, when did you really think that this one was over and wasn't going to happen because you did pull within ten?
M.J. RHETT: I mean, I don't want to say it was -- it wasn't out of reach, we just had to fight, and we didn't come with that fight today. We just didn't come prepared today, none of us. It wasn't -- like, my awareness, I shouldn't have got two fouls early in the first half. It affected the team, and we just didn't bring it today.
Q. The quick turnaround, was there any fatigue or did that play any role into this?
JARVIS SUMMERS: We can't use that as an excuse. We put ourselves in this situation, and we just had to bounce back, and we didn't make it happen.
M.J. RHETT: I feel the same way Jarvis did. Everybody in the NCAA Tournament is doing the same thing as us. All of us have played 30-some games this year, we've all been through the grind. We just had to bring it, and we didn't bring it tonight.
Q. Can you talk about your plan for Matt Stainbrook? You talked yesterday about how you didn't have anyone size-wise to match up with him, so what was your intent coming into the game?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: Our first goal was to try to do our work early and try to make him catch it off the block, and then we were going to try to dig, but not double, just dig so that he couldn't get into a rhythm. The frustration I had is I think myself and however many people in the building knew he was going to shoot it with his left hand to his right shoulder, and we continued let him get to his strength. He's a good player; he's and excellent passer. We were trying to play under him at times, and never could really get him out of rhythm.
Q. I think M.J. was asked about it earlier about him picking up those three fouls. How much did that play into tonight?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: You know, M.J. was coming off a career night where he had 20 points against BYU, was making shots. I really thought the entire flow of the game changed. Based on statistics, BYU plays that one-three-one zone which is vastly different than ours but still very effective in what they're trying to do. They play it about 10 percent of the time. We were so bad against it early by being tentative, forcing shots. We were shooting when we should pass; we were passing when we should shoot. M.J. would have really helped us in that regard because he's out best, high-post decision maker, so when he was out of the game, we had a couple other guys that weren't as comfortable in that role, and as a result, I bet he went man-to-man one possession in the second half and we got Moody on a pin-down and he hit a three. They stayed in that one-three-one the entire game which through us completely out of rhythm. It's hard to believe -- you saw it, but for the rest of you, it's hard to believe that same team that you just saw struggling to dribble, pass and shoot, scored 62 points in a half, scored 94 points against a real NCAA Tournament team. It's hard to believe when you see that, but we got really tentative, and we had guys that were -- it wasn't for lack of effort. It was just we never got in any rhythm. Basketball is a game of rhythm. Establish yours, disrupt theirs. That's what Xavier did to us. They established theirs; they disrupted ours.
Q. You mentioned 62 points in the second half. Was there that mindset that we could do it again type of thing or did it seem like the energy wasn't there?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: You know, I've got a good group of guys. They pay attention, they're on time, they're doing what they're supposed to be doing as representatives of the University. They're not as externally fiery, so it doesn't mean that they're not engaged. You've seen Jarvis. That's how Jarvis is all the time. It doesn't mean that he's not engaged in the action, he's just not very demonstrative. It's hard to be demonstrative. It's hard to really get going when you struggle as we did tonight offensively. We had that thing just based off trying to spread it out, press it a little bit, getting some loose balls. We had it to 10. For whatever reason we throw ahead to Coleby, and he throws it away an ends up being a three-point play. That was probably our last hurrah. I think it was problem right around the four-minute time-out. Get a basket there, it's eight, it's seven, maybe a little game pressure, maybe we could -- one last stand. But I thought that took the wind out of our sails.
Q. For someone who's been as supportive of the program as Jarvis, what's it like to see his career come to an end like that?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: I hate it for Jarvis. He's had a tremendous career for us. He's been a leader, he's been steady. He's had a tough year all year shooting the basketball, and I guess it's somewhat fitting that he would end with his struggles offensively. But without Jarvis and without Snoop and without A.J. and without M.J. and without Terence, the five seniors who the journey ends tonight, you know, we're not here. We're not in the NCAA and we're certainly not in the position that we were to have the chance to advance. I'm proud of those guys and what they were able to accomplish.
Q. I think it was five or so minutes left late in the stretch, Newby tried that alley-oop. Do you see that as a microcosm?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: I think it's a very astute observation, awareness. What in the world are you doing? That's what I was thinking, but I see it every day. You guys just see it every once in a while.
Q. Sorry if you've already been asked this, but Stainbrook in the middle, just the skill set that he had, what was the challenge?
COACH ANDY KENNEDY: No, we haven't seen anybody like him, and as I was saying earlier, our goal initially was to try to not allow him deep touches because if he gets it deep, then he doesn't have to move you, he can just score over the top. And I thought at times we did a decent job of that. My frustration was, again, just scouting report. Allowing him to get to his strong hand every single time. It's frustrating, and it's easier said than done. He's good at it. And then he's obviously a very good passer. We were going to try to play under him in that press some. We stat -- 50/50 balls at half, it was 6-1. I think they ended up being like 9-2 on 50/50 balls. That's not the way we can be successful. We have to come up with those loose ones. We never got an opportunity to get out on the open floor and then they packed back in that zone and we go 6 for 27 from three, it's going to be a long night.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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