SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 4, 2021

Mike Neighbors

Arkansas Razorbacks

Postgame Press Conference

Ole Miss 69, Arkansas 60

THE MODERATOR: We are ready to begin the Arkansas postgame press conference with Head Coach Neighbors. We'll open it up for questions.

Q. As far as not having the same hunger since you had a tournament in the bag, do you feel that had an effect on tonight's game?

MIKE NEIGHBORS: Yeah, I did a really bad job of getting them prepared for that. We ran into a team that was playing with a lot to play for, a ton of energy. I didn't do a very good job of preparing them for what it felt like.

This group has been coming down here the last couple years with that type of hunger. Tonight it was against us. That's what happens in these things. That's on me because I've been through it; they haven't. But we'll make sure that doesn't happen in the NCAA tournament.

You nailed it. Ole Miss was very, very focused. They really made it hard on us to function offensively, obviously with a seven-point first quarter, we were fighting uphill all night from that point on.

Their bench, their sideline, everything, just was really what you expect out of a team that's playing with a chance to get into the NCAA tournament.

Q. What do you do with them from here with so much time between now and selection Monday?

MIKE NEIGHBORS: We're going to stay tonight, not be in any rush to get back home tomorrow. Get home probably Friday. Have a meeting. We've always used the rule that whenever you get beat out, we're off till that Monday. We'll reconvene on Monday, start the NCAA protocol with testing and start making sure we've got our legs under us. That's the most important thing going into the NCAA tournament, that we're healthy and happy.

This one will sting a little bit. Just left the locker room. They're not broken. They're just stunned a little bit, a good lesson learned.

Q. Six out of your seven losses came from SEC teams, now seven losses. Can you talk about the competition within the conference.

MIKE NEIGHBORS: I cannot wait to play somebody from another conference. I just can't wait (laughter). It has been an absolute night-in, night-out test of everything that you're made of, unique styles, great players. You saw it with Shakira Austin tonight. Just great players night in, night out.

I know we're still going to see good teams, but it's going to be nice to play somebody that doesn't know all your play calls, have all your tendencies down, have the scouting report written on you.

The SEC is phenomenal. I think it shows you that any of our teams anywhere can beat anybody in the league. I think it's a testament to our league. I think it's going to prepare our league for the NCAA tournament. I think you're going to see some teams from our league have great success in the tournament.

Q. The Ole Miss defense was pretty stifling tonight. What were you seeing from them on the floor?

MIKE NEIGHBORS: Well, they can guard you. Their big kid can guard your point guard. If she comes out in the draft, she's going to be picked so high because she can guard one through five and play one through five. That's what makes her so special.

It really made our driving lanes tough. We got a little frustrated at times. I thought early on we took some shots that were a little bit uncharacteristic because we were frustrated. You don't have to watch us very long to know that when our offense is frustrated, we get frustrated a little bit defensively, too. There's a lot of carryover to that. They took big-time advantage of that.

So, yeah, their defense was unbelievable. It was well-prepared, well-scouted. I didn't make enough subtle adjustments to give us a chance, to be ready early. It was too late to come back from that first-quarter deficit.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

MIKE NEIGHBORS: Thank you.