SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2021

Toumani Camara

Georgia Bulldogs

Postgame Press Conference

Missouri 73, Georgia 70

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Toumani Camara.

Q. Your overall reflections on the way this season went, the improvement this program has made in your time.

TOUMANI CAMARA: The end of the season is definitely a little bit disappointing. I feel like we could have surprised a lot of people during this tournament, make a run or something. I mean, this tournament, just some possessions that we didn't finish. Like Sahvir says, just little mistakes on defense and offense that usually we don't make, like we should make, stuff like that, yeah.

Q. Missouri gets the three-pointer right before the half. How important was that as far as giving them momentum going into the locker room?

TOUMANI CAMARA: I mean, like you said, SEC is a great conference, both teams are great. We just need to be more locked in, make sure we finish plays, finish halves, be there all the way for the last second. Make sure even if we get a big three, make sure we don't get it back and just focus on details and finish plays definitely.

Q. Obviously Missouri is a very physical team. What changed in the second half with the rebounding?

TOUMANI CAMARA: I think we just had to stay locked in. I think we did a good job at it in the first half. We just had to stay focused on that.

I mean, they were physical, like you say. Trying to step it up second half. They have bigger guys than us. I still feel like we could have done a better job at that, maybe get more people involved, maybe even myself. Just focus on that.

Like I said, focus on every detail in the game, so...

Q. How do you feel about this team for the future? Definitely coming back next year, do you feel like you guys got a chance to launch next season?

TOUMANI CAMARA: This team is growing. Like Sahvir said, since Coach Crean has been here, every year it's been getting better. This team is growing, looking good. The future, I don't know what it's going to look like. Hopefully it should look good, definitely.

Q. You mentioned there was a locker room message from coach about being hungry, staying hungry. What did you take away personally from that? What are your personal goals?

TOUMANI CAMARA: It's like he say every time, the most desperate team is going to win the game, the team who want to win this game the most is most likely going to end up with a victory.

I just feel like in the second half we were really hungry, trying to focus on every detail, going after every ball, loose ball. I feel like second half we still did a good job, but maybe they stepped it up a little higher than us. I don't know, maybe just like small plays, 50/50 balls. We lost the rebounding in the second half. I think we could have done a better job at that.

It's still about being the most desperate team, yeah.

Q. When you're more competitive down the stretch against some of the better teams in the conference, what does that do for you guys going into the next season as far as confidence, knowing going into the season that you can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in this league?

TOUMANI CAMARA: We're getting better after those games. I think definitely next year is going to be a big improvement. Like Sahvir said, top five is definitely a goal. Definitely, definitely a goal, I would say. Just looking forward to it. We need to move on, go on to the next step, see what's happening.

Q. Tilmon had 10-6, something like that. How difficult has it been for you given your size to be the guy responsible for the matchups down low?

TOUMANI CAMARA: He's a strong dude. But I believe Andrew was doing a great job on him. P.J. was doing an awesome job on him too. I was more guarding Brown and Smith, I believe. I had to help them a lot. The small position I had to guard, he's just a strong person. We don't have a tall guy, strong like him. Drew did a good job of guarding him. Only got 10 points and six rebounds. I feel like we did a great job on him.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

TOUMANI CAMARA: Thank you.