SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2021

Romello White

Ole Miss Rebels

Postgame Press Conference

Ole Miss 76, South Carolina 59

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Romello White.

Q. Romello, coming into this game, you obviously all knew the stakes, came out with a lot of energy, stayed engaged the entire time. What did you feel about how y'all came out, maintaining that energy?

ROMELLO WHITE: Man, I feel like we came out great, with a lot of energy. But I could tell it this morning. We always ready. The energy was great at breakfast, at pregame shootaround. I could just tell. I just felt that we was going to have a complete game, 1 through 5. I felt like we defended good, rebounded well. We just had a complete game today.

Q. How does something like that show up at breakfast?

ROMELLO WHITE: Just energy. Sometimes you can tell when a vibe is good, when everybody come to breakfast smiling, we're all joking around. The coaching staff is happy. You can just tell. Sometimes when you're in the room where vibes are good, people are happy and excited to play, you can just feel it.

I felt it this morning at pregame shootaround. I felt it the whole day. I knew we was ready to play today.

Q. Obviously you're playing better than you played LSU the first time. What is different now?

ROMELLO WHITE: I feel like the game before, I just think it was just some things, just us getting our chemistry right. I just feel like our mental wasn't there because we was supposed to play South Carolina, then the game got postponed. We thought we was going to be off. We found out that we had to play LSU.

I just feel like our mental wasn't fully there like it was supposed to be. But we're a completely different team. I think we're ready for this time, definitely.

Q. How do you go about controlling the tempo and playing your style of basketball against a team that likes to run as much as they do?

ROMELLO WHITE: Really just containing their guards, being up on pick'n roll defense, just really playing our hearts out. We got to come out strong, hit them in the mouth early, right out the bat. We just got to be poised. They like to get in people's heads while they're playing. We just got to stay together, just focus on winning the game.

Q. Did they get into your heads the first time?

ROMELLO WHITE: I wouldn't say that. I feel like it was on us. We lost the game. I don't think they did anything to make us get out of our heads. I think it was just us.

We are definitely a more connected team, we have more chemistry, we're playing better offensively and defensively. We're definitely ready.

Q. Regardless of results tomorrow, do you feel like you've already done enough to make the NCAA tournament?

ROMELLO WHITE: I feel like we definitely have a great résumé. I feel like we've been playing great, beat a lot of great opponents. I feel like we have a good enough résumé to definitely be in the tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.