NIT SEASON TIP-OFF

November 29, 2013

Anthony Grant

Retin Obasohan

ALABAMA – 83
DREXEL - 85

Q.  Is it a by‑product of playing 54 minutes?

RETIN OBASOHAN:  No, sir.  I an ankle sprain over the summer and I\'ve been wearing it off the court a little bit just to protect it.

Q.  Did you feel the vibes from the crowd?  How about the free throws?

RETIN OBASOHAN:  I try to block it out.  Obviously my teammates and coaches have always tried to emphasize the fact that I take them every day.  So taking them here for every time should be the same feeling as it is when I\'m in the gym by myself, so that\'s what I try to focus on and it worked out.

ANTHONY GRANT:  Got to give credit to Drexel.  I thought they came out right from the beginning of the game and played with great especially energy.  They were able to jump on us in the first half, broke up within 11‑point lead.  Proud of our guys, the fight in the second half, the battle; but their guys played hard and with good energy and they deserved to win.

Q.  Can you talk me through it, there was about a million different plays in the three overtimes that seemed to shift it one way or the other.  Take me through what sticks out through those three over times.

ANTHONY GRANT:  You\'re right there, were a lot of plays, to me, the first half was probably the big story.  We, I think in the first half, shot 28 percent from the field.  They shot 50 something percent from the field and we were 0‑for‑5 from free throw.  We had three assists, seven turnovers.

So you know, against a team as good as Drexel, we got to be able to put together a full game.  I thought in the second half, our guys battled, did a much better job, turned the energy that we played with.  Drexel was able to make plays.  I thought there was certainly a lot of critical plays and there was some rebounds at the end that they were able to come up with and get extra possessions.

Big steal at the end of regulation.  That type of game that sends it to overtime, and obviously in the overtime, some big shots that obviously allowed them to build the lead.  Our guys kept battling the whole way through.  We had opportunities there at the end but Drexel was able to make one more play than we did and they earned the win.

Q.  What you did you say to Jimmie, if anything, at the end of the game?  Do you worry about his mental state going forward in just a weird seen obviously with the fans having no interest in the outcome; only that it was ending.  Tell me about your interaction with Jimmie after.

ANTHONY GRANT:  You know, our main concern is our guys and our team.  So anything else to us, really we don\'t pay attention to that.  So for Jimmie, he\'s a freshman and obviously this is a great learning experience for him, and we\'ll treat it as such.

You know, obviously that was a big offensive rebound that he got and a lot of pressure to go to the line in that situation.  After he missed the first free throw, if he missed the second one, give us a chance but we got the rebound but we couldn\'t convert it. 

Q.  Retin (ph) giving you a huge lift off the bench, after the big night on Wednesday, any thoughts about inserting him in the starting lineup going forward?

ANTHONY GRANT:  We\'ll evaluate our team as a team and make decisions and when he need to make those decisions, but I don\'t think we need to make those tonight.

Q.  Just a summary on New York.  Sum up the trip for me in a few words.

ANTHONY GRANT:  Obviously we\'re disappointed.  Somebody was going to leave here 0‑2.  Unfortunately it\'s us.  But we\'re in November, 3‑3 on the season and we have to use this as a learning experience and hopefully get better from it as we move forward.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports