NASHVILLE — It is the end of the road, but not the end of the week for South Carolina men's basketball. The Gamecocks fell 86-55 to Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, giving them a 26-7 record heading to the NCAA Tournament. They'll find out their location and opponent on Sunday night in the selection show.
Here are a few notes from open locker room:
On how his foot/ankle is feeling after briefly leaving the game in the second half:
"I rolled it. I sepped on somebody's foot."
Confirmed it was nothing lingering.
On if the loss is easier to take knowing they'll be playing next week:
"It helps a little bit, but our goal here was to win a championship and be playing until Sunday. We came up short, but now we're on to another mission."
On what makes Auburn so tough:
"They're a really good defensive team, and they pressure the ball really well. They get you out of the things that you want to do. From an offensive end they shot the ball pretty well today. It's just a good team."
On the mindset for the next week:
"Just to re-group and not really think about this game. Just get ready for the NCAA Tournament, get rested up and get ready for practice."
On what makes Auburn such a tough matchup:
"They play aggressive. That's really the only thing. Just being aggressive."
On if it's easier to handle the loss knowing what's coming:
"We get to go back home, re-group, rest up, take time, spend time with each other and get ready for the next day."
On how the hip feels:
"It feels alright. It's a little bit better than yesterday. It happened in the second half yesterday. It was around the 13 minute mark of the second half on a defensive possession. I just got hit, somebody kind of hip-checked me with an elbow in my backside, and I just felt really, really bad and it's been giving me some trouble."
On if he'll play next week:
"Most definitely, I'm hoping so. I'm kind of just day-to-day right now, just trying to get better."
On why Auburn is a tough matchup:
"You start with their defense, they're really, really tenacious on-ball defenders and they cover up for each other. They're tall, athletic down there as well in the paint, so it's really hard to score when you get down there and penetrate your defense. They hit a lot of big shots today as well. They're a solid team overall, so hats off to them for the effort today."
On if it's easier to flush today knowing what's coming next week:
"They competitor in me won't allow me to feel any better about this type of loss, so you kind of just try to learn from this loss and do whatever you can to get better and then look forward to Selection Sunday."
On what they learned today:
"There's a lot. We definitely have to go back as a team and just watch some film. A lot of defensive breakdowns. I thought we started off really just soft, honestly, on the glass, allowing them to get a lot of seconds chance points and rebound their own misses a lot. I think we've just got to bring the fight a lot more."
"100 percent. Like I said before we took a loss like this pretty similar last time we played them, so to be able to know that you're going to have another opportunity to play again, that's all we're looking for."
On what the next week looks like:
"We've got a lot of guys banged up. Ta'Lon took an ankle, I'm dealing with a hip injury (he said he's fine), Stute didn't play today, I say we spend the next days getting treatment, watching a lot of film and just looking forward to Sunday and using that name calling [on the selection show] as motivation."
On Ebrima Dibba:
"We're pretty deep as a team. Ebo's an experienced player who has played college basketball, been around it even though he sat out last year. He knows the system. When he's out there, you feel like you're not missing a beat. And for me personally just seeing him out there and being his teammate who was his roommate last year, seeing him go through the things he went through, it's a great feeling just to see him out there being on the court sharing those moments with him."
On why the Auburn matchup is so tough:
"Just the physicality part of it. I feel like we're a better team when we're in transition and we're running the floor and getting up and down. But when you're not able to get those stops against them and they're getting second chance points, we're playing every day in this tournament. When teams get second chance points, it's tiring, it wears you down. And then they're pretty good at the halfcourt defense. They're just a physical team, and it shows."
On what he wants out of Sunday:
"Definitely would love to be able to play in Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, somewhere close to home [Cleveland]. My family hasn't gotten to see me play since I was in high school. My dad probably came down for a game or two, but seeing my whole family there would mean a lot. If God's willing to do that, it would be a blessing."
Here are a few notes from open locker room:
Ta'Lon Cooper:
On how his foot/ankle is feeling after briefly leaving the game in the second half:
"I rolled it. I sepped on somebody's foot."
Confirmed it was nothing lingering.
On if the loss is easier to take knowing they'll be playing next week:
"It helps a little bit, but our goal here was to win a championship and be playing until Sunday. We came up short, but now we're on to another mission."
On what makes Auburn so tough:
"They're a really good defensive team, and they pressure the ball really well. They get you out of the things that you want to do. From an offensive end they shot the ball pretty well today. It's just a good team."
Zachary Davis:
On the mindset for the next week:
"Just to re-group and not really think about this game. Just get ready for the NCAA Tournament, get rested up and get ready for practice."
On what makes Auburn such a tough matchup:
"They play aggressive. That's really the only thing. Just being aggressive."
On if it's easier to handle the loss knowing what's coming:
"We get to go back home, re-group, rest up, take time, spend time with each other and get ready for the next day."
Myles Stute:
(Stute did not play today with a hip pointer injury)On how the hip feels:
"It feels alright. It's a little bit better than yesterday. It happened in the second half yesterday. It was around the 13 minute mark of the second half on a defensive possession. I just got hit, somebody kind of hip-checked me with an elbow in my backside, and I just felt really, really bad and it's been giving me some trouble."
On if he'll play next week:
"Most definitely, I'm hoping so. I'm kind of just day-to-day right now, just trying to get better."
On why Auburn is a tough matchup:
"You start with their defense, they're really, really tenacious on-ball defenders and they cover up for each other. They're tall, athletic down there as well in the paint, so it's really hard to score when you get down there and penetrate your defense. They hit a lot of big shots today as well. They're a solid team overall, so hats off to them for the effort today."
On if it's easier to flush today knowing what's coming next week:
"They competitor in me won't allow me to feel any better about this type of loss, so you kind of just try to learn from this loss and do whatever you can to get better and then look forward to Selection Sunday."
On what they learned today:
"There's a lot. We definitely have to go back as a team and just watch some film. A lot of defensive breakdowns. I thought we started off really just soft, honestly, on the glass, allowing them to get a lot of seconds chance points and rebound their own misses a lot. I think we've just got to bring the fight a lot more."
Meechie Johnson:
On if it's easier to move on knowing what's coming:"100 percent. Like I said before we took a loss like this pretty similar last time we played them, so to be able to know that you're going to have another opportunity to play again, that's all we're looking for."
On what the next week looks like:
"We've got a lot of guys banged up. Ta'Lon took an ankle, I'm dealing with a hip injury (he said he's fine), Stute didn't play today, I say we spend the next days getting treatment, watching a lot of film and just looking forward to Sunday and using that name calling [on the selection show] as motivation."
On Ebrima Dibba:
"We're pretty deep as a team. Ebo's an experienced player who has played college basketball, been around it even though he sat out last year. He knows the system. When he's out there, you feel like you're not missing a beat. And for me personally just seeing him out there and being his teammate who was his roommate last year, seeing him go through the things he went through, it's a great feeling just to see him out there being on the court sharing those moments with him."
On why the Auburn matchup is so tough:
"Just the physicality part of it. I feel like we're a better team when we're in transition and we're running the floor and getting up and down. But when you're not able to get those stops against them and they're getting second chance points, we're playing every day in this tournament. When teams get second chance points, it's tiring, it wears you down. And then they're pretty good at the halfcourt defense. They're just a physical team, and it shows."
On what he wants out of Sunday:
"Definitely would love to be able to play in Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, somewhere close to home [Cleveland]. My family hasn't gotten to see me play since I was in high school. My dad probably came down for a game or two, but seeing my whole family there would mean a lot. If God's willing to do that, it would be a blessing."
