Post-Game Quotes
Post-Game QuotesArkansas vs. Ole MissMarch 4, 2009
Arkansas Head Coach John Pelphrey:“ Obviously we couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch. Ole Miss played about as good a second half as you could ask for. We started sluggish, had a tough time scoring and gave up too many second chance points.
“Credit Ole Miss; they exploited some spots at the right time and I think it was ultimately one of the big differences in the outcome.
“A point of emphasis for us all year has been to finish strong. We’ve had some trouble doing it in ball games, but we have a chance to finish the regular season strong against a good Vanderbilt team this weekend and we need to do that.”
Courtney Fortson, Guard:“We got a good look (at the end of regulation) and executed well. It just didn’t fall. We felt very confident, but they were just killing us on the boards. Any time you rebound like that then (Ole Miss) have a chance to win the game. It was a tough loss, but we have to get over it and look forward to Vanderbilt.
“We should have done a little more work inside using our big men and dumping it off to the two Mikes (Washington and Sanchez).”
Michael Sanchez, Forward:[On Michael Washington’s foul trouble] “It caused us to step up a lot more and we did a good job of it in the first half and were able to get that nine-point lead going into halftime.
“We just didn’t guard that position (inside) very well. We do it every single day in practice and today we just didn’t execute.”
Rotnei Clarke, Guard:“The team did a good job of getting me the ball, but in the second half I just wasn’t able to hit the three.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy:“We scored 28 points without our leading scorer David Huertas. It was a great effort. It seemed that neither team could get the big defensive stop they needed toward the end of the game. In the end, our guys stepped up and made the big stops and shots that we needed to win.
“Will Bogan really stepped up for us tonight. With, Huertas out, he had to take over. He played with great confidence; it was his biggest game as a Rebel so far.
“We got career highs out of three different guys tonight. The rest of the team really stepped up and made shots for us with our leading scorer out.
“Our zone defense in overtime was great. They overloaded one side with a ball screen. After we figured out how to defend it properly the game turned a little bit more our way. We really had to pick our poison and in the end it worked out.”
