Clemson vs. South Carolina Postgame Quotes

Dec. 1, 2007

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Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell:

“I thought we played pretty well. Our defensive tempo was where we wanted it to be; we had few turnovers, and we were able to speed them up. We had a good point margin in the first half, which is important. They were in chase mode.”

“The key was free throw shooting. We held them off. We had too many turnovers at the end, but it for them it was an uphill battle. Our guys were ready to play and just as motivated [as South Carolina]. We had a substantial lead that we held onto.”

“This win says something about experience and depth. In the last game [vs. Purdue], our experience was a big factor. Today there was a tremendous pace during the game, and we used 9 different players effectively. This means our roster will be even deeper when James and Sam are able to return.”

“Poise is important when you make mistakes. A less experienced team would have gotten rattled, but our guys didn’t. They took care of the ball.”

South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom:

On the turning point of the game: The missed free throw seemed to take the last gasp of steam out of us. Congratulate Clemson they did a great job without Mays and Perry. I think we are a good team, but I think we are going to be. We need to stand up and get better.

On technical foul: You get frustrated when you aren’t playing well. I can’t say officials make you play bad. You get frustrated because of your own play.

Do you think Clemson has had the emotional edge? Maybe. I wouldn’t argue with that. We certainly have not approached any of the four games in which we would consider maximum effort in preparing.

On wanting to beat Clemson. The players have heard how much I wanted this one a lot over the past couple days. For some of them it was their first trip to Littlejohn.