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BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Scott Drew: Well, obviously, the game didn't go like we wanted it to go. But you really got to credit South Carolina. I thought Coach Martin did a great job prepping his guys and they really made it tough for us to score, to say the least. 25 percent first half, we got a little bit better in the second half, cut it down to 11. Their two seniors answered with two big threes, but proud of what the guys have accomplished this year, coming from not ranked to first time ever in school's history being ranked number one, tying the best record in the regular season. Disappointed we couldn't have played a better game tonight, but some of that credit, a lot of it, I would say, goes to South Carolina.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes, please.

Q. How frustrating was it going against that defense? It seemed like they always had two guys, somebody helping out when they were covering you.

Johnathan Motley: Man, it was extremely tough, but that's what they game planned for. And they did a great job of executing their game plan. We couldn't, really couldn't buy a basket, and like coach said, they did a great job, we shot 25 percent in the first half and even though we picked it up in the second half, we still only shot 37 percent, so you can't win like that. Especially the way they were shooting.

Q. Y'all did have a run there in the second half, scored 10 in a row, to get it to 11 and they hit the back-to-back threes. How difficult was that when you seemed to be finally getting on a run?

Ishmail Wainright: When we were on a run, like coach said, they answered. Their seniors, that's what seniors do, they answer. Yeah, that's it.

Q. Was that the best defense you've faced all year or did it rank right up there and what were they doing?

Ishmail Wainright: It's one of the best defenses that we came across. West Virginia also has the same defense. But they just executed, they double teamed, they triple teamed Mot and made it tough to score the ball every time we caught it. Every time we got a catch, there was somebody right there and, I mean, it was, Coach Martin did a great job with the guys and they're a great defensive team.

Q. Did any of that surprise you or anything at all they did kind of getting back to their defense, where you're going up and there's one guy on you and one guy coming over the top?

Johnathan Motley: You know, you kind of plan for it, you know how they were going to be, but it's kind of different when you're out there. They were playing extremely physical, the game was extremely physical, so it's hard. You got the first guy being extremely physical with you and then you got another guy over the top you got to worry about, so, yeah, it was tough. But like I said, Coach Martin, that's the game plan and they executed it to the T and they did great job.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll excuse the student-athletes and take questions for coach.

Q. Tell us kind of how tough it was to go in that locker room after that, knowing that as close as you are with Ish, it's maybe his last game, and maybe Johnathan's last game too?

Scott Drew: That's always tough at the end of the year, especially when a team over achieves in many people's eyes, but more importantly because of the character of the young men. They have done a great job on the court, but even a better job off the court representing the university like it wants to be represented. And for coaches, every day coming to practice was a joy, because they made it fun.

Q. Obviously, you've run into West Virginia's defense and other good defenses throughout the year, but where does the defense that you encountered tonight rank?

Scott Drew: Well, I think that, analytically, I think it's fourth, so I think it's the highest we faced. What they do a great job of is making it difficult and then basketball's such a game of momentum and after you get off to a bad start, sometimes it's hard to get in a rhythm or hard to get in a flow. You can even seeing that carry over to the free-throw line, shooting 68 percent from the free-throw line. The first two rounds I think we missed one or two free throws and really we shot well from the line there. But again, when you miss the first couple, instead of the basket getting bigger, it gets smaller.

Q. Ish and Johnathan are saying that it's a lot like West Virginia's defense. Did you see the same thing?

Scott Drew: Well, West Virginia's a little more in the full court, theirs is more in the half court, where they really buckle down and don't allow you to run offense. So then you play more off the bounce and if you can get by your man you have some advantages. We just didn't take advantage enough of those. And, again, I think, early on, we had an opportunity to make some baskets and I think that would have made the game a lot easier for us and we missed some shots and then their good defense contributed to that. And in transition, we had nine opportunities, I believe, in the first half, come away with, what, six points. So, we couldn't get on a roll. Second half we did, cut it to 11. And then credit Thornwell and Notice for hitting two big threes. And when you put in all that work and then all of a sudden two big threes like that, it took the air out of us.

Q. You just talked about that, did you even kind of sense that with the team, y'all were kind of waiting to get on a run, you finally got on one and then they answered it?

Scott Drew: Well, and we haven't quit all year, so I knew we would come back and answer, because that's the type of team we have. And being down, I think we were down what, 15 against Louisville, with nine to go, so we knew we would make a run. Just, you got to credit them for answering. That's why, at the end of the day, it's, a lot of times you don't play well, but people don't credit the team that you play for how they execute and how they perform. And those are two big threes by two seniors that didn't want to go home.

Q. I know it's kind of tough right now, but can you kind of put the year in perspective and how far you got?

Scott Drew: As I told the team afterwards, from receiving no votes in the pre-season to, I believe, nine weeks later first ranking ever, No. 1 ranking in school history. No one will ever do that again for the first time. So, that's something that this team will always have. And at the same time tied a record total for season, regular season wins. And more important than that, they have been all we could ask for as far as individuals and the character in which they have represented themselves and our school.

Jake Lindsey, sophomore guard

On season from being unraked to the Sweet 16 and how it will be remembered:
"I will remember the guys in this locker room more than anything and all the memories we shared. From the ups and down, the good times and the bad. If you would have told us we would be playing in Madison Square Garden in the sweet 16 from where we started, that's unbelievable. It hurts that we did not have it today for the seniors.

On South Carolina's physically:
They did a great job. I am never going to go back and watch this game. They cut us off and forced us to hold the ball and we turned it over. We were tentative at the rim, credit to them.

On South Carolina's Back-to-back threes in the second half:
At the point, you are just fighting for your life. You are giving it everything you got for your teammates. That is what we expected, we were not going to go down without giving it our best. Tonight, our best was not good enough tonight.

On what did coach said after the game in the locker room:
He talked about how proud he was of us, how we were a joy to coach and be around every day. I am proud of him and this team.

Manu Lecomte, junior guard

On the loss to South Carolina:
"They, they just had a great game really. Number zero had a great game, obviously, but it was really the whole team they were hitting threes. We didn't guard the ball well enough like we should of."

On the progress made as a team this season:
"A lot man, I'm really proud of everybody in this locker room, we've been through a lot uhm.. in the beginning of the year people was laughing at us and we were #1 at one point and I'm just proud of the team and everyone gave their best and that is the most important thing."

On the team's poor shooting performance:
"That was a great defensive team and it wasn't our best game"

SOUTH CAROLINA POSTGAME QUOTES

FRANK MARTIN: I want to credit the teams in our league in the SEC for preparing us for the kind of games that you have to play at this time of year. Those coaches, those players that we fought against every single day got these guys prepared to harden, to understand how hard and how disciplined you have to play to have a chance to win at this time of year.

So, very proud of our guys, obvious reasons. And a lot of credit to Baylor, we defended real well today. We have been real good defensively all year, we were on point definitely today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, for the student-athletes, please.

Q. I think this the first Elite 8 ever for South Carolina. Can you just kind of put into perspective what that means for the school and the program?

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: It just means a lot. Just means a lot for the fans that we always keep saying for everybody that's been supporting us for so long, for supporting the program so long, that follows the program that hasn't seen as much success, it just means a lot for them and for us and the feeling is great.

DUANE NOTICE: Pretty much what he said. It's a great thing, great win for the program, it's a good feeling when we continue to make history and I think once we got a taste of it we kind of got addicted and want to continue doing it. So we're going to do everything in our power to make sure we do that.

CHRIS SILVA: That's a great feeling, to be here, and to keep winning, we're not done yet. We don't want to be just here, we want -- we're hungry, we want to keep winning.

Q. Chris, can you describe in a few words your journey and how you got from where you were five years ago to where you are now and what that has been like for you.

CHRIS SILVA: It's been incredible. Going from where I came from, Gabon, to living out here, I mean that's a lot, a lot of places, a lot of people that I met during the process and I'm just enjoying the process.

Q. Sindarius, a lot of people watching the game tonight will see you on Sunday and say, who is this team? South Carolina is almost never in the second weekend, has never made an Elite 8. So what did you show tonight? And for people that wonder what South Carolina's all about, can you kind of inform the nation?

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: Just how hard we play. We try to give everything we got every game and the way we play the game, we play the game the right way. We have been doing it all season, it's just now y'all gave us a stage to do it and we're just showcasing what we have been doing all season.

Q. What was the defense early on Motley? Was there a little bit of everything in that defense or were you switching in and out on him?

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: No, it was just whoever was on him, don't let him go middle. And on the dribble just the help side come from the baseline and that was really it. And we stayed aggressive and made his catches hard and we knew that he like to score in the paint and let his catches be extended outside, that way he got to take more than one dribble to score; he can't just turn and shoot over the top of you. So we tried our best to make it hard for him.

CHRIS SILVA: Yeah, everything he said, and we didn't want, we wanted to box him out and we knew he was long and athletic and we didn't want him to get on board, so we wanted to box him out.

Q. Can you just talk about the size versus speed strategy that you guys seemed to employ? And when did you first hear about that and how much did you believe in it?

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: I don't get the question. Their size? Talking about their size? We knew they were big and long. We just tried our best to attack them and just to play hard. We knew that it -- for them it starts with the first shot, it was the second shot with them. And we knew when the shot went up, we all had to find a body and put our body on somebody to make, so we could get the rebound. We had to limit their second chances.

DUANE NOTICE: We knew they were a very long and big team and for us we wanted to make sure we took care of the basketball. On a team like that traditionally long, it's hard to get the ball in the paint and in the zone. We played inside out and when the shots presented themselves we were able to capitalize and we wanted to make sure we kept them off the glass.

Q. Did you get a sense, it was 15-15 and then it was over pretty quickly. Did you get a sense that they were getting frustrated, you were kind of getting in their heads defensively at all?

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: I felt like we were in their heads the whole game, but they're great team and we knew they were going to go on a run. It was just a matter of whether we were going to sustain that run and keep it going. And whenever they went on that run and the TV timeout happened and that's when we settled down and I think I hit a three and Duane hit a three. And that's when the lead got extended and that's when we knew that we took that run and just we just had to finish the game then.

Q. How important was it to get off to a good start in the second half? You guys dominated the latter part of the first half. Just talk about that little start of the second half and how important that was to you.

DUANE NOTICE: Basketball's a game of two halves so we knew that the first is 0-0, we talked about it at halftime. And what was essential for us was to make sure that we won the first four minutes. That's our motto every time we come out, we want to make sure we win the first four minutes before the first media timeout. We knew that we were playing defensively well, and but they knew that they were a good team and when we had that punch in the throat, we were able to handle that and finally get it back and that's what it was.

Q. Talk about the defensive effort for all 40 minutes for the game. Seems like you never let up.

SINDARIUS THORNWELL: Yeah, we pride ourselves on our defense. We know that's our bread and butter and we know we have a good defense and we go out and guard. We know it's a 40-minute game, and we know teams are going to make runs, but we can't take our foot off the pedal, we got to keep the pressure on and keep guarding.

DUANE NOTICE: Defense is our staple and we can't control if the shot goes in, we can't control the referee making calls, but what we can control is our hustle heart and effort and control how hard and intense we are on defense. So throughout the year we pride ourselves on our defensive schemes and we want to implement them every chance we get.

CHRIS SILVA: Everything in our defense starts with Duane on the ball, pressuring the ball and that gives us time in the back to like get back on line and be aggressive. So, yeah, we believe our defense works, so we did a good job being aggressive.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. We'll excuse the student-athletes and take questions for coach.

Q. Your team clearly won the defensive battle tonight. When you coach and teach your team defense, what's more important, technique or attitude?

FRANK MARTIN: First of all, a lot of respect to you. That's a heck of a question. I've been doing this a long time and that's the first time anyone's ever asked me that. That's a heck of a question. Attitude comes first. We got to have guys that are going to believe in our mission, that are going to believe in what we want to do. Once they believe, then we can teach them the technique. It all starts with our mindset. We have got guys that are completely bought into what we do.

Q. That was obviously a pro-Carolina crowd. There were a lot of fans that came out tonight. I'm curious, where does that atmosphere rank in terms of some of the home crowds that you've seen this season?

FRANK MARTIN: You guys are just starting to watch our fans. You don't understand how good our fans are. Everyone thinks that our fans only come out to watch the Gamecocks play football, and our fans are crazy. Our fans love their school. I'm just telling you. We're good, because we have created a home court environment at home. Our guys love playing for our fans, our fans love cheering for our guys. We were 13th, I said this a couple times, I don't mean to be repetitive it just -- I think that everyone thinks that we have been playing in an empty gym and all of a sudden our fans showed up. We're 13th in the country in attendance. You go see a volleyball came game at South Carolina, it's sold out; a soccer game, sold out; women's basketball, it's sold out. It's crazy, our fans absolutely love our school and they have unbelievable passion for our school. Our fans and our players and I said this five years ago, are fully invested into each other right now. Our fans are taking this ride with us and eventually we're either going to party together or we're going to cry together. It's one or the other. There's not another alternative there. But that's the way it needs to be. We -- in fact, I want fans to cry when I cry. I want them to be mad when I go home mad. That's the only way you know that you got something going on.

Q. We talked about this a little when you came up here and played Seton Hall about who you are and what you put into teams. The toughness. In all your years of coaching, is this the closest your teams have come defensively what you might consider perfection and do you consider your style beautiful?

FRANK MARTIN: When you mean my style, because this is not about me. When you mean my style, I'll answer your second question first. My style would mean how our team plays?

Q. Yeah.

FRANK MARTIN: It's beautiful to us. Which is what matters. I'm sure there's people don't like it. That's their prerogative. They play, you know, if they're a coach, they can coach however they want. If they're a fan, they can root for a team that plays the style they like.

For us, we love it. This is what gives us our edge. After the first -- I don't know, somewhere late November, when we played Michigan, I can't remember, that's what I'm trying to figure out when it was. I left that game, I said, this team has a chance to be, has a chance to be the best defensive team I've coached. That was my thought process when I got home and broke that film down.

My concern had been our big guys, because they're so young. Not that they can't do it, they're just so young. But hopes are like tonight Kotsar, probably, I don't know, I don't think he scored, he took on Motley. That was his matchup. I think he did a heck of a job of not letting Motley get going in the game. But it's the best defensive team I've coached in college basketball. As a head coach. No doubt.

Q. Have you heard from anyone this week any like words of advice from any guys that reached out, maybe Spurrier or anybody like that?

FRANK MARTIN: Here's the great thing about coaching -- yes, he has called -- here's the great thing about Coach Spurrier. He's done this, so he understands that the last thing he needs to do is be getting in people's heads about basketball.

But now, if you sit down with him in the off-season coach will coach some basketball now. He loves ball. We all at South Carolina, we have an unbelievable deal. I mean I talked -- at South Carolina whether it's Coach Tanner, who is not my boss, but he understands sports and athletes and moments. Dawn Staley, Steve Spurrier, just think about the resources I have to kind of lean on, to how to manage certain things. Not so much X and O, but manage certain things at this time of the year.

I'm fortunate, you see this is the thing about me, I'm not smart enough to figure things out, so I need to listen. I've been in this moment before as a coach, I told you I'm not very smart, I can't even subtract and I'm a math teacher. Seven years ago, I mismanaged the practice between the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 game. I'm not making that mistake this time. I learned. I'm not making that mistake. That's not going to guarantee that we're going to win on Sunday, but because I've been in this moment before, luckily it's not 2 in the morning and it's not a double over time game, but I'm going to manage that. But I've got great resources, Hugs, Andy Kennedy. I just, I'm the luckiest human being on the face of the earth because of the people that I have access to that help me every single day.

Maik Kostak, freshman forward

On the Gamecock's defensive efforts:
"I think defensively we did well. Chris did phenomenally. I think I should have done a little bit better, we have to still stay out of foul trouble, but at the same time the team won by 20."

On rebounding numbers:
"We just went in with the mindset that we have to outplay the bigs, and we did that with an extreme amount of effort on the glass."

P.J. Dozier, sophomore guard

On the team's mentality:
"We know we can't lose, so we can't come out hesitant. We know that the next loss we have is our last game. We don't want this to end."

On rebounding:
"Our coaching staff harped on rebounding. If we came out and rebounded we would win the game. That was the key to the game. We went out there and did it, and that got us the win."

On why the team has gone on this run to the Elite Eight:
"Defense. Defense wins games. That's what we hang our hats on and it's what this coaching staff has implemented in us. Our offense comes out of our defense, so when we defend, it's resulted in good things."

On when he realized that this season could be special:
"We realized it in the preseason. We knew we could be really good, but we didn't know how good we could be. But we knew we had potential to be where we are."

On what went well defensively against Baylor:
"We forced them to take tough shots late in the shot clock. A couple of times, they found some easier looks late in the buzzer but we forced them into shots near the buzzer and I think that's what went really well for us."

On what led to finishing the first half strong (24-7 run in final 9:58):
"We said we needed to keep guarding the way we started the game. That's what we kept doing. We love the second half but our run started earlier than that tonight."

On this team's swagger:
"We have always had it. Now it's on the big stage. That's what we signed up for."

On the fan support:
"We can't thank them [our fans] enough. Just leaving the hotel today, seeing all of the fans supporting us, it was really a blessing."

Rakym Felder, freshman guard

On Gamecock fans traveling to NYC for the game:
"They're amazing. We appreciate them. They keep us going, and we love their support."

On if Gamecocks have the best defense in the country:
"I think people are starting to recognize now"

On Rebounding:
"Watching a bunch of film, we saw how hard they crash the glass, we just tried to put a body on them, tried to out-toughen them on that aspect. I think we did a pretty good job."

On if they noticed their 20-point lead during the game:
"At half time of course, but we had to stick to the course. The game is 40 minutes, two halves, they made their run, we made our run, in the end we came out victorious."

Justin McKie, senior guard

On being three wins away from a national championship:
"I try not to think about it. We have to go at it one game at a time. It's a one game season right now. We have focus on Sunday."

On the groove they've found after struggles earlier in the season:
"After the loss in the SEC tournament we had 2 days off. I think it gave our guys time to cool off, re-group, take their mind off things and then come back together to try and reach a common goal. I think that two-day break really helped us."

On South Carolina's defensive effort:
"If we play defense like that, we can play with anybody. We have to keep working at it, stick to it and keep watching film"