Locker Room Chat: Jamal Jones explains big game against Ole Miss

On dropping 21 on his old team...

"It feels great. I wanted to let those guys know, 'Hey, you let me go, you probably made the worst decision of your life — so I'm just going to show you.' I've been waiting on this game for two years. That's what I've been telling people, ever since they let me go I knew I was coming back to the SEC and that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to play them and I wanted to beat them as bad as we possibly could."

On the Jones vs. Henderson 'heavyweight bought' and his role with A&M short-handed...

"As far as Marshall Henderson and me, I didn't really see it like that because I don't know Marshall. Marshall wasn't there when I was there. It was me vs. Ole Miss because I had something to prove. They basically tried to take basketball away from me and now that I've got another chance I just want to make the best of it. With us being short-handed, me, AC (Alex Caruso) and Jordan (Green) knew we were going to have to play the majority of the minutes and do the majority of the scoring. So we were prepared. We came in prepared and I just came in in attack mode."

On how he prepared to not let his emotions overtake him...

"I felt myself getting too in-the-zone sometimes, so that's when I relaxed and started talking to my teammates before the game. I started talking to them and calming myself down and getting back to being level-headed. Once it was tip-off I was calm and ready. But before the game I was too antsy and I just calmed myself down."

On Alex Caruso's behind-the-back move and dunk over Henderson...

"That was a spectacular move. AC can really put it down and people don't really know that about him. So when he did it, I was shocked but I was also like, 'About time.' He can do that whenever he wants. It was a great move to get there and then the finish was even better. That's got to be top-five (on SportsCenter) and if it's not we've got to call SportsCenter."

On Jordan Green's career-high 16 points and defensive effort on Henderson...

"We knew Henderson was going to hit shots. But once he came out and hit shots, we said, 'It's not going to last the whole game.' No way those shots can fall the whole game. Jordan was in his face all night long, giving all the energy possible. That's what Jordan does. He's the best Aggie basketball player as far as spirit-wise and hustle and emotion. He's the best Aggie basketball player that probably ever has been (at that). He just did a great job all night long offensively, defensively, keeping everybody level-headed. He helped me stay level-headed too."

On Kourtney Roberson going 6-for-6 and Antwan Space's game...

"That was big. They knew they were going to have to play a lot of minutes too because we had two guards out, which meant I couldn't rotate to the four, (Green) couldn't rotate to the four, so those guys had to play multiple minutes. Kourtney, I told him before the game, 'I know all these guys. Neither one of those posts guys can hold you. I want you to have 20-plus.' He didn't give it to them but he was 6-for-6. That's better. I'll take that.

"Space had a lot of effort on the glass. He did get a tip, which they should count as rebounds but they don't. He had a lot of energy. He helped us out a lot."

On a potential NIT bid and earning it with a strong finish...

"This last week is very important. NIT is still a good chance, we still have two games left and a conference tournament. We win these two games and that gives us momentum going into the conference tournament. If we really make a run in the conference tournament it's the NIT; if we just happen to win and shock the world ... everyone knows where we're going after that."