Feb. 14, 2007
South Carolina at Vanderbilt
Memorial Gymnasium
February 14, 2007
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
“I’m really proud of our team. I thought our fight in the second half down the stretch was critical. We made plays down the stretch to win the game. [Alex Gordon] made some big shots and Shan [Foster] made some big plays. We couldn’t rebound, but Derrick Byars was incredible tonight. The game wasn’t pretty, but it’s never pretty when you play South Carolina. They played extremely well and kept the tempo where they needed it to be.”
On Derrick Byars’ Play:
“The first half of the season, Derrick Byars was up and down. Ever since the Auburn game, I would say he’s had many more great games than good games. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him play as well as he did tonight. I don’t think I took him out in the second half until eight seconds to go. It was a good ride with Derrick Byars tonight.”
On Plays Down the Stretch:
“The guys we have in at the end of games are extremely experienced and confident. There’s a tremendous belief in one person in another that they won’t let up or give in. It may not always work every night, but our players are confident that our guys will give.”
On South Carolina’s Tre Kelley:
“He’s a great player. We tried to dog him tonight. I don’t know if he got tired or if it was our defense down the stretch, but we did a much better job on him. He was making one incredible play after another. He’s one good, smart player. Derrick Byars did a nice job at the end of the game defensively on him.”
On Alex Gordon’s Play:
“I thought Red has done a terrific job all season long. He’s a great leader. He is our best energy guy every day, not just on game days. I thought he played well today and hit tremendously big shots. We needed him tonight and he was really good.
On recovering from Saturday’s loss:
“I’ve never been more ready to play a game than tonight. Saturday was just embarrassing. We knew it wasn’t us. We competed very hard in practice this week and we were ready. I knew it was going to be a good night for all of us collectively.”
On getting the offense going in the first half:
“We were getting it done defensively but struggling on offense. Coach Stallings calmed us down and we got better spacing and were able to do some things we normally do.”
On his 32 point-effort:
“I try to offer whatever I can to the team. I have confidence in what I can do offensively and defensively. We have a lot of guys that can step up and make those plays. I just do what I have to do. I take advantage of what’s given to me.”
On his slow scoring start:
“I was trying to exert a little too much energy defensively. The team needed me to make more plays. But my teammates have confidence in me so no matter what happens in the first half they’ll still come to me in the second. And that makes me more confident in myself.”
On South Carolina Point Guard Tre Kelly
“He’s probably one of the best point guards in this league. He’s very quick, he shoots the ball well. He’s a tough guy to guard all around.”
“My big shots this game came just before the shot clock buzzer. You practice to go out and make big plays at the end.”
South Carolina Coach Dave Odom
“We played extremely well in most cases tonight, but down the stretch we simply did not execute.”
“Vanderbilt shot the ball extremely well tonight, as they usually do. We were right there for most of the game, but we just didn’t do what we needed to do when it counted the most.”
“In the last six minutes we didn’t execute offensively and we didn’t execute defensively. Gordon hit two threes that really hurt us and then Trey made two turnovers in the last five minutes. In a game that close, you just can’t make mistakes like that. When you are working hard to get after it, it just takes the life right out of you.”
On Derrick Byars:
“I didn’t realize until I looked at the scoreboard that he had 19 points in the first half. We don’t have a defensive stopper and he really hurt us tonight. He is definitely one of the best players in this conference and has a good chance to be an all-conference player.”
On Vanderbilt’s 3-point shooting:
“Much like us, they don’t have a serious low-post threat. They are one of the most potent 3-point shooting teams we will face. Cage, Byars and Foster all shoot the ball extremely well from 3-point range, and tonight Gordon hit some big three’s down the stretch as well. Those are four guys who really shoot the three well and are pretty much on the court all the time.”
South Carolina Senior Forward Bryce Sheldon
On the difference in the game down the stretch:
“They made shots down the stretch, it’s pretty much as simple as that. [Alex]Gordon hit a few big threes for them and [Derrick] Byars was hot pretty much all night. They made shots and we just didn’t execute that well down the stretch.”
On South Carolina’s youth:
“We’re young and so we have a lot of inexperienced guys. They are learning every day, and games like these are good learning experiences for them.”
“We were definitely sloppy with the ball down the stretch, There is no doubt about that. And they made shots. It’s unfortunate.”