Feb. 16, 2008
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
Opening statement:
“Today was a hard fought game for both teams. Neither team shot the ball very well and both of us focused on defense. They were great defensively the entire game. We got a break at the end of the game with Florida’s crucial turnover. I thought we competed hard and we’ll take wins anyway that we can this time of the year.”
On Vanderbilt’s scoring drought at the end of the game:
“I thought both teams missed quality looks throughout the day. We just didn’t make a lot of perimeter shots. We had a good start to the second half offensively and that helped us. I didn’t anticipate that we would get away from them, I expected the game to be close throughout. Gordon made four huge free throws for us at the end of the game.”
On returning to action after Tuesday’s victory over Kentucky:
“Today was just a good win. I thought we had difficulty getting over the victory against Kentucky and everyone telling them how great they were. Anytime you get a win it’s good.”
On shooting struggles in the game:
“We got some good looks but also let the shot clock run down on us several times as well. They stymied us, but we were able to make enough plays for the win.”
On Florida’s zone defense:
“They just matched up well with us. They made defending (Shan) Foster a top priority. They do a good job of getting at you and some of our guards struggled from the outside today. It was just a day that we weren’t making shots. But we defended and rebounded well and got the victory.”
On the team’s five-game winning streak:
“I think that we’ve played better the last few games. We have played better defense and haven’t turned the ball over as much, which has been pleasing. The schedule has also helped us and come back towards our favor.”
Vanderbilt Players:
Guard Alex Gordon:
On his free throws in the last minute:
“Just clutch. Being in that situation against Florida – I’m from Florida, so I just smiled. I just knew I was going to make them. My teammates believed in me and just told me to go to the line and win the game for them. Fortunately, I was able to knock them down.”
On if the veteran leadership helped the team down the stretch:
“Most definitely. Somebody on our team asked me what happened on the backcourt violation, and I just told them that they were freshman and everyone experiences that. I had gone through some things like that my freshman year, and everyone has. We have a hostile crowd and it got loud, and they just had a miscommunication. That just happens in college basketball all the time.”
Forward Shan Foster:
On this being a revenge game:
“I don’t know about this being a revenge game, but more so than anything, we wanted to come out and prove that we were a totally different team than we were when we came out and played them the first time. I felt like in the first game we had way too many turnovers. They kind of punked us a little bit, especially on the boards, and we were just playing a little bit out of our character. We’ve worked tremendously hard since then and we are a better team now.”
On surviving an off-shooting night:
“Coach (Stallings) talks about that all the time once we realized that we had a lot of weapons and that we aren’t going to be able to shoot 50 percent from the field. On those nights when things aren’t going as well, it’s your defense that will pick you up, and fortunately enough for us, we were able to do that tonight. We really feel like we are the best team in the country when it comes to winning games down the stretch. That is probably the most comfortable that we will ever be in the game just because we work on it everyday in practice, we have tremendous confidence in ourselves and our coaches and we go out and get it done.”
Center Andrew Ogilvy:
On the technical on Walter Hodge at the end of the game:
“Obviously, it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t throw the ball away. (Nick) Calathes drove to the basket and (Walter) Hodge elbowed me in the chest and I just walked away. The referees saw the situation and thought it warranted a technical.”
Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan:
On his team’s defensive effort:
“I was very proud of the way our guys responded, because certainly I thought the last couple weeks we had kind of struggled defensively, coming in and playing a team that gets about 85 points a game at home and is really hard to guard offensively. Our guys made a better effort, a conscientious effort, to defend and rebound and the kinds of things that we’re lacking.”
On his team’s shooting:
“We really continue to struggle to shoot the ball – 1-15 from the three point line, 39.0% from the field – coming into a place like that and shooting that type of percentages usually would lead to a complete blowout. But I think our guys made plays inside the game that really affected the outcome of the game and gave us a chance to get back in it.”
On the technical foul against Walter Hodge:
“I’m certainly disappointed in Walter Hodge for reacting. There was definitely contact, it was a bang-bang play. I don’t know if it should or shouldn’t have been called, but I need to be concerned about our guys and not other guys, and our guys should have just moved away from the play.”
On the over-and-back violation towards the end of the game:
“At the end I think there was just some confusion between Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas and trying to reorganize to get back with the ball there. Nick obviously tried to get it and stepped back court. You would like to at least have gotten a chance to get a shot at the basket to give ourselves a chance to at least take the lead – not necessarily to win it, but at least take the lead.”
On what his team can learn from the game:
“I think this was a game that certainly hurts our guys, but this could be a game that can really get our guys to understand what it is to be hardened and tough and calloused. And sometimes it takes moments like this that you’ve got to go through to get ultimately where you want to be.”
Florida Players:
Guard Jai Lucas:
On how the booing affected Nick Calathes:
“No, it didn’t get to him at all. He kept making plays down the stretch. The and-1 was huge. Nick is a big time player. He is used to that.”
On the over and back call and the technical late in the game:
“It is pretty disappointing. We were up by one. But it is part of college basketball. You have to play through things like that. This is a learning experience. We’ll just take it forward to the next game.”
On Coach Donavan yelling after the game in the locker room:
“He was pretty upset because we haven’t really been playing good defense in the last couple of games. But he is just telling us about our potential. With us shooting so bad from the field and losing by just three points to supposedly the best team in the SEC, it’s tough to handle.”
On feeling pressure to make the NCAA tournament:
“We’re just going game by game. We don’t look at ESPN or listen to any of the other stuff. We feel we control our own destiny. So that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Guard Walter Hodge:
On the loss and poor shooting:
“We’re frustrated. We’ll move on. We have to shoot the ball with confidence. We’re just not shooting the ball with confidence.”
On talking to the freshman about the stretch run of the season:
“I told the guys we have to stick together and we have to grind no matter what. They’re doing a great job and we are trying to stay together.”
On the fans booing Nick Calathes every time he touched the ball:
“I don’t even pay any attention to that stuff. I’m here to play basketball. I don’t listen to the crowd. I don’t even pay attention to the crowd. You’re not playing against the crowd. You’re playing against another team.”
Forward Dan Werner:
On comparing this year’s loss at Vanderbilt to last year’s loss at Vanderbilt:
“Last year we came in, I don’t know where we were ranked, but obviously we were ranked pretty high. So that is a big difference. Last year, they beat us by I think double digits. This year, we had a chance to win the game at the end.”
On where the team is mentally:
“We guarded today. We have to continue to do that and our offense will come. We have good shooters and we need to take good shots. We’ll keep working.”