Feb. 7, 2009
Vanderbilt 71 – Mississippi 61
February 7, 2009 – Memorial Gym
Attendance: 14,316
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening Comments:
“It was a game that we really desperately needed to have an opportunity to play for something other than our own pride and improvement. Our guys came out with a sense of urgency. I thought our defense in the second half as not as good as in the first half, but I like how we played and how we competed. I thought our bench gave us a boost in the second half. Lance [Goulbourne] hit a couple of threes and had a dunk.”
On Vanderbilt’s Play:
“We played better. We played reasonably confident at South Carolina. We didn’t win, but we showed some flashes. We played solid at Auburn and reasonably solid against Alabama. Maybe we’re starting to find our consistency.”
On Jermaine Beal and Brad Tinsley:
“We were very fortunate that Jermaine Beal and Brad Tinsley are well-conditioned athletes. They both have really good endurance. We got a break with George Drake being able to play today, which we didn’t expect. He showed courage by playing. It showed our toughness that Jermaine Beal played 40 minutes against Alabama and Brad Tinsley played 37 and today they played 36 and 34. They’re not showing any ill effects.”
On Brad Tinsley’s Performance:
“He’s a great player. He got off to his best start. He works hard and is a good teammate. We’re glad to have him.”
On Lance Goulbourne’s Performance:
“I didn’t give him much of a chance in the first half. Even when he was out there for us, he looked like he was in pain. He has a stress fracture in his pelvic bone. He only participates in about half of a practice and he’s hard to figure out sometimes.”
Vanderbilt Players
A.J. Ogilvy, forward
On 10-0 scoring run to open the game:
“We talked a lot about coming out with intensity and it was a conscious effort that we really came out in the first few minutes and went from there.”
On Vanderbilt spreading its offense:
“I think the scoring spread shows that everyone stepped up and it’s hard to shut down a bunch of scorers rather than one person who is just hitting everything.”
On having a week off:
“Our confidence is good and it’s good to prepare for next weekend by coming out of this week with two wins. I think it’s a good time for a week off. We need to get a week to prepare, especially at this point in the season. We have a few guys struggling with their health at the moment and we, as a team, need to get into a more defensive mind for next weekend.”
On his health:
“It’s good to get my fitness back and feel the difference. I know I don’t sound 100% but my foot is completely better and I’m really taking care of myself to get back to 100% with my health.”
Brad Tinsley, guard
On playing 30+ minutes in Vanderbilt’s last two games:
“I think fatigue will always be a bit of an issue, especially with a Thursday/Saturday set. I think fatigue is mental for the most part though, so it was good that we’re conditioned well and played well.”
On playing on TV:
“I think experience is a big key in calming nerves. We’re learning from our mistakes. The older guys have really showed the younger guys how to calm down a bit when we’ve been on TV.”
On his performance tonight:
“It was a lot of a fun, whenever you’re winning and the team is doing a lot of scoring, it’s really fun out there. These are two big wins for us as a team, and especially in this league. We all had a lot of fun watching and playing.”
Andy Kennedy, Mississippi Head Coach
General Thoughts:
“I thought that our defense was good early but we had an inability to score in the first half. We were able to cut the lead in the second half and tried to press on defense but we let some baskets in when all five of us weren’t working together as one.”
On shooting struggles:
“We had the right guys shooting in the first half. We want our veterans to take a majority of the shots in a game, which happened in the first half but they were around one-for-15.”
On Vanderbilt defense:
“Vanderbilt went into a zone and extended us on offense. We tried to pass the ball inside but they got deflections and were able to gain some run-outs for easy scores.”
On turnovers:
“We showed inexperience in passing on a zone defense. We tried to pass the ball through defenders instead of around them and this caused us to struggle offensively.”
On Vanderbilt’s second-half effort:
“Vanderbilt put on an offensive clinic in the second half. (Lance) Goulbourne came off the bench for them and gave them some well-timed three-pointers. We knew that Vanderbilt played on Thursday and used their guards heavily. We wanted to work them hard and use up their energy.”
Mississippi Players
Terrico White, guard
On Ole Miss’ approach to the game:
“I think we had the wrong approach. We came out passive. They made their shots in the first half and we started off slow.”
On Vanderbilt’s play:
“They came out and made their shots. There’s nothing you can do about that. You just have to man up and play defense.”
David Huertas, guard
On Ole Miss’ slow start:
“They came out making shots and we didn’t. We went like six for 28 in the first half and it’s hard to guard them missing shots getting down.”
On Ole Miss’ shot selection:
“I think we settled a lot (for jump shots). In the second half, we were more aggressive getting to the basket and that’s what we have to do.”
On Ole Miss’ approach to the game:
“It surprised me. We’ve won three games in-a-row and we don’t have a lot of energy. That’s why we fell behind in the first half.