Jan. 14, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Howells Photos 
| AP Photos
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening Comments:
“I thought our defense played well, especially in the second half after the start. It was not a thing of beauty, but over the course of 16 games, it’s not going to be pretty all of the time.”
On Vanderbilt’s Second Half Adjustments:
“We wanted to drive it, and that makes a big difference. It certainly affected the game in that we were able to get to the foul line.”
On Vanderbilt’s Offensive Rebounding Down the Stretch:
“I thought we played with urgency down the stretch. The urgency was there. We had a couple of free throw misses that we were able to put back… It’s something we’ve talked about and worked hard on.”
On Having Center Festus Ezeli in the Lineup:
“We’ve won tough games without him, but he can make a difference for us. He’s in there and gave us some good minutes. Steve [Tchiengang] is also giving us some good minutes.”
On Vanderbilt’s Defensive Effort:
“We always know that one of the keys is defending the three. We defended it well [today]. There was a stretch there where it was a one- or two-point game and they were making them. We just tightened up and our ball screen defense was good.”
On Vanderbilt’s Unbeaten Conference Record:
“We obviously have a very difficult game at Alabama and a difficult week. We feel good about our team.”
On Georgia’s Defense of Vanderbilt Guard John Jenkins:
“[Gerald] Robinson’s a fantastic kid… The game turned for John in the second half when he started driving to the basket. He has that ability now – he has to go to the goal and dare them to foul him. He’s going to make [the free throws].”
Vanderbilt Player Quotes
On being undefeated in SEC conference play:
“I think if you want to be a championship team, like we want to be this season, you have to start off well. You can’t dig yourself a hole at the beginning of the season, so we’re definitely still good where we’re at right now. The outlook is good for us. We have Alabama on Thursday, so we’re excited about that game. We’ll get back to work on Monday.”
On the technical foul called in the final minutes of the game:
“I didn’t say anything to the referee. They had warned me before on the free throw box outs, they thought I was hooking the other player, so they called a foul. I got a little frustrated and as I was running back I yelled something up in the air and the other referee heard it and he called a technical foul. Nothing was directed at the referee who called it. Nothing was directed towards the referees really so, he heard and he called it and it is what it is.”
On shooting well in the final minutes of the game:
“It was good. We spent a lot of time on the free throw line and we stress finishing games a whole bunch. In order to win in this conference you got to finish games and hit free throws, so that’s what we did.”
On struggling to make shots on the perimeter:
“I hit some in the beginning and then the second half I missed I think three in a row, so I tried to start driving and get fouled and get to the free throw line and that was what was real good for me tonight.”
Lance Goulborne
On adjusting from a perimeter offense to an inside offense:
“Coach has been talking about that we’re not going to be shooting 60% from three and hitting 13 threes a game for the whole season. Today was one of those days where John [Jenkins] might have been a little off from three, we didn’t even shoot many. If we’re not getting outside we have the capability of getting inside with Festus in there working hard and the other guys on the outside that can drive in there and make plays for other people and make plays for themselves.”
On difficulty shooting from the perimeter:
“We kind of realized it during the first half. We weren’t hitting as many shots as we normally do and it kind of clicked a little early for us today because in practice the other day we weren’t hitting many shots on the outside. Our three main shooters weren’t hitting, so we were ready for it. We weren’t expecting to hit a whole bunch of 3’s this afternoon and when we knew they weren’t going in we started to get inside. Shooting 44 free throws in a game is huge.”
Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox
On Georgia’s Performance:
“There were a lot of positives during the game. But, we are not into moral victories. We competed really hard. We did some good things today.”
On Georgia’s Front Court:
“They were playing well, but we had three guys foul out tonight. That might be a record. That’s the hard part. Our defensive numbers weren’t good enough and we gave them 44 free throw attempts.”
On Georgia’s Lack of Scoring at the End of the Game:
“That’s the difference there.”
On Georgia’s Positives in the Game:
“We obviously had a lot. Donte’ [Williams] played well. Kentavious [Caldwell-Pope] played well. It was a game with fewer than ten turnovers. Throughout the game, we made good plays at key times. It still was not good enough. But, we are definitely growing.”
Georgia Player Quotes
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
On playing in Memorial Gymnasium:
“It was a great feeling, but we just didn’t pull it out like we wanted to. We just gave up some easy baskets, and slipped up on our defense at the end of the game.”
On how Georgia improved:
“We improved on playing hard. That was one of our focuses, just playing hard, every game, every minute. We improved on playing hard tonight.”
On what to going forward:
“We just have to go back to practice and get ready for the next team, and compete like we competed tonight.”
Donte’ Williams
On being frustrated:
“It was a lot of things; the crowd, playing on the road, they had a home court advantage. The main thing was just trying to play hard and do what I can for my team. Was I frustrated? Not really, it’s just that when they had the momentum, you had to play hard. Sometimes stuff wasn’t going our way, so you had to keep a steady head. I wasn’t really frustrated, but disappointed.”
On Vandy’s abilities:
“They have a good team, but everybody in the SEC is good, so every night you just have to play hard.”
On coming out encouraged:
“A loss is a loss, but I have to give it up to my team. We played hard. In the last couple minutes we let the game slip away, but we just have to learn from the mistakes we made. We lost the game, so we still have to improve.”