Jan. 31, 2015
VANDERBILT HEAD COACH Kevin Stallings
Opening Statement…
“Well, this was a disappointing performance for us really from start to finish. I thought A&M dictated the entire game, how the game was played, the flow of it, the physicality of it and drove us when they wanted to, made shots, so just not a good enough performance by our team to be a little more competitive than we felt we might be.”
On Alex Caruso…
“He’s a good player, and you know he’s deceptively good on the defensive end. He gets his hands on a lot of balls and leads things, and picks up things so he kind of had his way with us, and so did Roberson. Roberson, he started dictating how the game was going to be played inside.”
On picking up in second half…
“I don’t know we probably blocked a few more shots, were a little more active at the goal maybe, but I’m not sure we did anything. I’m not sure that they didn’t just get bored.”
On A&M’s performance…
“It felt like in the first half, I never thought it to be very hard to make a lay up and I felt like that was about all they shot in the first half. So, I guess that felt like it was us but then they got their head up. We started the game out, we get a point-blank lay up there and the first possession and actually that’s two shots right next to the basket, maybe three, and they come down and make a couple so the energy starts for them. They played well. They’re a good passing team. They’re a very good defensive team. You know, they can struggle to score at times, but certainly not this afternoon. But, they’re a very good veteran team that knows how to play, and know all the rules and play well together. They have good pieces inside, got a guy that’s real physical, another guy that knows how to get the ball in the basket. They’ve just got a lot of ways to deal with things, and they’re good at doing what they do and so they’re going to be tough for people to beat. They’re a good team.”
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
“Really, I thought the first half we played about as well as we could play in a lot of areas. Offensively, we shared the ball. Defensively, they only scored nine or 12 points in the first 14 minutes of the game. Fortunately, we played that well and gave ourselves a cushion because I thought Vandy did a good job coming back in the beginning of the second half, while we got a little complacent with the ball and gave them some easy lay ups to get their confidence going.”
On keeping Vandy leading scorer Damian Jones in check…
“I thought Kourtney did a really good job on him. Frustrated him in the first half and we dug in at the post. We forced the turnovers. Forced some bad shots that he took, because he’s really a good player I’ve got a lot of respect for what he can do.”
On earning 2nd place in the conference…
“Like I told my guys, obviously, we’re thankful but I mean we’ve got a lot of games left. There’s no need to celebrate where we’re at in the standings. We need to celebrate the win, get past it and get better tomorrow. We’ve just got to continue to get better. There are a lot of areas we can get better. We got outscored in the second half, but those are the things that I see, you know three point shooting, just little things. Too many turnovers, 16 turnovers, it’s just too many, but we got better as a team. Davonte Fitzgerald stayed ready. We’ve got some guys that keep their head in what they’re doing like Tonny and Davonte. They came off the bench and gave us some really good minutes. I think that’s one of the biggest advantages we have over some of the other teams we’re playing, we’re deeper and we’re older.”
On the energy at the start of game…
“The energy, the buzz, you know we’re winning games. We had a great crowd. Our guys appreciate that. We value the people who come to our games. Our guys have played in games where we didn’t have great crowds, so we’ve got to know the group is embracing this opportunity. If we can continue to get better, there will be more great crowds. I’m just thinking our guys are hungry, they’re thankful, and I want to keep it that way.”
TEXAS A&M SENIOR KOURTNEY ROBERSON
On reaching second place…
“It feels great. We haven’t been in second place since my first year. We’ve been going hard since the beginning of the year, and it’s showing.”
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR ALEX CARUSO
On nearly clenching a triple-double…
“I didn’t think I was that close to be honest. I was just playing hard. The ball fell my way a couple times. I was just out there playing hard. You realize when you’re playing that you have a bunch of points and rebounds and assists, but you never really know how many it is. I just continued to play my hardest.”
On beating a team they’re supposed to beat…
“We expect to win every game, regardless of who it is coming into our place. But it is good to take care of the wins you’re ‘supposed’ to win according to the media, coaches and other people. We talked about the most important game is whichever one is next. We took care of business and now we’re on to the next one.”
On the largest home crowd in his career…
“It’s really big. We got off to a fast start because we had energy. We had people yelling us on. It’s just that little spark you need to get that little extra effort. It’s great to see everybody coming out and supporting us, and I hope they’ll be back. We’ll continue to play hard for them.”