Nov. 10, 2007
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
Opening statement:
“There were some sort of opening game jitters tonight, but I think our older guys played like our older guys should play. They didn’t look like they did on Monday night. I thought Shan Foster, Alex Gordon, and Ross Neltner had to step up. We fouled too much tonight, but I thought we did a great job defensively on Drake Reed and Fernandez Lockett. Reed finished with 12 points, but it took him 16 shots to get that. We’ll take that any day of the week.”
On Shan Foster:
“He shot the ball well tonight. It’s what we expect from him – he has to make shots for our team. The more shots he and Alex Gordon make, the more we’re going to be hard to guard inside.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense:
“We were locked in defensively to start the game. Austin Peay is a good team. Dave Loos is an excellent coach. He’s a great person for our profession. He has an outstanding team and we feel fortunate to have beaten them. We shot the ball well and that helped us win.”
Vanderbilt Players:
Forward Shan Foster:
Opening statement:
“Coach [Stallings] harped on us after our last game, saying that the four seniors needed to step up and show some leadership.”
On practice this week:
“We had to come out and out-compete the other team. Coach [Stallings] harped on that a lot and it showed up in the stats tonight.”
Guard Alex Gordon:
On Vanderbilt’s inside game:
“We can go into the huddle now and say we want to get the ball inside. We know we’ll get a basket or a foul.”
On his ability to make shots:
“The team found me every time I was open and it was great to see shots fall.”
Austin Peay Head Coach Dave Loos:
On his team’s slow start to the game:
“That was the result of poor team play. We dug ourselves in a hole and couldn’t get anything established. To use a football analogy, we can’t leave our defense out on the field for that long.”
On the Governors’ offense:
“When we started moving the ball, things got a little easier for us. You have got to make them come out and guard you a little bit, make them play defense. When you move the ball you give them a chance to break down. They didn’t just didn’t break down.”
On Vanderbilt’s leading scorers Shan Foster and Alex Gordon:
“They were patient enough to get them good shots. I don’t enjoy losing, but I enjoyed watching Vanderbilt play because of the teamwork and discipline.”
On the difficulty of facing a taller team:
“We tried to shoot it up over people but can’t do that. Just because you get the ball down there, it doesn’t mean you should always shoot it. It’s nothing more than a glorified turnover.”
On the play senior forward Fernandez Lockett:
“Lockett was very unselfish. He took what came to him and did some other things. He had the double-double and a pretty good night.”
