Dec. 22, 2008
Vanderbilt 68 – Furman 49
December 22, 2008 – Memorial Gym
Attendance: 11,961
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening Comments:
“It wasn’t what I had hoped for, but it is what it is. I could tell during our shoot around that our guys were focused on Christmas and that’s how we played. Brad Tinsley didn’t make a three point shot against their zone, but we scored 70 points. We didn’t attack their zone really well. In the second half, we got it inside to A.J. [Ogilvy] and got to the foul line.”
On Halftime Adjustments:
“It took us a half until the guys understood what we were trying to say during timeouts. We’re disappointed, but we’ll take all the 19-point wins we can get.”
On the Overall Game:
“It wasn’t pretty, but that’s okay. Festus Ezeli had a very good stretch during the first half, but then his back flared up on him. He did a good job when he was in there.”
On Jermaine Beal’s 3-Point Effort:
“Obviously, he’s improved dramatically as a shooter. He had 15 points on six shots. That’s a good return on shots. A.J. got 22 points on eight shots, but he got to the foul line a lot. Those two have been steady for us.”
Vanderbilt Players
Jermaine Beal, guard
On Tonight’s Offense:
“I think we were definitely sluggish tonight. Everyone was looking forward to going home and we weren’t focused on the game at all. I knew I had to step up to pick up the slack a bit.”
On Being a 3-Point Shooter:
“Shooting 3s wasn’t really my thing two years ago. I’ve been working hard in the off-season, especially after the line moved back, and now I just have to get open and I can usually get it in there.”
On Offense in the Future:
“I think we need to be ready when it comes time for conference play. It’s crunch time when it’s conference time and we can’t be sluggish like we were tonight.”
A.J. Ogilvy, center
On Furman’s Aggressive Defense:
“The physicality is something that you just have to get used to with college basketball. Especially with the conference we’re in, it’s something you just have to be ready for.”
On Ability to Get Inside:
“I think tonight was a combination of looking inside and passing well. I can’t make a good shot and draw fouls in the paint if I don’t have a good pass, and there were a lot of great assists tonight. We just made their defense move around.”
Jeff Jackson, Furman Head Coach
On Play of Point Guards in Game:
“We were concerned with our point guard play coming into tonight’s game, but they did a good job. We have to find ways to make it easier on them.”
On Play of Brandon Sebirumbi and Chris Toler:
“A.J. Ogilvy is very good and had an impact on our post players. Brandon played tough tonight and Chris did a good job of taking care of the ball, and playing physical and getting us rebounds. We know that we sometimes have to play ugly and control the pace of the game to win and everyone to contribute to this.”
On Playing Zone Defense:
“We played zone, but Ogilvy is so skilled that he was still able to have a major impact on the game. Jermaine Beal was also able to hit some 3-pointers and that gave Vandy some separation from us and forced us to continue to play from behind more.”
On Play of Tony Anderson:
“Tony was able to do some good things for us tonight, but he needs to be more savvy with the basketball and be able to make better decisions when to penetrate or pass the ball.”
On Shooting Effort:
“Vandy’s size definitely affected us tonight. Beal did a good job of shadowing our perimeter players and playing physical defense on them.”
