Nov. 20, 2008
Vanderbilt 63 – Illinois 69
November 20, 2008 – Memorial Gymnasium
Attendance: 12,630
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening statement:
“Congratulations to them. They deserved to win.They did a better job of making shots and being aggressive on the boards. You have to tip your hat to them. We have a lot of room to get better.That was a sorry rebounding effort on our part and we need to work on that.”
On the play of freshmen:
“They’re just trying to figure out how to play basketball. We tried hard, but to hold them to 37 percent and to have them have 21 offensive rebounds, some of those had to go in.”
On his mindset:
“I don’t like to lose. The rational part of my brain says that they’re freshmen. Festus gave us a great effort. His back was killing him and he came out and played well. I thought Andre Walker had a nice game as well.”
On Illinois defense:
“They took a different approach and maybe that’s what he (Coach Weber) feels like he needs to take. They packed it in and dared us to make shots and we didn’t make them. The free throws and lay ups cost us on offense. We took the ball to the basket and didn’t convert.”
Vanderbilt Players
A.J. Ogilvy, center
On getting enough looks:
“We didn’t make enough and missed a lot of critical shots straight off the basket. It was tough to move the ball, so I think we did a pretty good job of getting to the basket and getting the easy looks.”
On the Illinois team:
“They were a physical team. It was difficult to get the ball. They were coming from the week side a lot so we couldn’t actually pass it in.”
On losing:
“Losing at any time is disappointing, but to be this early in the season is what’s really hurting. Over the next few days we’ll work on improving so we make sure we don’t drop any more games.”
Brad Tinsley, guard
On getting the ball to the inside:
“It was a little hard, but AJ is really good at being the wide body. Once we get it reversed and get them scattered it gets easier.”
On the game plan:
“Our game plan was to punch it in and let AJ do his thing. When they doubled we tried to space it out. That’s a great part of our team. When we get the ball out we can do something with it.”
On the other team’s three pointers:
“They were a great team with set screens. They were setting doubles and singles, and their big players stepped up and hit big shots.”
On Illinois’ offense:
“Their big players were setting good screens and their shooters knew how to use the screens. Our defenders didn’t get out there in time.”
Bruce Weber, Illinois Head Coach
On establishing a new identity:
“Yeah. We had the Arizona game early and led most of the way (before losing). Today, we didn’t lead the whole time, but I thought it was a typical road game where we’d get a little bit of a lead, they’d make their run, we’d hang in there and make a big bucket at the end of the half. I think that was huge. We regrouped at halftime and in the second half, controlled the boards. When we were able to run the offense and get open shots, we shot it well.”
On the win:“It was just a good overall team win. Kevin (Stallings) is a very good coach. He comes out of timeouts and you never know what the heck is going to happen. They ran some quick-hitters. They missed a couple of plays and we just took advantage of it. Trent’s (Meachem) three, Chester’s (Frazier) three and then four free throws down the stretch was the back breaker. For us, it’s a great win. Hopefully it’s a confidence builder. I will cheer for Vanderbilt the rest of the year.”
On starting Demetri McCamey:
“Well, Calvin (Brock) has struggled and Demetri has tried a little more. We know we need him to make plays, but he also has to guard. I didn’t think he guarded (Jermaine) Beal very well in the first half. They went together on the trip to China. I thought, the beginning, Beal had the best of him. We had to switch Chester (Frazier) three times. Demitri, I challenged him a couple of times. He had a big shot before the half and then he made some key plays for us down the stretch.”
Illinois Players
Demetri McCamey
On getting a win at an SEC school:
“This was a real big win. Last year we lost a lot of tough games. It feelsgood to come home with a W. Last year we couldn’t find a way to win. We need to keep this going.”
On coming back late in the game:
“The shots fell, but the defense really picked it up. We made them take some tough shots. I thank Richard Semrau for guarding Ogilvy. The defense was there all night. That helped us out tonight.”
On teammates saying “I believe, I believe” in the hallway after the game:
“Last year the Arizona game was real big for us. But unfortunately we lost.Going against a good Vanderbilt team and getting a win was real big for us.”
On Vanderbilt trying to pull away in the beginning of the second half:
“I was telling everybody to stay together like a family. We played good defense and came out with a W.”
Mike Davis
On Demetri McCamey’s first start of the year:
“He plays big in big games all the time. I was not worried about him. He played a great first half and second half. The shot at the end of the first half was big. It put us up.”
On the play of Richard Semrau:
“Rich did the little things that Coach told us to do: screen, box out, tip-ins, tip-out the ball back to the guard. He did a great job.”
On snapping Vanderbilt’s 20-game win streak at home:
“We knew about it going into the game. This gives us a great deal of confidence to come in here and get a win like this against a great team.”
