March 4, 2009
Vanderbilt 75 – No. 12 LSU 67
March 4, 2009 – Maravich Center – Baton Rouge, La.
Attendance: 13,249
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening Statement …
“It was a really good effort by our guys. I was really happy with their effort and how hard they played. We knew LSU was going to make a run; they’re such a good team. We were able to knock back their run by hitting some big shots. We had some big shots that were made. It’s always great to get a road win.”
On LSU’s defense against Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy …
“That’s the way they do things. They’ve won the league championship playing that way, so you can’t fault them for it because it’s worked the whole season. We just wanted to get the ball to A.J. (Ogilvy) and see if he could do some work for us and he was able to step up and play well.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense …
“We did a great job defensively. (Tasmin) Mitchell and (Marcus) Thorton hurt us some, but they’re going to because they’re such good players. We just kept attacking and kept going at them and the more we attacked the better we played.”
Vanderbilt Players
A.J. Ogilvy, center
On LSU making adjustments on him …
“They tried to double a couple of times in the first half, but I was able to find some of our guys open and they knocked down some shots so (LSU) really couldn’t come down and double anymore.”
On being able to score so much in the paint …
“We knew they were pretty skinny inside so we knew we had to pound down low. We did a good job preparing all week for that and the coaches obviously knew what to do to get us a win down here.”
On limiting the number of turnovers …
“We turned the ball over 24 times last game and tonight being able to keep the turnovers at eight was definitely something that helped us win in such a hostile environment.”
Trent Johnson, LSU Head Coach
Opening statement …
“It didn’t work out the way we wanted it, but I think you have to tip your hat to Vanderbilt. Obviously they played exceptionally well. They dominated us in the paint. I thought for the most part, we got very good looks offensively. The ball just didn’t go down for us, which happens, for all of us. Sometimes you get in situations where you expect Marcus Thornton, Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer to make shot, but it didn’t happen and that is just part of it. They had us back on our heels. When we made runs, they put us back on our heels.”
On if he thought there was something they could have done differently …
“Obviously we doubled down from the perimeter, but because they shoot it so well at all perimeter spots, it builds a handful. We made a decision late in first half and throughout the second half to stay on the perimeters and let Quintin Thornton, Chris Johnson, and Storm Warren battle in the post. There were times when we got good stops, but they got more possessions offensively because we didn’t knock down certain shots. There was maybe a ten or eight possession swing before scoring where we could get back and defend.”
On if there is anything about falling behind that can be correctable …
“For us, it is just a matter of going back to work. As hard as it is for people outside of that locker room to understand, we won 25 games, but we have had to battle possession by possession. When we are coming from behind or a team gets a lead on us, it is because our margin of error is slim. We have to operate on all cylinders, but these guys have done an exceptional job of competing every possession. For us, when you say correctable, we have been doing the same things all year long that put us in the situation where we are the SEC Champs.”
On if there is a silver lining to a loss…
“There is no silver lining when you lose. Again, I don’t want to be overly critical of what we did or didn’t do until I have a chance to review the tapes. I would love to be in a situation sitting here where these guys went out on a beautiful win, but it is what it is.”
LSU Players
Tasmin Mitchell, forward
Opening Statement…
“Our hats are off to Vanderbilt. They came out and made plays and wanted it more than we did. We had a streak where we didn’t do too much and they came out with a good victory.”
On having trouble stopping Vanderbilt C A.J. Ogilvy…
“Ogilvy was a dominant force out there tonight. He scored most of their points in the paint. He had a lot of points, but it really wasn’t him. We had a lot of opportunities to stop him. He came out and played a terrific game and did was he was supposed to do, but it wasn’t him. It was us as a whole, as a team.”
Marcus Thornton, guard
Opening Statement…
“I feel like we came out complacent in the first half. We went out there thinking they were going to lay down and just give us the game because it was a big night for the seniors, but they won. They out-battled us and it showed today. We’ve just got to go back and rebuild. Get back to doing what we were doing. We want to finish the season off strong.”
On if there was any emotional letdown after the win at Kentucky…
“I wouldn’t say that. I feel like if everybody had come out and do what we were supposed to have done it might have been different. I’m not saying we took the game for granted or anything, but we just came out lax. Vanderbilt took full advantage of that. It just showed that tonight they wanted the game more than us.”
On if he felt LSU was impatient on offense, especially in the first half…
“I wouldn’t say that because we have great scorers on our team, but the shots just weren’t going down. As a team you’ll have nights like that, but you have to just go back and rebuild and get it right next game.”
Bo Spencer, guard
Opening Statement…
“Vanderbilt came out and played hard and played well. We didn’t come out and get that efficient hit. We came out and we were too lax. They hit us in the mouth first and we didn’t recover like we were supposed to.”
On if his wrist was bothering him…
“I’m not used to shooting with tape on my wrist. During the game I took it off, but it was hurting me. It was bothering me, but I just tried to grind it out … tough it out.”
