Dec. 5, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
Opening statement:
“That was an ugly game, but a good game. It was very competitive, obviously. We anticipated that Wake Forest would be difficult for us. Their quickness is outstanding and we didn’t play our best and didn’t have some of our guys play how they wanted to. I’m proud of our team, though. They did what we asked them to do. We showed good composure when Wake Forest took the lead. Wake did some things tonight that they haven’t done all season. They shoot 27% from the three point line and then come out and make 13 tonight.”
On Andrew Ogilvy:
“He doesn’t play like a freshman. His composure is good, but when he loses his composure, you can’t see it. It’s an internalized thing. I’m still getting to learn him. He’s a good player and he knows how to play. Tonight he was good, but I wouldn’t say he was spectacular. He has a lot more in him.”
On having an inside presence in Andrew Ogilvy and an outside presence in Shan Foster:
“It certainly makes us more difficult to defend. Wake Forest did a good job of taking Andrew away from us. He just does a great job of getting to the foul line. It’s amazing how often he draws contact. He has great angles. He has great foot work. He has a strong lower half of his body. When Andrew and Shan score 49 points, we need to win.”
On missed layups and dunks tonight:
“Wake had a missed dunk and then (Ishmael Smith) fell down off a breakaway. We had some plays that probably looked like that as well. It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was a game that was played extremely hard by both teams.”
Vanderbilt Players:
Forward Shan Foster:
On shots starting to fall:
“My teammates have great confidence in me which gives me great confidence in myself. They did a good job of screening for me and getting me open. I put in the work all summer and all off-season, so I know shots are eventually going to fall if I just keep working.”
On carrying the scoring load as a senior:
“Me being a senior, when my (teammates) aren’t bringing it as they usually do, I have to take it upon myself to kind of carry the load. It makes it easier when you have a guy like Andrew (Ogilvy) who is continuing to work. He works just as hard at practice as he does at the game floor and that’s how he is able to produce the way he is producing, and it just makes it that much easier for me.”
On the sloppiness of the game:
“We wanted to win so bad that you try to force things you usually wouldn’t, especially toward the end of the game. We had some turnovers that we usually don’t have by our seniors and some of our key guys and that’s not who we are. We know that. We understand that, but by the same token, we feel that when the games are close, we are the best team in the country. We feel like it because we practice it so much. We execute it at the end of games and we are able to get it done.”
Center Andrew Ogilvy:
On keeping his composure at the end of the game and making the go-ahead basket:
“I knew down the stretch, we needed a couple of good defensive stops and I knew when the ball came to me inside, we needed a great shot. I’ve been practicing that move (the jump hook) a lot. It is my favorite move and I knew that it would go in. On the defensive end, I knew that we had to get big rebounds. It was really good to get a win tonight, especially when we weren’t playing our best basketball.”
On getting a quick start to the game by scoring Vanderbilt’s first eight points:
“It is very important, especially when we aren’t playing our best basketball. I took it upon myself, and Shan (Foster) obviously helped out, to get some quick scores at the start of the game and lockup on defense.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio:
General thoughts on the game:
“My complements go to Kevin and his team. Vanderbilt is a talented, hard playing group. Coming in here to play is a difficult chore. I told our kids after the game I was incredibly disappointed with the loss but very proud of how hard they played. Vanderbilt was a free-throw or a call away from going to the Elite Eight last year. Ogilvy is a tremendous addition. For our young team to come in here, starting two freshmen and three sophomores, I’m proud of the effort. We’re going to find out what we’re made of now going to Georgia for our next game.”
On Andrew Ogilvy:
“He’s a terrific player. He uses his body incredibly well. He’s not a springboard guy, he needs angles to score and create opportunities with his body. I’ve worked with a lot of post guys over the years from Tyrone Hill, Brian Grant, Aaron Williams, David West. I’ve probably coached about 8-10 post guys that have played in the NBA and Ogilvy uses his body as well as any of those guys and he uses both hands to finish.
On the final minutes of the game:
“We thought that they would go inside with Ogilvy. We initially came into the game wanting to put pressure on the high post to make sure that they couldn’t just throw the ball into the lane. We didn’t get enough pressure on the passer to help us play post defense. We had a couple of breaks in the game that just didn’t go our way.”
On defending Shan Foster and Andrew Ogilvy:
“It’s tough. You want to double the post, but you have to defend high up as well. They move the ball well. We tried to defend using a triangle and two in the second half, but Foster hit a three-pointer on the side and that’s the man we need to focus on.”
On the season so far:
“I can’t see that clearly right now. I’m still thinking about the loss. Maybe when the season’s over, we can have some success and look back and be happy. Right now, its difficult. We’ve had two difficult road games in a row with Charlotte last game.”
On Harvey Hale:
“He wasn’t shooting the ball well at first, but we starting hitting three-pointers well today. We have a young team right now and we’ll play the guys who practice the hardest and focus on discipline and fundamentals.”
On the final shot:
“We’ll take that shot again. Vanderbilt is a terrific defensive team.”
