March 17, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| Scott Arnold’s Photos
THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Vanderbilt. Coach, if you want to provide some comments on the game.
COACH STALLINGS: Well, we’re obviously very disappointed to have lost the game. But we couldn’t get critical stops when we needed them. They had a couple of flurries on the boards that were momentum shifting. We missed some really critical free throws where we had a chance to either take the lead or get the game tied.
These games are going to be close. Those are your margins for victory. Coming up with rebounds, getting the stop, making your free throws. We just weren’t able to get those done on a consistent basis as we went down the stretch of the game.
They were making big plays. They were making tough shots. They did a better job making their free throws than we did.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for the student athletes.
Q: John, obviously three point shot was big in this game. They were 12 for their first 20. You’re used to seeing that on your end. What was it like out there? What was the difficulty in getting it stopped?
John Jenkins: They just got hot. We tried our best to contest shots, but they jumped up and made ’em. That’s all I can think of.I know we had a couple contested shots, but they kept knocking ’em down, knocking ’em down, so.
Q: Festus, can you talk about Darrius Garrett coming into the game, the difference he made in their defense.
Festus Ezeli: He’s a big key. He altered a lot of shots, blocked a lot of shots. He was really good for them on defense.
Q: Back to back first round against Murray State last year, now Morehead State?
COACH STALLINGS: We didn’t lose to Morehead State.
Q: Where you’re the higher seed, is it a case where you’re overconfident or a case where these teams throughout this tournament have more talent than people realize?
John Jenkins: We fought our hearts out, I can honestly say that. We gave it our all. We just didn’t come out on the positive side today.
Q: John, what were you going for with that last possession? Did you want the three?
John Jenkins: If it was there, I was going to take it. If it wasn’t, I was going to finish off with somebody else.
Q: John, I think they only had three turnovers in the game. Was your inability to turn them over crucial? You like to spring open a lot of times in transition. There didn’t seem to be that many opportunities out there.
John Jenkins: They took care of the ball. Maybe I could have done a better job of getting up in ’em, causing chaos. But they did a good job taking care of the ball.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll dismiss the student athletes at this time and continue with questions for Coach Stallings.
Q: You just talked about this tournament, the disappointments of the last two years, how the talent all around is more spread out than maybe people think.
COACH STALLINGS: Yeah, there’s a lot of parity in college basketball. You always hear that word, but it’s true. I mean, those two kids for Richmond, they’re as good of players as anybody has almost.
It’s just the nature of it. There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of pressure on the higher seed. Whether you want to admit it or not, there’s a lot of pressure when you’re the higher seed. I’ve been on both ends.
But nevertheless, it is, there’s good players all over. I checked the spreads before the games today just out of curiosity. They’re 2, they’re 3, even in wide seeds maybe, difference in seeds. I mean, these teams are very, very close in talent and very close in ability.
Q: Has been getting the last second shot, an open look, been a trouble spot for this team this year? Why, if that’s been the case?
COACH STALLINGS: We didn’t execute on the last possession. But I don’t blame the person that broke down for that.
We had trouble closing out games this year. Historically our teams I think have been pretty good at that. I think if you go back and check the records, I think the records will tell you we’ve been very good in close games. We’ve had a hard time finishing close games this year. That’s my job to get that fixed and to get that done. It’s something that’s been going on all season long. Believe me when I tell you we spend an inordinate amount of time on it in practice.
I just thought we tightened up a little bit when the game got there towards the end. As hard as we talked and as much as we talked about having a relaxed, confident attitude about us, you know, you could tell we tightened up on a couple of free throws.
But it’s the nature of this tournament. That’s why it’s exciting. There’s a lot of pressure and a lot of tension.
Q: Could you talk a little bit about what Kevin Anderson gives you and the difference that Garrett made in the game with his five blocked shots?
COACH STALLINGS: Well, Garrett was big. We got to the foul line some with his blocks, too. But he made a difference for them around the goal. Anderson is really a dynamite player, very difficult to keep in front of you. Has great ability to make off balance shots. He played like a really good senior should play in this tournament.
But both of those guys were very key to their success.
Q: How big of a threat do you see Richmond going forward? Are they a team you think can advance a couple rounds?
COACH STALLINGS: Well, I think it always depends on matchups. They have a unique style. They’re difficult to play against. So I guess it just comes down to whether or not they get a matchup with somebody that’s a bad matchup for them, I guess is the best way to put it. They’re certainly talented enough. They have very good players, a very good system.
Q: You talked about pushing the tempo yesterday. Were you happy with the tempo or would you liked to have seen you get up and down the floor a little bit more?
COACH STALLINGS: We wanted it to be faster. We talked at halftime we weren’t pushing it enough, we weren’t pushing it fast enough.
But, again, I think tension slows you down. Tense muscles are slow muscles. I just thought we just weren’t as relaxed as I was hoping we would be. Wasn’t bad, but wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach.
COACH STALLINGS: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We’re joined now by the University of Richmond. Coach, if you want to begin with general comments on the game.
COACH MOONEY: Well, we’re thrilled to have won the game and advanced to the next round here in Denver. I thought we played extremely hard and I thought, you know, it was a very gutty effort. We were down by a fair margin the first half. Got down again in the second half. But I thought our poise and our veteran leadership really showed through.
Again, we’re thrilled to be advancing. This is an honor to be in this tournament. To advance is tremendous.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for the student athletes.
Q: Kevin, you hit two shots down the stretch one that you got your defender up, then the baseline floater jumper. Which one was tougher for you? Do you have names for either one of those?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I mean, they’re just runners. I have to shoot some type of shot like that when you’re going against a long defense like Vanderbilt. They have Jeff Taylor on me, he’s like 6’7″, 6’8″. On the ball screens, they would switch. Their big man would get on me. I can’t go for a regular layup. They’re probably going to get a block. I had to shoot my floaters that have been effective throughout the season for me.
I don’t have any kind of name for them (smiling). They’re just floaters, regular floaters.
Q: Can you talk about how big the experience was of last year going through this?
JUSTIN HARPER: I would say it’s extremely important for us down the stretch, just getting down by a large margin to a tough team. You know, having leadership really helps in that you don’t get rattled. In these tough situations, you kind of just stay calm.
Coach does a great job of just telling us to believe in our offense, keep running our stuff, everything is going to be fine, we just have to keep playing hard.
Q: Darrius, you had five blocked shots. What were you thinking when you came into the game? How do you feel?
DARRIUS GARRETT: Coming in, I know I wanted to make an immediate impact and try to change the game. We sort of got down against this team. So I knew me coming in, I had to bring in energy and lock up on defense.
When I came in, I just focused on making the quickest impact I could. That was blocking shots, getting steals, keeping the guy from scoring, that’s what I tried to do.
Q: Kevin, at what point did you stop listening or hearing people say, You’re too small? You’re listed at 6′, 175. That is legitimate?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It is legit. Shoes on, 6′.
Q: When did you stop listening to people say, You’re too small?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I mean, I’ve been this size my whole life. You just have to find different ways in there you can score or be effective on the court. Whether is defense or offense, find different ways. Everybody is going to tell you you can’t do anything if they can’t do it. I really don’t listen to anybody else. I just know what I’m capable of doing on the court and I’m just going to keep doing it.
Q: Kevin, the consecutive three pointers there in the second half that finally got Richmond into the lead, what happened there? Did they give you some looks at that time or did you make your own looks?
KEVIN ANDERSON: The team did a great job just finding me. We had open looks all game really. In their 2 3 zone, they’re really long. I think we did a good job penetrating, kicking out to open shooters. Francis hit three big threes in the first half.
In the second half, I was able to get those same looks he got and just knock ’em down.
Q: Could you talk a little bit about Darrius. Vanderbilt was having a lot of success inside when he wasn’t in there. What did he do to turn things around?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Darrius was altering shots out there, getting so many blocks, getting the rebound too. Contesting the shot, then getting the rebounds. He was instrumental in our win. He definitely changed the game. They were getting a lot of fouls early and late. He was a monster in the post. That No. 3 was a monster.
Darrius got in there and really changed his shots, made him think twice about just going up with his regular jump hook, maybe pump faking a little then where we can double in and help out. And he was big tonight.
JUSTIN HARPER: Really, Darrius was a force in there. He was able to alter the other team’s game plan in some aspect. Just talking about how they were getting so many easy buckets inside, their main focus was throwing it in there, getting lobs to the big guys. Once I saw Darrius block a couple of the hooks, that’s why they hesitated to get him the ball in there.
Q: Obviously you have seen him play for years now. When does he dazzle you? Do you just expect he’s going to make a play?
DARRIUS GARRETT: I’ve become kind of accustomed to it. I play with him both at home, from Atlanta. I’ve seen a lot. Most of it’s unbelievable, just like the two plays he made today. I mean, there’s no words for it.
JUSTIN HARPER: It’s kind of hard to explain. You kind of expect it from him ’cause he just does it so much and so often. He just hits big shots for us. He has all the confidence in the world. We have all the confidence giving him the ball.
Q: Couldn’t help but notice after watching Morehead State go nuts after their win, you looked excited, but you looked like you expected it. Could you explain what you felt after that win.
KEVIN ANDERSON: We’re definitely excited. But we don’t want to be one and done. We’re excited for this win. We want to keep looking further into the tournament, not just be satisfied with this win.
Morehead State is a great team. We know we’re going to have to come with the same aggression, same defense and same energy to beat them. We won one game, but we didn’t win the tournament. That’s our ultimate goal.
Q: What has it been like to experience the type of season you’ve had this year?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It’s been tough because I didn’t win Player of Year this year, I won it last year. As of late, the team has been good. My leadership stepped up, which enabled us to be great, to be better.
It’s hard when you don’t have good games and you’re expected to have good games. That’s really tough. But then that’s why you have great guys like Justin, Darrius, the other seniors on the team. The freshmen and juniors and sophomores as well, because they lift me up when I’m at a low point. They just let me know to keep your confidence, everything’s going to be okay. The coaches do a great job of doing that.
I have a great team and they lift me up if I need it.
Q: Kevin, can you talk about who might have been your inspiration growing up? When someone said you were too small, was there a player you looked at?
KEVIN ANDERSON: The player I definitely looked at was Allen Iverson. I know that sounds cliché. He’s an unbelievable guy. I remember one time, I think just out of the blue, my mom went to Toys R Us and she bought me an Allen Iverson DVD. I didn’t know she knew I liked him. I used to watch that over and over again.
Yeah, that’s the player I looked up to when I was younger.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll dismiss the student athletes and continue with questions for Coach Mooney.
Q: You talked earlier in the week about Darrius’ impact on the game, how you sort of had to balance having him in there. How much did he change the game today?
COACH MOONEY: Darrius, he does change the game. He has consistently changed games for us. I think he did today. Those blocked shots, you know, they’re kind of crushing to the other team. He was great today. I thought he was really good on offense today, too. He had a put back. He had a dribble hand off with KA when he made a big three.
We do like to go offense/defense, Dan runs the team best at the center position. I think Darrius makes us go from a good defensive team to a great defensive team. Fortunately we were able to see that tonight.
Q: First few minutes, Ezeli asserted himself. Were there flashbacks from last year with Samhan?
COACH MOONEY: Not necessarily. They’re different players. I think Ezeli is going to be a great player. Certainly they really tried to feature him in their game plan.
Last year, Samhan was the most productive center in the country. You know, he averaged 21 points. So it wasn’t necessarily a flashback. We wanted to maintain our game plan and maintain our discipline on the shooters, try to make sure we didn’t give up any open threes because we were too worried about him.
But he’s really a good player, someone who’s getting better and better.
Q: You made a big point the other day that you didn’t want to be considered giant killers anymore. Where do you classify today’s win?
COACH MOONEY: I don’t think I made the big point (smiling).
I wouldn’t necessarily know the difference between those two teams that took the court. I don’t view it as an upset, with all due respect to Vanderbilt and the great program they have. I don’t see it as an upset, as a fan or being out on the court for the last 40 minutes.
I think we have a program that can compete on a national level. We’re proud of our tradition and our history. But at the same time right now, we feel like we’re a national program.
Q: Your bench outscored Vanderbilt 23 4 today. Can you comment on the play of the bench.COACH MOONEY: Those guys were great. Darrius obviously changed the game. Francis Martel kept us in the game the first half with some great shooting. He’s all over the place. His energy, it really kept us going. Cedrick Lindsay had some big plays in both halves. Our defense was really good. We were in foul trouble, so we needed our bench to help us, and they were great.
This is a team that’s not as much attention that Kevin gets and Justin gets, and they deserve all of it, but I think we are a deep team. We have some players who can really contribute to winning basketball.
Q: You had three turnovers for the game. Can you talk about that. Also, can you talk about, are you ever surprised by what Kevin does?
COACH MOONEY: The three turnovers is tremendous. One was on a five second violation on an inbound. If a team plays you zone, I think one thing that’s going to happen is you’re going to get slowed down just a little bit trying to find the holes in the zone, trying to find your shot. At the same time you’re less likely to turn the ball over. I think that played a big part of it.
When we get down toward the end of the game, Kevin doesn’t turn the ball over much. He had the ball in his hands for most of the end of the game.
As far as being surprised, no. Kevin, he’s incredible. We play with our guys in the fall and the spring. It’s even more unbelievable when you’re out there playing with him. The shots that he can make, how smart he is. He sees things two and three steps ahead of everybody else. He’s a great player who plays his best when the game’s most important.
He’s done great things for our program.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, coach. Thank you.
COACH MOONEY: Thank you.
