Nov. 29, 2014
Recap | Box Score | USATSI Photos 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
On tonight’s performance
“I was really happy with the intensity and passion that we played with. La Salle is a very good defensive team. I was really pleased with the way we took care of the ball and were able to get offense by taking good shots. I thought they did a great job of taking us off the three-point line. We rebounded more effectively and we took care of the ball. I thought those were the keys for us tonight.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense
“For the most part, we’ve been a good defensive team when you look at team’s percentages against us. Even last night when we lost, they shot 39 percent for the game and only 31 percent on their first shot attempts. Of course, we got beat on the boards and that’s why we lost the game. I thought we defended them well in the first half. We did not defend them well in the second half. They made some shots on us from the perimeter.”
On Jeff Roberson
“I thought the key to the game was the job that Jeff Roberson did on Jordan Price. We spent a lot of time today talking about how we wanted to defend him. I thought Jeff Roberson was absolutely outstanding. That was a big reason why we won.”
On Damian Jones
“Damian was pretty effective. I thought he was very effective early when we were able to take control of the game. He’s getting better and better. The better he gets, the better it will be for our team.”
“Damian needs to set the tone for us. That’s his responsibility to this team and he certainly did it tonight.”
La Salle Head Coach Dr. John Giannini
On tonight’s game
“Vanderbilt was better than us today. They were better than us the whole 40 minutes. They are very skilled. They executed their offense wonderfully. They are going to have a terrific team because they have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Coach Stallings has a long track record of success and I clearly see that continuing with this young group.”
“We need to get better. We came here to get tested and frankly we failed our test this weekend. I don’t think it was for lack of effort. I think we need to look at everything we do offensively and get better. We did shoot 56% in the second half and scored 35 points. That was definitely a sign of progress. We have to self-examine and we have to get better. We want to be at a high level, and this weekend showed that we are not there at this point.”
“Our kids are disappointed, they are motived, and we have to get better. I’m not sure if it’s one particular thing. We just need to get better against the competition we saw from Virginia and Vanderbilt, and we are going to see against Villanova and Temple. We have seen success against a certain level of teams this year, but we need to be able to have success against the next level.”
“I’m disappointed about getting out-toughed on a couple rebounds right at the start of the game. (Vanderbilt) jumped out 4-0 with a couple easy layups. That was disappointing. I think that set a bad tone. Certainly two plays don’t decide the whole game, and we had time to bounce back, but I don’t like the way we started out.”
On head injury to referee Rick Crawford at the start of the game
“I didn’t see it. I’m just so happy (Rick) is ok. It transcends any basketball score when you are talking about someone’s life.”
“To say we were concerned is an understatement. That is real life. Basketball is the toy department of life. It’s entertainment, it’s fun, it’s taken seriously, it shapes lives, and builds character, but nonetheless it is a game. When you see someone taken off the court on a stretcher that is not a game. That is a family and a life that you worry about. I’m just so happy he’s ok.”
