Nov. 11, 2016
Recap | Box Score | USATSI Gallery 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bryce Drew
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, not the second half we wanted to play, but the first half we did some nice things on the defensive end. I thought Luke [Kornet] did a good job establishing himself in the first half. In the second half, they came out and hit two quick threes on us, and we never seemed to get a rhythm or momentum after that. Credit to them for hitting 10 threes in the second half. They shot the ball very, very well.”
On adjustments and changes from the first to second half:
“Our turnovers led to easy baskets for them. They did a good job taking advantage of it, making threes and hitting shots in transition during that stretch. We need to do a much better job protecting the ball, so we’re not in those situations where we’re scrambling back.”
Luke Kornet, Sr. Forward
On the changes in offense with a new system:
“It’s been a little bit different. We have a little bit more freedom of motion – offensively. But it comes down to being aggressive and making plays. Any offense doesn’t work if you’re not assertive or aggressive, and we went away from that in the second half. We need to grow from this and get better.”
On his matchup with Luke Fischer:
“He did a great job finding the open spots and grabbing every offensive board. He does a good job doing little things like sealing and setting screens. He did a good job of finishing throughout the game. It’s good to play against someone like that. He’s a solid and consistent player and credit to them.”
Marquette Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski
On turning things around at the half:
“I thought it was our defense and rebounding. When people look at the box score, they’re going to point to our three-point shooting, but I thought our defense and rebounding sparked everything. For the first 14 minutes of the second half, they scored four points. And when you talk about going on runs, that’s how you do it, with defense.”
On trailing at halftime:
“I thought we should have been up at halftime, and statistically we thought we should be winning. I really talked about giving them dare-shot threes, and they’re too good of shooters to make those, so they were able to make five threes in the first half. We also fouled way too much. We kept them on the free-throw line. Otherwise, I thought we would have been ahead.”
On ball handling:
“We have good ball handlers and good decision makers. We can’t turn the ball over and we had a couple really sloppy ones at the end. For 36 minutes of the game we had eight and we like to try to be in single digits over a 40-minute game.”
On being back in Maryland:
“I have a ton of family and friends that are still in the area. Nothing we do throughout the course of the season should be about me. Now, if something bad happens it should be about me. If something good happens, it should be about the players. But, I wanted to thank them because I really wanted our team to play well because I love my guys. I really love the kids in our program and I wanted them to play well so my friends and family what these guys are capable of.”
Luke Fischer, Sr. Center
On playing Vanderbilt’s bigs:
“We had a great scouting report. We were able to walk through their offensive sets a lot this past week and were able to translate it over to the game.”
On experience playing at the Naval Academy:
“This has been an amazing experience. The hospitality has been phenomenal. The things that we have done and seen are things we can treasure for a long time.”
Jajuan Johnson, Sr. Guard
“On play at both ends of the court: “I always play through the passing lanes and get to my spots on defense. Some of them fell in my hands, but that’s just how I play.”
