VU-'Nova postgame quotes

Dec. 1, 2012

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Villanova 62, Vanderbilt 52
Memorial Gym
December 1, 2012

Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings

Opening Comments:
“The difference in the game was [Villanova] being able to generate more easy baskets than we were able to generate. We didn’t run very crisp offense and when we did, we missed quite a few open looks that we certainly could have made.”

“We got the game back to two points… Kedren [Johnson] falls down going to the goal and we don’t secure the goal [on another possession]. It goes from two to six and the air goes out of the gym.”

“It’s hard to survive guys having bad days. We had some guys who didn’t have good days, and we don’t have enough depth to overcome that.”

On Villanova’s 34-28 Rebounding Edge:
“They’re bigger, ticker, and taller than we are… How do we shoot 37% and only get 4 offensive rebounds? We should go chase more down. If we hold [other teams] to 41% shooting and they only get 8 offensive rebounds, I would normally feel good.”

On Vanderbilt’s 26 Attempted 3-Pointers:
“We’re challenged to score around the goal. We haven’t had anyone step up. We will be challenged like that most of the season. We missed a number of good 3s. That’s the nature of it. We have to get the ball closer to the goal. We have to get fouled more.”

On Vanderbilt Guard Kevin Bright:
“He was a real bright spot. He’s a competitive kid. I’ve continued to be impressed by his competitive nature and how hard he plays. He leads our rebounding by a lot. He leads our defensive rebounding by a way lot. He makes shots. He’s tough. I wish we had more guys that can do what he can do.”

Vanderbilt forward Rod Odom
On the second half
:
“We definitely came out and had a lot of runs and we kept fighting, but in the end we gave up too many buckets down the stretch and I think that’s really what did us in.”

On Villanova’s performance:
“They did a good job taking advantage of switches and a good job of being physical with us. They’re bigger than us, so they got inside a little bit and I think that’s how they took advantage of it.”

Vanderbilt guard Kedren Johnson
On closing the Villanova lead to 46-45 in the second half:
“We had the crowd going and we just kind of let it slip out of our hands by giving up easy buckets.”

On young teams needing close losses:
“I said so, but it’s not the fun part. I think this time we gave it a good fight, we just kept giving up too many easy baskets.”

Vanderbilt guard Kevin Bright
On his performance and what the team needs to improve on:
“I think we have to make the open shots. I was trying to be aggressive for the team and trying to help my team with rebounds. We just have to keep working and trying to get better.”

Villanova head coach Jay Wright

Opening Comments
“Anytime you come on the road and play an SEC team it’s always hard, especially one coached by Coach Stallings. They really execute and they are very difficult to defend. They run a lot of complicated sets, so i was really mostly pleased with our defense and our rebounding.” On Defensive Performance
“We struggled at first and gave up some back screen lay ups. We were really struggling, but I thought we got better in the second half. We didn’t give up offensive rebounds in the second half and that was big.” On Winning on the Road
“We made some big plays and that’s what I was really pleased with. When you play a team on the road like this, they are not going to beat themselves. They are not going away.” Difference between first and second half
“In the first half, as I said, we were getting caught on their screens. We were really struggling with their offense, but I think in the second half we attacked their screens well, we stayed matched up, so when they missed we rebounded the ball.”