Opening Statement:
"I'd like to congratulate Virginia. Malcolm (Brogdon) for the first half was as good a performance we've had against us this season and maybe several years. We couldn't quite get over the hump. We got up to forty-nine to forty-nine. It was tied. And then we get a couple of bad possessions on offense. They score a couple of times and get offensive rebounds. They missed several shots down the stretch, but we couldn't ever come up with a rebound so they ended up getting second shot opportunities. We turned it over 13 to their eight. They were 18-of-21 from the free throw line. We were 7-of-13. A couple of one-and-ones down the stretch.
It's all those little things that made them end up with more points than we did, but I thought the biggest factor in the game was they played with a high level of intensity from my point of view, on both offense and defense. I think they were the actors and we were the reactors the whole night. They scored more points in the paint without posting anybody up hardly all night long because they drove the ball to the basket much more aggressively. They had better spacing and Malcolm and London (Perrantes) drove the ball to the basket and they're really good. One time with two seconds left on the clock and they throw it in and Tobey makes one and another time there was two seconds on the clock and they missed the shot, but came up with the offensive rebounds. So again I think it is so many little things, but if I had to pick one thing I'd say again they were just so much more aggressive on both ends of the court.
Their offense was more aggressive than our defense was and their defense was more aggressive than our offense was. And yet I really think they're really a good team. I said it even this week and I said it last week, and I said it ten weeks ago at the start of the season. Me and my buddies get together and I thought Virginia had the best team in the country and Tony does a great, great job and he's a credit to what we should have in coaching. But I don't like him during the game because his team plays so daggum well. But they really have done some great things the last three years and they got themselves right back into it after a little slump in the middle of the season. We reacted to everything they did and that part was difficult for us."
On not being able to create turnovers against Virginia:
"They're good basketball players first of all; they don't try to do any silly things. They make the easiest pass they can make. The last play of the first half we got it to one, they throw the lob and get there and we got a little guy back there. I still remember the play where Joel Berry was going down for a layup and if I'm not mistaken, Gill was the one who ran him down. It was just a phenomenal effort by those guys and we got to have that kind of effort in our situation too. They're really good and it was a one possession game late in the game, we just never got the ball with the one possession game. It was 75-74 and we missed a couple of free throws and it was still 75-74 but never got the ball when it was one possession. They're a good basketball team."
On guarding Brice Johnson the last 17 minutes:
"He got very discouraged, he threw it into the 17th row of the stands one time when they double teamed him. He got discouraged at that point, too. I thought the second half he was much better than he was in the first half. He's got to move more, but we have got to get him more than nine shots and hopefully less than five turnovers.
On his reaction to Malcolm Brogdon’s performance:
"He's really good. I've had guys score 49 against us before and we won the game. And another guy that scored 47 and we won the game. Another guy scored 46 and we won the game. So I never get into that one person kind of thing. Tyrese Rice scored 400 in the first-half against us and we still won the game. Malcom Brogdon is one of the best players in the league last year. This year he is awesome and he is a tough match-up for anybody and he was a tough match-up for us."
"I'd like to congratulate Virginia. Malcolm (Brogdon) for the first half was as good a performance we've had against us this season and maybe several years. We couldn't quite get over the hump. We got up to forty-nine to forty-nine. It was tied. And then we get a couple of bad possessions on offense. They score a couple of times and get offensive rebounds. They missed several shots down the stretch, but we couldn't ever come up with a rebound so they ended up getting second shot opportunities. We turned it over 13 to their eight. They were 18-of-21 from the free throw line. We were 7-of-13. A couple of one-and-ones down the stretch.
It's all those little things that made them end up with more points than we did, but I thought the biggest factor in the game was they played with a high level of intensity from my point of view, on both offense and defense. I think they were the actors and we were the reactors the whole night. They scored more points in the paint without posting anybody up hardly all night long because they drove the ball to the basket much more aggressively. They had better spacing and Malcolm and London (Perrantes) drove the ball to the basket and they're really good. One time with two seconds left on the clock and they throw it in and Tobey makes one and another time there was two seconds on the clock and they missed the shot, but came up with the offensive rebounds. So again I think it is so many little things, but if I had to pick one thing I'd say again they were just so much more aggressive on both ends of the court.
Their offense was more aggressive than our defense was and their defense was more aggressive than our offense was. And yet I really think they're really a good team. I said it even this week and I said it last week, and I said it ten weeks ago at the start of the season. Me and my buddies get together and I thought Virginia had the best team in the country and Tony does a great, great job and he's a credit to what we should have in coaching. But I don't like him during the game because his team plays so daggum well. But they really have done some great things the last three years and they got themselves right back into it after a little slump in the middle of the season. We reacted to everything they did and that part was difficult for us."
On not being able to create turnovers against Virginia:
"They're good basketball players first of all; they don't try to do any silly things. They make the easiest pass they can make. The last play of the first half we got it to one, they throw the lob and get there and we got a little guy back there. I still remember the play where Joel Berry was going down for a layup and if I'm not mistaken, Gill was the one who ran him down. It was just a phenomenal effort by those guys and we got to have that kind of effort in our situation too. They're really good and it was a one possession game late in the game, we just never got the ball with the one possession game. It was 75-74 and we missed a couple of free throws and it was still 75-74 but never got the ball when it was one possession. They're a good basketball team."
On guarding Brice Johnson the last 17 minutes:
"He got very discouraged, he threw it into the 17th row of the stands one time when they double teamed him. He got discouraged at that point, too. I thought the second half he was much better than he was in the first half. He's got to move more, but we have got to get him more than nine shots and hopefully less than five turnovers.
On his reaction to Malcolm Brogdon’s performance:
"He's really good. I've had guys score 49 against us before and we won the game. And another guy that scored 47 and we won the game. Another guy scored 46 and we won the game. So I never get into that one person kind of thing. Tyrese Rice scored 400 in the first-half against us and we still won the game. Malcom Brogdon is one of the best players in the league last year. This year he is awesome and he is a tough match-up for anybody and he was a tough match-up for us."
