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Virginia head coach Tony Bennett

On the win over a nationally ranked opponent
“[UAB] is a talented team. It’s a prelude to what we’re going to see in the ACC. We had to play well to be in it. We didn’t play perfect by any means, early on they got baskets at the rim and in the paint, but we toughened up as the game went on and it was definitely a team effort. That’s what I liked about it. Sammy [Zeglinski] did a nice job finding people. Mike Scott helped us. I can go down the list and it was a complete team effort. I like it that I think we won it with our defense in the second half, I’ll have to watch the tape, but that always makes me happy.”

On the all-around play of Mustapha Farrakhan
“You can’t be a guy that if your first shot doesn’t go in, you’re a mess. That doesn’t work at this level. We challenged him in the second half and we said our four guys are going to play the system – you go out and you have freedom to try and make, I’m not going to say it was a box-and-one or a pack-and-one but it was like we wanted to make it hard for [Elijah Millsap] to get touches. And I thought he made him work. He’s quick laterally, as is Jontel [Evans], and we just have to make guys make tough shots the whole game. It was too easy for him in the first half. He’s talented.”

On the basket by Mike Scott that gave UVa a four-point lead with 2:35 to play
“We were trying to run a little clock. We got a little hectic and then we tried to slow it down a little bit. We wanted to run a flat ball screen and let Sylven [Landesberg] go one-four low and make a play. He made a terrific play. He made a couple of those. Like I said, when Sylven, that completeness, that’s so attractive when you see him driving and dropping. It was a huge basket for us. Mike made a heck of a post move.”

On his team’s defensive toughness
“I told our guys, just battle and use that energy to play position defense. Playing this system, when you have a guy [Jontel Evans] that can just really light up the ball, what that does for the guys behind him, it makes them set their defense out there a little further. So that initiates it and then the other guys really dig it in and play it. That’s what it will take, of course, against the teams we play.”

On the return of Mike Scott to the line-up
“He’s not full strength and you can see that. I’m sure he’ll feel it tomorrow, he had 23 minutes and he only really had three practices. He had seven rebounds, a big post move. A couple times he got beat down the floor, I think he had a little rust on him. But he’s a threat. I think we’re a different team when we have him coming inside-outside. He has a nice feel. I’m looking forward to him getting stronger and stronger.

On defeating his first top-25 opponent as head coach at Virginia
“It’s good. For our guys. The way I’m trying to do it with them … I’m not letting them take shortcuts. I’m demanding certain things defensively. We try and hold them accountable for staying in the stance. Offensively we’re asking them to make the extra pass and be really team-oriented. It’s not an easy way, but, it’s something that when it’s played well stands up to good competition.”


UAB Head Coach Mike Davis

Opening Statement:
“Virginia did everything they needed to do to win the basketball game and I tip my hat to those guys. They made shots and rebounded when they needed to. We didn’t make our shots when we needed them and that had a lot to do with it.”

On UVa’s defense in the second half:
“They made it tough for us. They contested some shots and took away our driving lanes. In the first half I thought both teams gave up a lot of baskets. We fought hard in the second half but just came up short.”

On Virginia’s 14-2 stretch that included four 3-pointers in the second half:
“We knew they could shoot the basketball and everyone who made a three who we thought could, with the exception of No. 1 (Jontel Evans). They made open shots; they made big shots. I thought we fought hard.”

On his team going 5-for-15 at the line:
“That was bad, but we missed some that really hurt. We needed to cut the lead to two or three and ended up missing them. But that is just a part of the game.”

On Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg:
“When you’re the Rookie of the Year in the ACC, that tells you he is a great player. We knew he could play. I was a little disappointed that we let him catch the ball so easily.

On the crowd:
“We scheduled this game because we thought the crowd would we bad, with no students here, and that would give us an edge. But they came out of the woodwork tonight and gave the team a lot of energy. It’s not a home court advantage unless you have a good crowd and they had one here tonight.”

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