Postgame Quotes
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Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
On the technical foul:
“It wasn’t a good time to get the first technical foul of my career – that’s for sure. I saw the referee wasn’t looking and I took my jacket off and threw it down. It was a mistake to do that but there was a lot of emotion from both coaches. I felt bad for my kids because Maryland was going to the line for two shots already and I just feel for them. Those kids battled hard and came back in the second half. They fought hard and played together so I wish they would have had a chance. It is a hard game to swallow, but it is what it is. I feel bad about it though; I really do.”
On the players’ effort:
“There was a lot of emotion on senior night and with the situation with Sylven. They just fought back though so I am very proud of them. It would have been even sweeter to get the win. They responded at times when it didn’t look good and in the end they played well as a team and gave us a chance.”
On Sylven decision:
“It was a hard decision because we know the value he brings to this team. He is a good kid but there are some expectations and standards that he has to adhere to. It was a hard decision but I hope that it helps. It was not easy to do considering the circumstances, but again, there are expectations and consequences for not meeting those expectations. We’re really trying to establish this program on the right values. When you come to the University of Virginia, there are some expectations and the young men on the team need to know that when we say things we mean them.”
On Jerome Meyinsse’s improvement:
“Jerome looked pretty good when I first got the job. He works hard in workouts and has the body of a basketball player. I think he is a good story because he is a great kid who certainly represents the university well. He has waited for his chance and it has come. He has done really well and I wish we had a few more wins behind him. He’s really provided offensive firepower and I couldn’t be happier for Jerome and his family tonight. I think he is a kid that is going to succeed in whatever he does.”
On Sammy Zeglinski’s play:
“He fought hard and had a great steal. It was nice to see him battle and lay it on the line. I am proud of him for that.”
On Virginia’s second half performance:
“Well they had 17 second-chance points at halftime so we talked a good deal about containing them on the boards. They only got five in the second half because even though we are struggling to find some chemistry, Jerome Meyinsse and Will Sherrill were tough. When Assane Sene was in there he fought back as well so we tightened that rotation. Those guys brought us back into the game. In the second half there was certainly better rebounding and better shooting so that was nice to see. We pounded it inside in the second half. ”
On Senior Night:
“I think the guys were excited to come out and play well for the seniors. They really just wanted to battle. Some guys had a hard time offensively against Duke so it was important to have some success today. Greivis Vasquez had some great shots though. Any time we got close, Vasquez answered and that is the sign of a great player.”
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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On finishing the ACC season with 13 wins
“I am really proud of our team to get 13 wins this year in an even league (ACC). I am proud of what we did because the beginning of the year we had to put some things together and we had to work hard to get to where we could play and once we did, we were able to sustain it pretty well over the period of 16 games.”
On Virginia’s fight without Sylven Landesberg
“You have to give Virginia a lot of credit losing [Sylven] Landesberg like they did. When you are in the locker room and you find out 20 minutes before the game he isn’t going to play – he is such a great player. First thought is Virginia is really going to miss him – you look at your players – Virginia has good players and good people in their program – they are going to rally and do everything they can to win that game – maybe for Landesberg or out of pride for their basketball team – and that is what we ran into. You have to give them credit because we got out to a pretty good lead and we couldn’t push any further than that. Anytime you are on the road and a team hangs around like that – they have a chance because they will shoot the ball better – they are going to some things at the end of the game to win it.”
On the recent Maryland six game stretch
“I think we were mentally tired – not physically tired. If you look at our last six games, it’s a crazy six game stretch. You deal with it – we probably could have played Sunday so we could give them Thursday off – that kind of thing after the Duke game. It wasn’t that way – so we had to show up today and play. I am very proud of our guys – it was a very difficult place for us to play. To Virginia’s credit, they did everything they could to win the game.”
On Greivis Vasquez’ late game heroics
“No matter how he is playing going into the last five minutes – he is willing to put it out there. If he misses some of those shots, he looks pretty bad in those situations. He likes the attention – we all know that (laughing), but he is willing to take the heat when things don’t go well. I think that is what you get with Greivis. You don’t want people hiding at the end of the game that don’t want the ball – he told me he was shooting the free throws on the technical. That is just the way he is.”