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Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On team accomplishing game plan
“I thought our turnovers cost us early. But I liked that I got to get a look at everybody in a different setting. We obviously have a long way to go and it is a process, but I think I got a great look at some guys. There were moments when they strung together some good basketball and there were some moments that we will have to learn from.”

On team basketball
“I think we will have balance, whether that be three or four guys in double figures. I think they will share the ball well this year and are not afraid to make the extra pass. I think our balance will be key this year.”

On freshman Joe Harris
“He has a pretty good knack for passing and is a complete player. He can certainly get it going and shoot it whether he is moving or stationary. I think he has some skills where he has good vision and it was nice to see him get his feet set tonight and hit some rhythm shots.”

On point guards
“The turnovers were a concern tonight and certainly we have to go to work and find some pressure releases for them. That will be important for how we handle pressure and for making good decisions. With Sammy (Zeglinski) out, it was nice to get those guys some minutes.”

On five freshmen playing at the same time
“I think it will happen at times. I don’t know if you will have all five out there, but just by numbers, you will see three or four out there at the same time. That will be determined by how guys produce and how they practice. Certainly experience is valuable, but we will try to put the guys out there that are the most ready and can help us be successful.”

On Assane Sene
“He has improved from last year and is stronger and he has had some real good practices. There were some solid moments, for him, today. I think he has taken a step in the right direction and will be relied upon this year.”

Roanoke Head Coach Page Moir

Opening Statement:

“We’re two weeks in so we are very rusty, as are they, but UVa was still very kind to play us, a Division III school, for their exhibition game. It was a great opportunity for us. I have a lot of appreciation for this university. I’m good friends with Craig Littlepage. Having Seth Greenberg and Tony Bennett as the coaches of your state’s flagship schools is fantastic.”

On Virginia’s freshmen:

“They’re big and we have decent size for a Division III team, but they are big. They made a lot of mistakes because it was the first game with the lights on. We did the same thing early on. They have a variety of talent. What’s good for them is that they have leaders like Mike Scott and Mustapha Farrakhan, who are proven players and I bet they’ll be seeing a tremendous amount of improvement in a month.”

On shooting from the perimeter:

“We struggled with our post game last year. We are not going to have a good post game until we are playing somebody our own size inside. We want to get a lot more post play but they did a good job covering threes. They made it tough. It was fantastic for us to get even a couple backline scores with the way they play Pack-line defense. I think a lot of it had to with the fact that they wanted to take it to us. Dylan Berry hit a couple. They did a very good job on Melvin Felix who is a very good Division III player. I could tell from the get go that Virginia had looked at his stats from last year. I think that UVa smothered us early – that’s what good coaches and good teams do.”

Virginia Freshman Guard KT Harrell

On playing for the first time at home:
“It was fun. It was not as packed as it usually is since it was an exhibition game, but it was still a great experience. I really enjoyed it.”

On being in the starting lineup:
“There is nothing like that experience. Running out of the tunnel with all the lights on into a big arena was overwhelming.”

On positive lessons from the game:
“Defensively we could have done better, but we played hard. We played tough and rebounded the ball well. I think we did a good job communicating as well. Defensively we gave them a lot of easy layups, and we could have improved on that.”

On having five freshman on the court at times:
“That was a crazy experience. When we realized that we immediately came together and started laughing because it was a great experience to be out on the court playing as hard as we can with nothing to lose.”

Virginia Senior Forward Mike Scott

On overall impressions on the game:
“In the first half, we came out strong and did not want them to score in the first couple of minutes. We had some breakdowns on the defensive end, but in the second half we came out stronger and finished the game out.”

On being ready for the start of the season:
“We looked at today as the first game of the season, and now I think if we get better on defense we will be alright.”

On the play of the freshmen:
“I could tell that they had some ‘jitters,’ and I have been in that spot as well. We just told them to settle down and let the game come to them.”

On improving the defense:
“As returners, we know what defensive strategy he [Coach Bennett] wants us to play with, and we can teach that to the younger players.”

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