Postgame Quotes

Story Links

2011-12 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
January 26, 2012
#19/21 Virginia 66, Boston College 49

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On Virginia’s improved shooting:
“We took the shots that were there and they went in more frequently tonight. You have to be able to do that. They were really condensing their defense against us. They doubled Mike [Scott] and played off of Jontel [Evans] so we had to stretch it with the three-point shot. Also, we got into the lane and were solid.”

On pushing the pace in transition:
“We said that if our guards could get a rebound they should look up the floor to get some pressure on BC and we had to back that up with good decisions. A couple of our decisions were not solid, but I think you have to be willing to do that. We didn’t do that against Virginia Tech for whatever reason. Again, as long as there are good decisions, [pushing the tempo] is sound for us. Our guards usually get some rebounds. I thought Malcolm [Brogdon] rebounded well today and there were a couple of buckets that we got from that. There may have also been a couple of turnovers, but it was what we needed.”

On calling a timeout late in the game:
“Joe was dying. He had a fever. He didn’t practice the other day and only practiced a little bit yesterday. He felt worse this morning and his fever spiked so we weren’t sure if he was going to play. He was tired and the guys all looked a little tired so I thought of it as a rest situation. We had a full timeout and then a media timeout after that. I was just trying to emphasize that we needed to swing the ball offensively, be smart with clock management and then get our butts back on defense and match up. There were a couple of times where we had poor matchups or we didn’t communicate and then we fouled and put them on the line. I was trying to reemphasize the things that would be sound for us in finishing out the game.”

On getting production from Darion Atkins and Akil Mitchell:
“I thought Darion and Akil were solid. Darion bothered them defensively. They are both active. They finished. Obviously they had a size advantage so Akil took advantage of that early on and made some plays in front of the rim. Darion was active. That is his greatest strength. They both gave us nice lifts and we had three guys in double figures so it was a balanced scoring attack tonight.”

On Virginia’s defense in the second half:
“They missed a couple of shots and we played better position-defense so they probably got into a mode where they had to take quick shots. Their offense is good when they spread you out and cut. They had some good ball screen action that made us work. They’re hard to defend.”

On limiting the minutes played by Joe Harris and Mike Scott:
“We had to be very mindful of Joe who had 26 [minutes]. We tried to use the timeouts to give them a little more rest than against Virginia Tech, but they are going to have to play at this stage in the game. We have eight guys so we are going to have to ride them as best as possible. We’ll be as smart as we can, but they’ll have to play a lot.”

On Jontel Evans’ shot choices:
“He has to [keep looking for his shot]. In my opinion, if people are going to back off of him that much, he has to reel in the slack and get to the paint. He worked hard in the offseason on his touch, his floaters and his drives. His one-dribble pull up hasn’t shown up, but he has to take shots with good decisions behind them. He has to loosen up the defense and he certainly has the freedom to do that.”

Boston College Head Coach Steve Donahue

Opening statement:
“I thought we did a very good job for a long stretch. A couple times I thought they really played well in stretches and we answered. I thought I was really proud of my guys. Unfortunately during a lot of games this year, we’ve run out of gas. You look at the score and then feel like it was a 17-point game. But that’s what happens when we run out of gas. Things go out the window that we did well all game at the end. You give Virginia credit. I think they’re a very good basketball team. They guard the heck out of you. They share it. And Mike Scott is a handful. I think Tony does as good a job as anybody in the country coaching his guys up to play to their strengths. I think that’s what you saw tonight.”

On mistakes:
“We lost on that. We were doubling off of Scott. We had plenty of time to get back and we didn’t, and Sammy made us pay for that. I thought we moved the ball against their defense and had a couple of wide -open looks. I think Matt Humphrey had a wide open one, Ryan Anderson had a wide-open one, Gabe Moton had a wide open one. It’s kind of how we play, and unfortunately they didn’t go. I think it’s a combination of things at that point, where fatigue set in physically and mentally with our group. We played really well for a long time and then you go against a really good basketball team late in the game, and they executed really well.”

On Virginia’s roster:
“Mike Scott and Sammy are big fifth-year guys, but the other guys know Tony’s system and they do a really good job. I think Akil Mitchell played very well. I thought he was really aggressive. I think they’re a much better basketball team when he’s attacking and not just being someone who’s trying to pass the ball out. I think Akil is a really good basketball player. I thought he was really aggressive tonight. That was the key. “

On Boston College’s roster:
“It’s a unique situation where we have nine freshmen, and the top seven out of eight are freshmen. I think the kids have done a really good job. Some guys are hitting a wall and not playing as well as they were earlier, and other guys start to pick up the pace. I’m just trying to judge it qualitatively, if I can say just how hard we play, how well we share it, how much we compete. We can’t necessarily judge it by the scoreboard in this situation. I just want the guys to do as much as they can and compete. I thought we did a lot of that tonight, and just came up on the short end against a really good team.”

On going against Virginia’s defense:
“I thought the first half we got careless with the ball. We were really good earlier, and then we got careless and after that point we shot 40% both halves, but we had open looks and we dropped some balls. For a young group going against that defense, I was pretty pleased.”

Virginia junior guard Jontel Evans

On team’s mindset after the Virginia Tech loss:
“We were in practice that Tuesday and coach said if the guards get a rebound we’re just going to push the tempo, try to get easier buckets. That’s what we tried to do tonight. We made a couple easy buckets and got the tempo rolling.”

On tonight’s quick tempo:
“I like the idea of guards rebounding and pushing. I feel like we can go down the court and make good decisions with the ball and that helped us tonight.”

On Sammy Zeglinski’s play:
“That’s what coaches preach, you can’t be one dimensional. If your shots aren’t falling then help us out on the defensive end, rebound, get guys open, and that’s what he did. He impacted the game in other ways and late in the game he hit those two threes, which was big for him and us, especially him for his confidence. In the next game he is going to be hot.”

Difference in tonight’s game versus Sunday’s loss to Virginia Tech
“Guys just came out with more energy, focus, and we came out wanting to win after that tough loss on Sunday.”

Virginia senior guard Sammy Zeglinski

On defensive play when shots would not go down:
“I was trying to find ways to impact the game. I know my shot’s been pretty bad lately, so I just had to find ways to help the team. I thought defensively I played well, playing with a lot of effort. When things are going bad you have to find other ways to help”

On making his first three-pointer of the game:
I definitely heard the crowd cheer. They let me know about it. It was a good feeling. It was a great pass from Mike [Scott] and I was happy it went down.”

On short turn around against NCSU:
“I think we have a little bit of momentum and hopefully we can take care of our bodies because we know it’s a quick turn around. We just got to give great effort on defense, they’re a very talented team so we know we’ll have our hands full.”

Virginia freshman guard Malcolm Brogdon

On tonight’s gameplan:
“If a big gets a rebound, he can walk it out, but if a guard gets the rebound, we’re pushing it up the floor. If you don’t have anything pull it back and we’ll run something. But run down the floor and make a good decision.”

On transition play:
“I think we need to find other ways to score, really, and transition is a great way to do that. I think Jontel is one of the best in the country in terms of that and I think that’s what we need to do.”

On play in the paint
“I think as a bigger guard, when I’m inside people think I’m going to be out of control so they’re going to set charges in front of me, so I really have to control myself and make good decisions.”