Postgame Quotes

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2011-12 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
March 4, 2012
#24 Virginia 75, Maryland 72 (OT)

Virginia Coach Tony Bennett

Opening statement:
“Hard fought game. I told the guys that they wanted to pad their stats by playing some extra minutes in overtime to add some points. I am really proud of Mike [Scott] and Sammy [Zeglinski], I thought they were really resilient and made big plays when we needed it. I thought we had it in regulation, and then Terrell Stoglin hit a good one. I thought our guys were a little dejected heading into overtime, but we battled. Sure Maryland missed some easy ones, but we used Mike [Scott] and went through him. He had a monster game, 35 points and 11 rebounds, that’s very special.”

On the play of Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski:
“On their Senior Night they didn’t get to celebrate the way they wanted to, so you know the best way to celebrate is to play great basketball. I think both of them, certainly Mike [Scott], played great and left the game on the floor today. That’s as sweet as it gets. I’m happy for both of them. They certainly did the job.”

On scoring first in overtime:
“It was important to get on the board first and let your defense get set instead of playing from behind. We didn’t really play from behind the whole game. When Sammy [Zeglinski] hit that three that was important for us.”

On the importance of getting the fourth seed and first round bye for ACC Tournament:
“I think that is important because we practice with six guys that play the game. We are trying to get as much rest as we can if you look at the minutes. That’s where we’re at. We have six guys to rest and get as prepared as we can. That was important for us to win and get that seed and the Friday game. So our guys stepped up when we needed them to.

On the significance of the game:
“I think they have all been significant, but this was an important one for us. I hope I can think of some bigger ones as this [season] moves on.”

On the start of the game:
“At the start of the game, we got good looks and played pretty solid defense. I thought we were real steady. As I told our team, [Maryland] needs to earn all on the offensive end and we need to be willing to earn our shots. We tried to use Mike [Scott] as much as we can, and they made that a little hard for us. I think he’s going to sleep well tonight; I’ve got a good feeling.”

On Mike Scott’s performance:
“Mike’s performance? Terrific. Look at that statistically and at the tough shots he made, and how physical they were being with him. Getting the ball and playing 44 minutes, he’s done some great things for us this year. To keep answering and making shots–he’s got a specialty with that shot when he fades away, you can’t get to it. I think that will bode well for his future.”

Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon

Opening statement:
“It was a heck of a college basketball game. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough. I thought in the second half we played well. I thought at the end of the game we really had a chance. Terrell [Stoglin] had a good look and Alex [Len] set a good screen for him. I thought that we didn’t shoot the ball well at times and that we fouled too much. We had too many silly fouls away from the basket.

“What it really comes down to is Mike Scott. He was the best player on the floor. He made play after play. We started to double him and he just stepped out further. I thought our defense was [better] on him in the second half then the first half. We had some silly fouls against him. He was just the best player out there today and that is why they won.”

On the message to the team postgame:
“I was really proud of our effort. We talked about three things at halftime and we weren’t doing any of them at that point. I was disappointed in our effort at that point. We talked about playing smarter, which I thought we did. We talked about playing harder and playing together, this is it, this is our team and we have to play together. After the game I told them that I was proud of them and we just came up short. We just didn’t make enough shots or get enough rebounds to go along with our missed free-throws. That was a gutty effort from our guys.”

On Sean Mosley:
“You could tell that it was his last home game because he left it all out there. He had a ton of rebounds and hit some shots. After the timeout with about 55 seconds left I drew up a play for him because he is our senior. He really guarded well, he did a great job on [Joe] Harris. He is a tough match up. He made his first three of the game but ended up going two for seven. I thought that Nick [Faust] did a great job defensively as well. Sean was great and has been great all year. He hasn’t shot the ball great all year; but he has been great. I can’t imagine where I would be without him coaching this young team. He has been a rock.”

On his emotions during the game:
“Unfortunately I thought I had to be like that to get us going. Sending guys to the bench and calling timeouts wasn’t getting it done. I thought I had to get the building behind us to get us some energy. I don’t like acting like that. But when you are a coach you have to motivate everyone in the building. I don’t want to have to act like that.”

On the last shot of regulation:
“The play was going to Terrell [Stoglin]. I was trying to decide between him and Nick [Faust] but Terrell has hit a lot of big shots for us. Unfortunately [Jontel] Evans did a great job, Terrell was supposed to catch it on the move and he didn’t. If he catches it on the move he can probably get it into the paint. I thought that Alex [Len] set a big time screen like he was supposed to there. He got a good look. It was right on the line.

“Terrell isn’t shooting the ball like he was. He is forcing too many shots up. With that being said he has made a lot of big shots for us. I thought it was going in. I think that the kid is going to make it every time. If he is open he is going to knock it down.”

Virginia Forward Mike Scott

On scoring 35 points:
“I should have had more if I made those free throws; but I was just being aggressive and assertive. I was just trying to come out with a win.”

On playing Maryland on senior night:
“I knew [Sean] Mosley and [Berend] Weijs wanted to come out and be aggressive–just the same way we wanted to–but we just had to come out with a win.”

On his overtime play despite missing free throws:
“I’m glad we won, but I still have to work on finishing out games. I’m glad we went to overtime and finished out with a win.”

On his assertiveness:
“I told my teammates I had to be more assertive. I think the last four minutes of Florida State I didn’t really assert myself like I needed to and I just told my teammates to give me the ball because I’m just trying to win.”

On the win:
“It’s definitely a big win. We beat Maryland pretty bad at home and I told my teammates that they were going to come out swinging and they did. We took some punches, but I think we finally punched them back at the end.”

On what was said before overtime:
“Just don’t come out of here with a loss. That was the only thing we were saying. We have to come out with a win. I was telling my teammates that what happened in the Florida State game couldn’t happen again.”

Virginia Guard Sammy Zeglinski

On his confidence:
“I definitely feel comfortable. I got into a rhythm early and got some shots to go down. I just wanted to be aggressive and help the team.”

On the huddle before overtime:
“We just wanted to regroup. We knew we had some foul trouble and we just wanted to stay united. We had to come that much more closer together because we knew it wasn’t going to be easy having foul trouble, so we just wanted to stay aggressive and keep playing through Mike [Scott] who did a great job all night.”

On Mike Scott’s performance:
“He just makes it easy on us to have him down there and to be able to throw it into him. He’s just a great one-on-one player. He is nearly impossible to stop one-on-one because of his fade away and the variety of shots that he has. He’s a great player and I’m very happy he’s on our team.”

Maryland Guard Terrell Stoglin

On any fatigue late in the season:
“I mean I’m a little tired, but I’ve got to pick that up. That’s on me.”

On pressing in the second half:
“It was a lot of chaos for them. They started turning the ball over. I felt like we should have pressed a little more, but that helped us out a lot.”

On the ACC Tournament:
“We’re going to be alright. We’re going to go into practice, work hard and we’ll be ready for the tournament.”

On the shot at the end of regulation:
“Coach just told Alex [Len] to screen because they were going to deny the ball. But after they didn’t I was just trying to get a bucket. Coach said shoot the jumper if it’s open and I got the jumper and I should have made it, but I missed it.”

On Sean Mosley:
He played well, he played like a senior. Senior Day was his day today and he played well.”

Maryland Guard Sean Mosley

On how the team played:
“I thought that every guy who played, even the bench, left it out there in the second half. I appreciate all the effort the guys put in and showed throughout the whole game. There’s something about that loss, it really hurt. But at the end of the day we fought hard and that’s all I could ask for.”

On the key to taking Virginia to overtime:
“It was just playing with more energy and playing harder, together and smart. We were executing our offense and that’s the one thing that really helped us get back in the game in the second half. We were executing on offense, and limited them to one shot on defense. The crowd got into it, and then we played off that energy.”

On his thoughts after the game:
“Well, you know there’s still a lot of basketball to be played, just me not playing here at home anymore. It didn’t feel any different, I just know we have to look forward to the ACC Tournament and try to do our best down there and win some games, and hopefully win the whole thing.”

On his four years at Maryland:
“It definitely flew by, I guess when you’re having a lot of fun , playing a lot of games, and winning a lot of games, like my first two years, they flew by kind of fast. I’m just glad we fought hard, and came back and overcame that adversity in the second half. As a player, I tip my hat off to my teammates even though we lost.”