Postgame Quotes
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Dec. 30, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
On Darion Atkins and Anthony Gill exploiting Davidson on the inside:
“Yeah like they exploited us with their offense. Those guys were significant with their play on the glass and second chance points in Darion’s case, and obviously, Anthony just being able to have some mismatches. When they did trap, he made the right decisions and when they didn’t he had an impressive offensive game without a doubt. I thought Darion’s activity, once we got into it, was important. They did have a big man, but those guys can really shoot and they stretched him. Obviously, you could see our struggles to keep up with their cutting and execution offensively. They were terrific that way to start.”
On Jack Gibbs fouling out and Brian Sullivan:
“We actually had Brian on a visit and he has such a quick release. I thought our urgency and our alertness or awareness to start the game, and transition defense was very poor. Gibbs dominated and he got into the elbows and our bigs were going back and all you could see were the back of their heads. If you don’t fly back and figure out how to get the ball stopped and matched up to the shooters, that’s the first problem. When they start running their offense that’s the other problem because if you’re not continuous they start to exploit you. Justin [Anderson] went under screens and got hurt early. We weren’t alert and ready. We told our guys all week that this will be one of the hardest offenses you will try to guard because they back it up with shooting and cutting. They kind of schooled us. They really did.”
On turning things around before halftime:
“We had to stop the bleeding and we got some buckets and a couple of OK stops. In the second half, we weren’t great defensively but we were better. The ones they took were more contested and they had to work a little harder to get them. They just didn’t get the ones where they waltz down the middle of the lane.”
On Justin Anderson’s back to back 3 pointers:
“They went zone. Those were significant. Coach McKillop is an excellent coach. You watch a lot of teams and I have respect for all coaches, but the job he does with those guys is impressive. They have two freshmen that started, so I wanted to make sure to give credit to him for how he had those guys ready and prepared to challenge you that way. There was a point where I didn’t know if they wore down. I know we were on the edge wearing down but our crowd gave us energy. Being at home helped, and then Justin got that three. The second three he hit, London [Perrantes] had terrific vision and got it to him in the corner. Those were significant and then our defense fed of the crowd and their energy and made them get some tough stops.”
On the 12-0 record:
“I’m so thankful we’re in this spot, but it’s on to the next game and we’re starting conference play.”
On Anthony Gill last season and this season:
“Well he finished the year strong last year. He was red-shirting, same as Malcolm Brogdon, and I though as the season wore on he had big games and I think he became more confident in his rhythm. He’s improved defensively and he’s picked up where he left off and added offseason things that he needed to. That was his career high and you look at a 25-13 game and that’s significant. I’m looking down at our free-throw percentage and we needed all of those.”
On Davidson’s preseason ranking:
“It just shows you about rankings. That’s a solid team. We will have to keep improving. Rankings are overrated. You look at our ranking, you look at pre-season stuff and that’s just for good speculation and it will all play out.”
On the first ACC game at Miami:
“You have got to be ready, certainly. It’s always exciting to get started playing conference. It’s another kind of season. You hope that preseason non-conference play prepared you. One game at a time. They’re really capable, they play good ball, and we just have got to be ready.”
Virginia Junior Guard Justin Anderson
On takeaways from the game:
“After we figured out what we needed to do going into the second half- we were all trying to figure out what was keeping us from chipping away, and we finally figured it out. It started to be fun. We looked around at each other in the huddle and said this is good for us. We hit adversity and we pushed through, and now it’s fun time.”
On Anthony Gill’s performance:
“We were at dinner last night and watching the Duke game and Jahlil Okafor on his way to 30 points in the game, and I said if anyone on our team is going to score 30 then it’s going to be Anthony. When I saw that he had 25 with three minutes left I looked at him and yelled `you’re not tired’ and I wanted him to get there so badly. He was a beast tonight. He was finishing over those guys and creating contact all night. He’s really just a great player.”
On the pass from London Perrantes that set up his second 3-pointer:
“His eyes are always up o the ball screens and he’s always seeing the floor. He saw me in the corner and threw it way up. I saw I had enough time to land and get my balance before I shot. It was a great pass, but really a questionable shot. Since it went in I won’t hear much about it, but if I would have missed then I probably would have heard it a little bit.”
Virginia Junior Forward Anthony Gill
On the post play in the second half:
“We thought in the first half that we had a little bit of an advantage inside, and in the second half we just tried to work it down there.”
On being 12-0 for the first time since 1981-82:
“It’s nice to be here, but we’re just taking it one game at a time. We’re just going out there and trying to win the next game. We have Miami next, and we’re just going in there and thinking about that one game. If we win then it will be good for us, but if we lose then we’ll learn from it, and move on.”
On Davidson’s shooting:
“They’re a really talented team and can really score. I felt like every time the ball went in the air it was going through the net. We really tried to do a good job in the second half of limiting their open shots.”
On Virginia’s defensive struggles in the first half:
“Their guard [Jack] Gibbs was really making it tough on us. He was penetrating and kicking the ball out or he would pull up and make a shot. Once we picked the ball up higher on the floor, it was a lot easier, especially on the bigs. Since all their bigs can shoot, if Gibbs would get in the lane and kick it to a big then we would have to recover a lot faster. When our guards pick up defensively further out on the court, it’s a lot easier on us.”
Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop
Opening Statement:
“Virginia is skilled, talented, very smart, and incredibly well-coached with great discipline. I thought we did a terrific job of matching them for quite a bit of the game. We let them get away from us at the beginning of the second half and at the end of the first half. But that happened not because of a lack of toughness or effort on our guys’ part. We fought for 40 minutes and I’m incredibly proud of them.”
On Virginia Junior Forward Anthony Gill:
“The scouting report said that he’s very crafty, has terrific touch, he shoots it like a feather inside, and he has an extra effort on the glass. All of which he lived up to.”
On Davidson’s momentum going into halftime:
“They cut it to four because we missed shots. We had three straight great looks at the basket. It wasn’t for a lack of execution or a lack of getting the ball to the right guy at the right time, we just missed shots. And to have three empty possessions like that and they counter, it’s six sometimes eight points. The same thing started the first three minutes of the second half. We had two turnovers and a missed shot. Five of our first six possessions in the second half we didn’t score. That is when they went from down four to up two or three. So when you have those kinds of stretches against teams like this with 15,000 people in the crowd, it doesn’t look good.”
Davidson Sophomore Guard Jack Gibbs
On increased pressure from Virginia in the second half:
“I think they were feeling good. Obviously, they cut the lead to four going into halftime, and when you’re feeling good, you play harder and the effort is there. I wouldn’t say there was increased pressure, just that they were clicking more in the second half.”
On Davidson’s ability to counter attack big plays by Virginia:
“In practice we work on catching people celebrating. So, if they get a big dunk or a clutch three then we want to push it back. We are going to attack no matter what and I think we do a good job of counter attacking. We get people open and made shots.”
On Virginia’s Defense:
“They want to make you work for the whole shot clock. They are a smart team and play very well together. Sometimes it’s not going to go your way.”
On Virginia’s Forwards Darion Atkins and Anthony Gill making big plays inside:
“They are good players. They play on the No. 3 team in the country for a reason and they can make shots. They had a nice touch inside and we played our defense well against them, but sometimes they are just going to make shots.”
Davidson Senior Guard Tyler Kalinoski
On Virginia’s defense in the second half:
“When they got their offense running and got the crowd into it, their defense was clicking more, especially in the second half. I thought we had great looks. Brian (Sullivan) got going a little bit and I thought Peyton (Aldridge) had great looks, but they just weren’t going down for us. And then when they come back on offense and they run their plays for the whole 30 seconds of the shot clock, it takes away our momentum going back on offense.”
On how this game speaks to the quality of Davidson’s team:
“I think we may have proved something. In the locker room we believe we can play against any team in the country and we can beat the best team in the country. We might have turned some people’s heads, but in our locker room we believe we can be the best team in the country.”