The University of Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Virginia Tech
12/2/2017 | Men's Basketball
Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy
Opening statement…
"At the end of the day, obviously I am really disappointed. We lose two overtime games in our own building, and we are right there. We have had three losses this season, and we are right there in all of them. Really our four wins, the only game I have relaxed was the last five minutes to play against Rice. All of our wins have been down to the wire. Maybe that's who we are. You have elite teams, obviously we are not that, and you have terrible teams, and obviously we are not that. We are in that middle range, and we have to find a way to make winning plays. I think we have been close. I am sure we will find that tonight when we watch the tape. We are right there, and we have to make a play."
On coming out strong…
"We led the game, a little over 80 percent of it, 37 minutes. You have to close the game. I played for two hall of fame coaches. The great, late Jim Valvano at NC State and the great, late Gene Bartow at UAB. They were two polar opposites in their approach to everything. They were pretty common in that, at the end of the day, you have to make plays. To Virginia Tech's credit, they were down 47-32 and they just started putting their head down and driving to the basket. They end up making more free throws than we attempt, just gave them opportunity after opportunity and couldn't get it done."
On Terence Davis' shot selection at the end of the game…
"Usually in the second half, their shot selection is a little better because I can bark in their ear. He was right in front of me. He was just trying to make a play. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and sometimes our decision-making leaves something to be desired. Maybe that is my fault; maybe I give them too much freedom and need to structure it a little more so that some of it is out of their hands."
Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams
On the second half…
"I thought we started the second half ok. KJ (Kerry Blackshear Jr.) missed a baby hook. We got a stop. We got a basket. AK (Andy Kennedy) called timeout and I believe he called a timeout at the 18 1/2 minute mark. They scored an and-1 and then a three. We were down 16 after being down 10 at half. I thought we started great and then consecutive possessions were bad. The pace of the second half relative to possessions were slightly slower than the first half. I think one of the things that helped us was, they had shot the ball 10 more times than us at halftime because we had so many turnovers. Only having four turnovers in the last five minutes of the game gave us a chance."
On his impressions of The Pavilion…
"I went and talked to AK. I have known him since I was a kid. It is really nice. The last time I played here was 2006-2007. When we came to shoot last night it was dark. I didn't really know where I was at last night other than near the football field. On the way to the game, I saw the Tad Pad and I think they have done The Pavilion really, really well. The size, the amenities, I think anytime you have an on campus arena like this, it's not too big, yeah really nice."
