Post Game Quotes
12/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Head Coach Kim Anderson
Opening Statement:
"First of all, I know you all received a release regarding Jakeenan. We are certainly thrilled to have him back on the basketball team and he played extremely well today. He's been practicing, but he's been on the scout team a lot, and I was really pleased with how much he knew, how he played and some of the things he did. It's great to have him back. The release speaks for itself, and I'm not going to talk about it anymore.
As far as the game goes, slow start. We came back. I thought we made a good run at the end of the first half. We had a chance in the second half to take the lead, but we just couldn't get it done. Thought we could make another run later, and they knocked a couple down. I remember it was 50, maybe 48 or 47, they scored five points in a row. A lot of good things, but that's probably not what you want to hear. We still have a lot of things to work on, and we just have to keep grinding away."
On taking more contested shots in the second half...
"I thought we really had a chance in the first four, five or six minutes. We had a chance to change the game. This is a very good team. I'm impressed with this team. They won today, and we did a great job on them. I thought they did a good job defensively on us when it got tight. We were able to make a couple of runs on them and get it back close at halftime, and then we were able to make a run early in the second half. We stayed within striking distance, and then they banged home a couple. For all practical purposes, they got it up 16 and struggled the rest of the way. We didn't shoot the ball well, but we didn't shoot the ball well when we weren't guarded. So, they were contested shots, but we had some open shots too, from three, that we didn't make. It was one of those deals."
On the energy brought by D'Angelo Allen and Jakeenan Gant...
"Those two guys bring energy. Jakeenan brings energy and obviously we've seen that D'Angelo brings energy. We have a hard time playing, and we tend to not get to the basket very well. We shot 20 free throws today, but we're a little tentative when it comes to that, but I thought those two guys, they bring good energy. Jakeenan coming in and making a shot picked everybody up."
On any limits placed on Jakeenan today...
"No. He's in pretty good shape. I told him before the game, `I'm going to play you, but you may play two or three minutes and then come out,' and he got in there and he looked comfortable. He really was, so I left him and he's a strong guy though, even when he's been sitting out, he's been working hard and getting extra work. He plays hard at practice. He has to get in better condition, but he's a guy who keeps himself in shape. I was impressed he came in and he just kind of fit in. He was aggressive offensively, but he wasn't selfish. He had shots and he took them and made them. There were some points during the game where it was the best that we moved the ball since William Jewel. I thought we moved the ball pretty well on the interior at times. Not all the time, but at times."
On moving forward offensively...
"I think we've got to keep working with what we're doing. We need to get our confidence up. We can't shoot 1-for-16. We were shooting almost 40-percent from three coming in, so we have shot the ball pretty well. I hate to keep saying this, and I know you all are probably tired of hearing it, but we have to develop consistency. As you watched, you might say, `Why is he playing this guy? Why is he playing this guy?' Well, we're trying to develop some consistency. We're trying to find guys to be consistent. Guys are working hard and trying to do that. We just have to keep grinding. What we talk about every day, is just `guys we have to keep grinding.' It's a process. I told you from day one that it's a process. I'm not embarrassed of these guys. I'm not ashamed of these guys. I'm proud of them. We just have to keep working."
"It gave us a spark. We are grateful for the fans that came and gave us a lot of support."
KEITH SHAMBURGER
"No it wasn't frustrating, we have the talent. We can't put our heads down. We have to keep going from here and keep getting better as we prepare for the game next Saturday."
"He gave us a spark. I am happy to have him back, he's a big part of our team and we need him. He works very hard, and he is relentless on the boards."
On what made Xavier a tough opponent...
"To be honest, we just have to get stops as a team. We haven't played a full game where we have played defense and offense. Today, my defense wasn't good. Last game, we played the first 20 minutes and we did alright the second. Once we play a full defensive and offensive game, we will be fine."
Xavier Head Coach, Chris Mack
Opening Statement...
"Obviously, elated and excited to come to an SEC school and get a road victory. It is never easy. I thought for the first 15 minutes or so, we played pretty well. We built up a little bit of a lead and you look down at the score sheet, at the halftime, we are only up four or five points. Three of our leading scorers hadn't made a field goal yet. I thought if we had made those two free throws to end the half, we would have been up my nine. Jonathan Williams makes a floater in the lane and cuts it to five. We had to regroup at halftime and quit turning the ball over. In the second half, we made our free throws. We got some big shots from Myles Davis. Our bench played exceedingly well. It is always good to go on the road and in your first true road game and come away with the victory."
On holding the lead in the second half with Mizzou threatening...
"Well, even though our turnovers didn't reflect it, at the half we had nine and the eight that we had in the second half, the majority of them were in the final four minutes. I thought we did a really good job of making them take contested shots. It has not been our strong suit, coming into the game, as you know, giving up a crazy percentage from the three-point line. Today, that wasn't the case. They won on Thursday night and I thought a lot of their shots were short. I am not going to act like we are the Boston Celtics defensively."
On preparing for Gant after not seeing him this season...
"It probably isn't as tough as it was 10-15 years ago. Our players were talking about it at pregame meal. They know these guys from AAU circuit, so you have a coach up there who has maybe seen him two or three times at these national tournaments. Then you have a player on your team who pipes up and says `coach he can do this and he can do that.' Kids all tend to know him nowadays with the national AAU scene. We have healthy respect for him coming in and saw his exhibition game numbers and knew that he would come in and be aggressive and play. I wish he would have missed more shots though."
Myles Davis, sophomore guard
On any concerns when the score was within one...
"A little, just because it is an away game and we know how it is to get down as a visiting team. What we're learning and what we actually got better at today was how to get everybody together and stay in the game, how to keep a level head. We were able to not worry about that one point lead and just keep playing the game."
On extending the lead and maintaining composure...
"We have been in situations now this year about three times where we have had the lead in the first half and we have seven new guys, so this is where we played our first true road game. We had to stick together. We would preach before the game started, we're all we have. It's just us here, so as long as we stay together and as long as we keep playing our basketball we're going to be fine."
On the turnovers...
"I think I will have to take fault for the turnovers. I had three myself. I probably started a bad trend but that's something we can control. We will just work on it for the next game and get better in practice at taking care of the ball. I think we will be fine, we have good ball handlers and as long as everyone plays with confidence, I don't think we need to worry about turnovers."
