Mizzou Men’s Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Mizzou 72, Vanderbilt 52
Mizzou Head Coach Kim Anderson
Opening Statement…
“I bet you guys are surprised. Alright, first of all great performance by our guys. It was unbelievable. Going into the game, we knew they were a great three-point shooting team, and you know you have to control their three-point shots. The other thing was rebounding. We really challenged our guys to go get offensive rebounds and we felt like maybe we could get some second chance points. I think that was the difference in the game. We had 21 and they had four. We did a good job of guarding them. I know they missed some shots that they normally make, but that is a good team, and I am really proud of these guys. Our guys came to play. When they would make a run, we fought back. I don’t know the exact figure, but they didn’t score for the last 11 minutes of the game, 12 minutes? I think that says a lot about our guys and the kind of defense we were able to play.”
On how it felt to win big…
“I certainly thought we could compete with them, and if we played well, we would have a chance to win. And we did. We played well. When we had a little bit of a lull I thought we did a good job of recovering. And I am not sure this team could have done that a month ago. It has happened to us before, when the other team goes on a run and takes the lead, and we come back and continue to play. I thought we played hard the whole time.”
On Jordan Barnett’s increased aggressiveness…
“I told you guys that it would take him some time to adjust. He’s been good. He’s the greatest kid, I mean he is just unbelievable. He is finally being more aggressive for longer. I think in the past he would defer to other people. I think he is a really talented basketball player. I thought he took advantage of his opportunities tonight. He shot it extremely well, but the thing I am most impressed with was his five offensive rebounds. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but that sequence at the end when he came and got that offensive rebound and kept it alive, that was big time. I am really proud of him because I have been really hard on him. He responded. That’s special.”
On win number 300…
“It is a special moment. And it’s not me. It’s not just me. You’ve got families, players, coaches, administrators. I am just the conductor of the band. These people have hung together this year. It has been a hard three years. It has been a really hard three years. And certainly we have a long way to go. But it is special to win 300 wins, because not everyone gets to do it.”
Mizzou forward Jordan Barnett
On shots falling today…
“I am very confident. When I take I shot, I know it is going to hit. It feels natural. I’m just happy that I was able to string together a couple of good shooting nights so hopefully that continues.”
On overall game play…
“It was really fun, not just from a standpoint of me scoring but also that I know I played as hard as I could. Being able to get offensive rebounds, my team played extremely hard and we forced them to lay down and we took over. It feels really good to be able to win in that fashion.”
Mizzou forward Kevin Puryear
On Coach Anderson’s 300th win…
“We care a lot about Coach Anderson. We continue to fight every day and we are in this together. For us to win in that fashion and get him his 300th win was big for all of us.”
On play on the boards…
“We have a really tough group of guys and when we put our minds to it we are extremely tough, especially on the defensive glass. We controlled it the whole game and for us to maintain it against a strong Vanderbilt team says a lot about our toughness.”
On Jordan Barnett…
“It is just as fun for me to watch him play as it is for you all. The moment I met Jordan I knew that he was a great player. I watched him in high school when he had that historic game against Hickman with 43 points and 20 rebounds and that was absurd. I don’t understand how anybody does that. I knew he was going to come in and do great things for us and I am just really happy to see him be successful.”
On putting together a full 40 minutes…
“I am going to sleep very good tonight. For us to string together two great halves and play at a high level for the whole game, making shots when we needed to make them, I thought our execution tonight was better than it has been all season. We had some great plays on the defensive end as well. We guarded the perimeter well. We just did a great job on all cylinders today.”
Head Coach Bryce Drew
Opening Statement…
“I thought Missouri played an excellent game today. Looking at their film in the last few games compared to earlier conference play, I think that with Barnett and his play they are playing excellent basketball. They play with energy and we knew after their last home game against Arkansas that they were going to play well today. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our best game with us today and couldn’t overcome the rebounds that let us in.”
On lack of offense…
“We feed off the 3-point shot. We win games by it and we lose games by it. It’s just how this team is built. I thought we had some really good looks especially in that second half. When you miss and you don’t get any easy baskets, offensive rebounds and points off turnovers, which we did not get tonight, it is hard to work your way back into the game.”
On Jordan Barnett…
“We knew that he was coming in very hot. He makes threes in a variety of ways and he gets to the rim. We knew the scout report coming and unfortunately he hit some tough shots with guys in his face. You really have to credit him. If he can play at this level, he gives them another scoring option that can help take over segments of a game and also help win a game for Missouri.”
