UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 15, 2022

Tom Crean

Men's Basketball Press Conference

Vanderbilt 73, Georgia 66

TOM CREAN: I appreciate our crowd, how great they were. They were fantastic, and we just couldn't pull it off. We had too many points off turnovers in the second half. Our low post defense was not great, and they do a really good job of making the double hard because they run the split action on the ball side. We gave up a couple of those buckets. We did not have a great start to the second half, but really at the end of the day outside of Jaxon we did not shoot it well, but the bottom line was the points off turnovers.

We usually goat to the foul line in a much better way than what we did today, and to only get 10 free throws in this game was hard, so that took away a lot of points that we usually get.

But the points off turnovers, there's very little you can do to defend a live ball turnover, and that hurt us.

Q. The other night you talked about those quiet stretches and things like that. I want to know at the start of the second half, was that one of those quiet stretches, and even the end of the first half when you had the lead --

TOM CREAN: Yeah, I've got to go watch the film to see exactly what it is, but there's no question I've got to look at doing something different in the second half right now, to start the second half, and we just have to look at that. But I'll have to go watch the film to have a better answer.

Q. What are some of the difficulties of trying to get closer to a 40-minute game? I know earlier in the season it was first halves and lately the second halves.

TOM CREAN: I think the bottom line is we're not coming out with the intensity and the urgency that we've got to have in that second half, especially on the defensive end, which means I may have to change the lineup. Maybe at the beginning of the game but probably definitely at halftime because it's becoming too much of a story.

I think transition hurt us a little bit in that area, but I've got to watch the film to give you a better answer. I'm sorry.

Q. Oquendo wasn't as effective obviously. Was he banged up a little bit?

TOM CREAN: He might have been a little bit, yeah. He's been dealing with some issues in practice, but it wasn't a great night for him. But he's been playing really well, and he'll bounce back.