|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 12, 2016Bob McKillopBrian SullivanBrooklyn, New York VCU - 76, Davidson - 54 BOB MCKILLOP: Congratulations to Virginia Commonwealth. It's never easy to beat a team three times, and they certainly had a convincing victory today. I could not be more proud of the guys on our team, to have this kind of season amidst of many challenges we've faced this year, it was extraordinary. This was a team of terrific young men who gave me great joy, and I just hope we get the opportunity to continue playing. Q. Brian, it seemed like you guys got down kind of early tonight. What happened there to the team? Seemed like you guys got down early and couldn't get it going. BRIAN SULLIVAN: Yeah, obviously you have to give them credit. They came out and kind of had the first punch, set us back, and they were the attackers. I thought we did a good job staying in the game and fighting back, and I think we cut it close with a couple minutes left in the first half, and we were right there, and then they just kept coming. Yeah, I'm not really sure how they got that advantage or had that, but yeah, it just seemed like they were too much. Q. What's the toughest part of playing them, the challenges they present? BRIAN SULLIVAN: Obviously they have a deep bench. They play a lot of guys and a lot of energy. With fresh legs they're tough to play against, but after two games like that, they just have a lot of energy, and they had a great crowd, and they feed off that. Yeah, they just make things tough every time you play them. Q. To the energy question, do you think that what you guys have had to do the last couple days, plus the overtime, is that where the shooting percentage went? BRIAN SULLIVAN: I don't want to make excuses like that. I felt like we were ready for the game. My legs felt fine for the game. It kind of just felt like the game before, so I don't want to blame it on the legs. It might have been, but also they are a pretty good defensive team, and that probably had something to do with it, too. Q. People often say that these kids play AAU ball, and so they should be able to play three games in three days, but how is this different and how is that a factor in that situation? BOB MCKILLOP: Well, it was kind of a perfect storm, a 9:00 game on Thursday night, a 9:00 game on Friday night, and overtime, and then an afternoon game against a team that is in you every second of the possession. Just not the greatest recipe for being able to run your stuff. And they prevented us from running our stuff. That's why we're the No. 6 seed and not where they were, No. 2 or whatever they were, No. 1. I'm not sure what they were. But they deserved this victory. They certainly made it uncomfortable for us to run offense. Q. The early turnovers to start the game, how did that set the tone for the rest of the game? BOB MCKILLOP: In the last two games we've played them, we went down 28-6 at our place. At their place we were down 16-5, 16-10. So we've started against this team twice with early deficits. They're ready to play when they come play us. There's no doubt about that. But all of a sudden, they make you hesitant because of their pressure, and then you make a turnover and you become more hesitant, and then you miss a shot, and they were 1 for 16 last night from three, and 10 for 25 tonight. I don't know the exact specifics of last year's game, but I want to say when we played them in the semis last year that they shot poorly from three the night before, and then when we played them, it was the three-point shots that opened up the game here last year, and it was that same thing that happened in the first half tonight. They made, I think, three threes, and I think that opened up the game for them. Q. Playing catch-up against a team like this, how tough was that? When you got down early, knowing that probably isn't where you wanted to be right now, what was that like to try to fight back? BOB MCKILLOP: I think you can catch up with the way we play because we can shoot the three, but we weren't making the three, and you live and die by the three, and we will always try to live by it. We just -- we had a couple of looks that could have narrowed it down to nine or eight or seven, and boom, all of a sudden we don't knock them down. When you make the three, all of a sudden the driving lanes become a little bit more open, and you get to the foul line a little more, and you put points on the board and the clock stops. So all of those things that are part of our game plan and strategy all season long were not here tonight because of them stopping us. Q. Sullivan, Barham, both seniors, this is their last A-10 tournament. What have you seen from them the past three days? BOB MCKILLOP: Davidson College is a Southern Conference program for however many years, and it went from I think the 29th ranked conference to the seventh ranked or sixth ranked conference with no additions to the roster. For these two seniors and Matt Williams to lead us to back to back 20-win seasons to a 14-4 and 10-8 record and semifinal appearances in both A-10 years will leave a long-lasting mark on what they have done for our program. Q. You mentioned postseason opportunities. What would that mean to this team? BOB MCKILLOP: Well, the only thing that I think would be considered by us would be the NIT, and I think that Richmond was in a similar situation as we were, as we are. Last year Richmond was in that same situation. We are hopefully optimistic that the clock still has time on it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|