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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT


March 10, 2012


Derek Kellogg

Terrell Vinson

Chaz Williams


ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY

St. Bonaventure – 84
UMASS ‑ 80


THE MODERATOR:  From UMASS, Terrell Vinson and Chaz Williams, Coach?
COACH KELLOGG:  I was happy with the way they continued to fight and claw and come away with a loss against a St. Bonaventure team that I thought played well.
We never totally got the game into our flow until the last six, seven minutes of the game where it was more up and down.  So at that point I thought they controlled tempo and did a very good job, but like I said I thought the kids continued to fight and claw and gave ourselves a chance to win.  We were a small bounce from winning the game after‑‑ I would say after we didn't control the game for the majority of it.
I'm proud of the team, they've competed, and out of our 33 games I think they have competed in just about every one of them and never quit until the end.  Sometimes you go home earlier than you like.

Q.  Did they do a better job especially early of attacking your press and turning it into easy baskets?
COACH KELLOGG:  I thought they did a very good job, and it's one of the things that is a double‑edge sword, where, as an opposing coach, do you take those baskets or pull it out, and I thought they did a good job of attacking, and we weren't as sharp as we have been in our press until the second half, and that could be attributed to their press attack and making us pay at times.
Sometimes I live with them scoring and getting the game moving a little bit so we can get the game going and, unfortunately, I think they scored a few too many.

Q.  Coach, what did you see the last six or seven minutes that got your pressure going and got you back in the game.
COACH KELLOGG:  I hate to say it, but when we make shots, it gives our guys a little more energy to get into the press and I thought we finally made a few 3s and offensive possessions that looked good, and then we were able to get into our press.
At that point I felt like we had the tempo going our way, and I felt pretty good, even when we were down 14‑12 and we were ready to make a little bit of a run, and even within that run we made, I thought, two or three 3s, if my memory is correct, didn't go in, T.V. had one that was right in there and we missed one or two free‑throws.

Q.  Derek, with your foul situation the way it was, you guys went for the 3 there, were you going for the win ‑‑
COACH KELLOGG:  Yeah, absolutely!  We ran a kind of play‑‑ a ball‑screen play, and I had T.V. floatin' behind.  I thought he was going to be open for the 3, and they did a good job of rotating, and he hit Putt, and I yelled at him to shoot is it, just like I yelled at Jesse three games ago against Temple to shoot the three.  I thought it was a great look for a kid, when you look out of your office and see a guy shootin', that's the vision I have when they raise up, that it's going in.  Absolutely, a 2 was fine, a 3 was fine also in that situation.

Q.  Chaz, did you feel like with the momentum you had that you were going to pull it out?
CHAZ WILLIAMS:  Yeah, this game ‑‑ we wanted the win.  This game meant a lot to us, so when it got down to six minutes, we had our backs against the wall and we were ready to play.

Q.  Can you describe the last shots, what you saw when it left Putney's hand.  Did you think it was going in?
TERRELL VINSON:  Most definitely, he was the only one open, he was down there ready to shoot, I passed it to him, ball was in the air for a long time, but I thought it was down when it left his hands.

Q.  Chaz, you guys have a lot of guys coming back next year, do you think with this experience, the big win against Temple, you're right in there with St. Bonaventure, is this experience going to help you guys going forward and into next season?
CHAZ WILLIAMS:  Hopefully our season isn't over and we can continue to play and go from this point and learn from the last game, including the St. Bonaventure game we played and move forward and stay positive.

Q.  Derek, talk about the way Maxie played in the first half to keep you guys afloat?
COACH KELLOGG:  It was nice to see a freshman come in and carry our team the first half there with T.V. with two fouls, and Putney with two fouls.  I wasn't certain how much he would be able to play, but he had 14 and 7 in the first half.  If he would have played a little better defense on a couple of those ball handlers, he would have had almost a perfect first half.  But it was nice to see him around the rim, he's probably the best guy we have on our team in the front of the press, and it was good to get him confidence and have him feeling good about playing a lot of minutes in the first half.
It was a nice boost.  To see one of your young guys to step up on the stage is a nice thing for that day and also for the future for Maxie.

Q.  Terrell, when you came in the second half after foul trouble in the first half, was it in your mind to make things happen?  Looked like you were trying to be a catalyst.
TERRELL VINSON:  Most definitely, I wanted to win.  I didn't want to go home.  I felt like we should have beat them in the first half, we were letting them bully us, and they were getting a lot of offensive rebounds.

Q.  Chaz, in the second half I think you got within 2 and they went on a 22‑6 run.  What did they do to change the momentum at that point?
CHAZ WILLIAMS:  They were just playing basketball and we wasn't playing defense.  We had to step up and take charge of the game and that's what happened put it was too late.
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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