Feb. 25, 2012
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GEORGIA TECH COACH Brian Gregory
Opening Statement
“You gotta have some toughness, you gotta do some things on the glass to beat them, and that’s what we did. We defended extremely well. We didn’t rebound quite as well as I would like, but we rebounded just good enough. Offensively, we did some good things in terms of moving the ball and sharing the ball, and making some clutch shots. We shot well from the free throw line. There were a couple things we didn’t do so well that we just need to look on film and get better at. We haven’t really been in that position very often where we’re winning and need to get the ball inbounds, but we’ll get better at that as well.
“I challenged our guys a little bit. We didn’t perform very well on Tuesday. I thought we were beat up. Watching film (I could tell) we had no energy — maybe due to the situation more so than what the guys have within them, and I thought they did a good job of responding today.”
On Tech being tough today
“Well, we were today. But I’m not sure there are tougher guys than (Maryland’s) Mosley though. That guy carried them in the first half. He made every big play and tough shot. He’s not a great shooter, but he’s 4-of-5 from three. So, we at least matched his (toughness), but if you match his, you’re at a pretty good level. I did think we did a good job in toughness, mentally and physically. Down nine in the second half, we could have backed down right there and didn’t, kind of fought through it. And then we take the lead and we’re in control of the game; they make a good comeback and they take a one-point lead. We didn’t panic. We went to a set that our guys executed perfectly and Mfon got the three-point play. So, I think we took a big step in that (toughness).”
On defending Stoglin
“I thought we did a great job on him, from Mufon, and his time on him, to Brandon… we had a couple of switch situations. I thought Pierre (Jordan) and the minutes he had on him did a good job on him. You need a total team effort with him. Out of his 18 points, I think six of them were on free throws on fouls after three-point shots. But, we were aware of where he was at all times. You really need a team effort to guard someone like him.
“I think Mfon — 9 assists, 3 turnovers and the job he did on Stoglin — I think maybe he’s playing as well as he has played in his career.”
On how important it was to “finish” a game
“I think it is important. You (the reporter) used the word ‘finish’. That’s one of the things we are going to concentrate once this season is over. We’ve got to do a better job of finishing some things. At Maryland with three minutes to go it was a four-point game and they finished us, as opposed to us getting another stop and so forth. So, it was important. So much of the stuff that we’ve done is under the surface — structural stuff — and it’s always good to win in this situation. Guys feel good and they know their work is not just another great effort and another tough loss, it was and a tough win, which always feels better.”
MARYLAND COACH MARK TURGEON
Opening Statement
“I thought Georgia Tech was great from the beginning. Started out great, made shots. Second half, they were tougher than we were. Their big guys kicked our big guys’ tails. Holsey was great. Their interior defense was great. They wanted it more. They were better today.”
On the slow start
“I thought we were growing up, I really did. But today showed that we haven’t grown up all the way, we weren’t ready to play. The first three they hit, they run the same play every game. We drew it up right before tipoff. With that said, we had a nine-point lead and they out-toughed us. And they tried to let us get back there in the end. The kid made a big shot for them. We just couldn’t make a play. We got a little bit selfish on offense which we tend to do. It’s disappointing.”
On the offensive woes
“We missed a lot of bunnies. We missed a lot of layups. They got physical and we couldn’t handle it. Execution wasn’t great. Shot selection wasn’t great. So it was probably a combination of all of those things during that stretch that hurt us.”
