Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Post-Game Coaches’ Quotes

Feb. 26, 2009

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Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell

On Game “I thought we got off to a good start. I was disappointed with our ball handling in the first half with 12 turnovers. We just weren’t sharp, and their press kept us from getting a good working margin.”

On Vassallo’s Threes “He got them going and we stopped trapping to eliminate that, which helped. We just couldn’t make a shot in the lane. Terrence gave us a chance but it came down to making a shot at the end and we couldn’t.”

On Getting Oglesby the ball at the End “That is where we wanted to go, and he had some room but passed it off to Stitt. He was definitely our first option.”

On Turnovers in First Half “We just weren’t sharp with the ball.”

On Booker in the Second Half “He didn’t have the half he did in the first, but still took nine shots. He just couldn’t get them to go.”

On Physical Game “It was very physical, but not the most physical game we have played. The Virginia Tech guys did a really good job playing physically.”

On Virginia Tech “I give them credit. We came out of the blocks well, but they were tough and came up with big plays.”

Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg

On the game “When you look at the history of these games, a 3-point win is basically a blowout. These have turned into epic games where all the guys play hard, they’re well coached, and we’re very proud to walk away with the win.”

“Before the game, I told the guys to go out, play hard and be tough. I told our guys that they had to attack, stay freed up, be aggressive, and whatever happens, happens; that’s what we did. And we got the job done.”

“We battled for rebounds this game and we got just enough to win.”

On defeating a ranked team on the road “There’s no magic formula. If I had a magic formula, we would have won more games at home. We played tougher and got good stops, but if there was a magic formula, we’d be where these guys are at 22 wins and not 17.”

On timeout after Oglesby’s threes “We knew that would happen eventually. I told them just to stay together and get stops. We knew he would hit that streak, so we just had to stay focused and get those extra stops.”

On amount of turnovers “We had to stay active in our gaps. We could not let ourselves get spread out too far, and that’s what we did. In this league, you only have to improve on one thing to get wins. It just takes one extra rebound, one extra stop, one extra loose ball picked up. Things like that prove to be the difference between being at 22 wins and at 17, and our guys did that one extra thing tonight to win.”