UVA basketball players Marial Shayok, Malcolm Brogdon, London Perrantes and Darion Atkins talk with reporters after the second-ranked Cavs defeated Pitt, 61-49, on Monday in ACC action.
Freshman Guard Marial Shayok
On teammates telling him to be aggressive: “They want me to be aggressive. They know when I play with confidence and am positive I play well. Today I tried to play hard, play aggressive and play in the moment.”
On scoring for the first time in seven games: “It felt good. I could have done a better job staying positive before that, but all of the guys and coaches believed in me and it paid off today.”
On regaining control after Pitt went on a scoring run: “Every team will have their runs, but we just wanted to keep playing our basketball. We wanted to keep our defense stable and trust in each other.”
Junior Guard Malcolm Brogdon
On second half dunk: “I just saw the baseline open up. I was thinking if the big doesn’t step over then I am going to try to dunk it, they might block it, but I’m going to go to the rim hard.”
On reaching 1,000 career points: “It means a lot. I remember Joe [Harris] and Mike Scott getting their 1000th point and it’s a moment I have to say thank you to all of the people along the way. It is not just me. It’s my family, my mom, my brothers, my coaches and my teammates who have all helped me along the way. This is a moment of gratitude for me.”
On trouble shooting: “It’s frustrating when your shots aren’t falling and you can’t get things going offensively. But at the same time, as long as we were getting stops, we couldn’t be too frustrated with ourselves. As long as we get stops, we have something to lean on.”
On matching them physically: “That was big. That was the biggest component for us going into the game. They are a team a lot like us. They set hard screens, their guards come off hard and they are always cutting hard. They have really good players and are a mirror image of us, so we knew we had to come out physically.”
Sophomore Guard London Perrantes
On interior passing: “It was what the defense gave us. We were able to get to the elbow and their bigs were just sitting down in the dump spot waiting for the ball, so it all just works out if the bigs get open and give us enough space we are going to give it to them. It wasn’t just all me it was a team effort with that.”
On halting Pitt’s momentum: “We were shooting good shots. We had some great open looks and some rimmed in and out. We made the good ones when they really counted. We are just going to keep shooting because it gives us confidence. When we need a bucket is when we get the best shot and we knock them down.”
Senior Forward Darion Atkins
On the team’s defense performance: “The last two games we did not perform defensively, and I think we came out right away and put our foot down on the defensive end tonight.”
On his individual defensive performance and role: “Whenever I see someone driving, I come over and wait until they try to release their shot and then I go up for it [the block].”
On playing without Justin Anderson: “Our defense has not let up. Because he is out, we need to translate our defensive momentum to the offensive end. We have people taking more shots, like London did tonight.”
On Evan Nolte’s performance: “He is playing really well. He has filled Justin’s void well. He is experienced and has been patient to wait for his shot to play, and I think he is going to continue to give us more.”
On Marial Shayok’s performance: “As soon as he hit the 3-pointer tonight he looked over at Justin, and Justin said, ‘Are you back?’ Marial said. ‘Yeah I’m back.’ I’m glad he hit that shot and hopefully he can keep staying aggressive on the offensive end.”
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