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Press Conference: UVA coach Tony Bennett

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tony-bennett-newlinks2UVA coach Tony Bennett talks with reporters after the third-ranked Cavs defeated N.C. State, 61-51, on Wednesday. 

 

On Virginia’s three-point shots:

“I don’t mind when they [N.C. State] post trap and we kick it across when our guys are set, but if you look at the amount of threes we took, and the time on the shot clock, sometimes the ball rotates and touches the paint. I complement our guys, because I thought our defense took a step in the right direction tonight. We bothered and contested shots, but offensively, we didn’t exploit some of the mismatches we had. We lacked the ability to rotate the ball and wear them down. We were a little trigger happy tonight and we need to understand we have to play both ends.”

 

On Justin Anderson’s pass to Mike Tobey:

“If we scored it’s the right play, if we didn’t it’s not. It didn’t look like it was going to unfold the way that it did. It was a clean pass, and that was an important basket. You saw how quickly they could score, so if he had turned it over it wouldn’t have been the right play, but we made it and it put us up 10 points.”

 

On the match-ups:

“We told Justin Anderson to just be a road block; spread out and keep him in front as best as you can, because Cat Barber is really quick. We thought that was a good matchup. London Perrantes is really good at eluding screens and, at first, we thought Malcolm Brogdon would be good on Trevor Lacey. Malcolm is good against a guy who makes tough shots. A couple of Ralston Turner’s three’s no one was going to stop, and a couple were contested. I have no problem with shots that are made if we are bothering them and up near it. I do think the length of Malcolm Brogdon was good, London Perrantes did a good job on Lacey, and Justin Anderson, too. Mariel Shayok gave us a nice lift offensively, as well.”

 

On the defense:

“I don’t think we are where we need to be defensively, I think we have limitations. I told the team it is about percentages, and if you can bother and contend and win the majority of the percentages. I do not think they will be perfect, but can you win the majority and outlast them as the game goes on? We have to have that mentality. We aren’t going to dominate and we need to win the majority.”

 

On going against shooting teams:

“Against Davidson and Miami, and looking at the three perimeter players tonight against NC State, we are going against teams that have scorers in most positions. That is the challenge, to be able to bother the majority of their shots. We did a good job, and we did well on the glass. Both teams were fatigued, and that is where being at home helped. They had a couple tough shots, and we picked up a couple of charges. We felt a little uneasy, but our guys battling through gave us the edge.”

 

On starting Darion Atkins:

“Before Darion got hurt he was starting, and now he is fully healthy. I said if BeeJay Anya was going to start I was going to start Mike Tobey and Darion Atkins, and if they started Abu, I was going to start Anthony Gill. I think Darion gives us the ability to blow up ball screens. He is active and quick, and I wanted to have a little bit of a defensive approach to start the game.”

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