Quotes from Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, Virginia coach Tony Bennett and Tech players Quinton Stephens and Josh Okogie following Georgia Tech’s 62-49 loss to No. 16 Virginia Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
JOSH PASTNER
“We’ve come a long way. Against a team like Virginia, we had some short shots that we missed, some layups. That’s just been an Achilles heel for us. We’ve missed a lot of layups this year, short shots, that have kind of bit us in the butt.”
“They kicked our butt on the offensive glass in terms of 9-0 in the second-chance points. That hurt us. And I thought we did a good job on (guard London) Perrantes other than the start of the game. He was on fire and we did a good job on him. Perrantes, if he’s not the best guard in the league, he’s sure one of the best.”
On Ben Lammers being limited to seven points:
“It’s just one of those things where he got some good looks and he missed them, so you’ve got to give credit to the defense. If he makes them, it’s a credit to the offense. But that’s a credit to the young man, Jack Salt, who did a nice job guarding him.”
“We played well. Just, Virginia’s very good. They’re very, very good. We played hard, we competed.”
TONY BENNETT
“Ben Lammers is a good player, and (Jack Salt) made him earn (his points). He played with his hands free, he fought his position, he showed his strength and that was impressive. I really enjoyed that. I loved seeing that, because I think it was a huge key for us, because that guy (Lammers) can score and make some plays.”
“Georgia Tech throws different actions at you. You saw a 1-3-1, a box-and-one, or a diamond-and-one, we saw a matchup zone, some man-to-man, some pressing. It’s a lot, and that’s why it’s kept people off balance.”
“Those guys can get on the offensive glass. I just thought we were in good position. Jack (Salt) and Devon (Hall) and guys were coming back and rebounding, and Josh (Okogie) had a good first half. I just thought we made it hard (for him to score in the second). We were trying to adjust and do some things differently and we just kind of made simple adjustments in the second half and it helped our defensive rebounding and made them play a little more over the top and stuff at the rim, which they got in the first half.”
QUINTON STEPHENS
“They’re a good team. They made us guard. I think we played hard, I think we just could’ve set ourselves up better offensively, considering the way they scouted us.”
On limited offensive rebounding:
“We also were playing four guards for the most part, and usually when a shot would go up, it’s either Ben (Lammers) taking a shot or we have most guys out on the perimeter, and they had five guys rebounding, so we only got really one opportunity. I think we could have taken more advantage of the transition offense, honestly.”
JOSH OKOGIE
“They did their job of sprinting to the ball shrinking the floor, closing out well. They doubled the post. It was hard for our big guy to facilitate and create anything out of that, so it made it tough for us overall as a team.”
On scoring one point in the second half after 13 in the first:
“I don’t think I was as aggressive. I wasn’t as aggressive the second half. I should have been, but I just wasn’t.”
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