Jan. 2, 2006

1-2-06

UAB head coach Mike Anderson

On the game overall:

"We made some plays and got some stops despite all the adversity with Demario (Eddins) going down. It was a good win over a good VCU team. My hat is off to VCU, but they didn't bring anything I wasn't expecting. We have played them twice so it wasn't anything new. They are going to come after you and they came with a lot of intensity tonight."

On the play of Brandon Tobias:

"We needed someone to provide that spark tonight and Brandon Tobias was the guy. It was his night to step up and make some plays for us. Those free throws he made were big and then he took a big charge on defense. We have to start hitting our free throws."

On the difference in the game:

"When we had to step up and make plays tonight we did. They came out with the mind set that they were going to attacked us. In the second half they took more shots and made free throws. We weren't as sharp as we have been but I'll take the win."

On Squeaky Johnson's play:

"Squeaky stepped up and made some big shots. We weren't smooth on offense in the second half and I wanted to move the ball. They didn't attack us as much in the second half and we were able to make plays."

On Demario Eddins' injury (preliminary diagnosis of a torn right Achilles' tendon):

"Right now, it's not looking very good for Demario (Eddins) but we should know more tomorrow. Your talking about one of the better players on this team and that hurts. It's a part of life and you may be playing one day and not the next."

On what his team has to do to overcome Eddins' injury:

"We have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team but we need someone to step up. We should find out more tomorrow about Demario and we hope everyone keeps him in their prayers."

VCU Head Coach Jeff Capel

On the game:

"UAB is a very good team, they're well coached and they play a style that you just don't see. It's hard to prepare for them because of that. I thought we did a good job getting prepared for it, and I thought we played well. We put ourselves in a position to win the game, we just didn't come through."

On defending Marvett McDonald and Squeaky Johnson:

"We didn't do a good job of covering him in the first half, and it hurt us. He had four three's in the first half. I thought we did a better job of covering him in the second half. He still hit one huge three for them though. We left him one more time, and he hit it. The guy that really hurt us tonight was Squeaky Johnson. He penetrated for baskets to set his teammates up. The one thing we didn't do a good job of was containing the penetration. We tried to play a zone a couple of times and we tried to slow them down and give them some different looks. We didn't do a good job of keeping Squeaky out of the paint with our zone defense and that's something we have to work on."

On Wen Mukubu's play and the difference down the stretch:

"He really gave them a big basket at the end of the game. We didn't handle the ball screen correctly and he took advantage of it. He's a good player. I watched him against Oklahoma State last week. He fits in perfectly to the way that UAB plays: he plays hard, he's athletic and he's a team player. He had two baskets down the stretch that were really big baskets for them. That's what I mean about making plays. They made some plays down the stretch and we didn't. We didn't get a couple key stops. Overall I was very proud and pleased with our effort. Hopefully this is the kind of effort that we can continue to have the rest of the season.

On UAB's depth:

"Mike Anderson has done a great job of recruiting and getting some very talented players. They don't have just one guy that you can focus on - its' a collection of guys that are all good players. They're all talented and they can all dribble, pass and shoot. When you do a good job covering one, someone else steps up. I think Eddins is their best player and their most complete player. Obviously Marvett McDonald leads them in scoring and Squeaky Johnson is their most valuable player, he's their most important player. Then you have the guys like Mukubu, Paul Delaney, Lawrence Kinnard and Frank Holmes. Those guys are good players and they can hurt you. I also thought Tobias also did a good job coming in and rebounding the basketball and getting to the foul line."