Feb. 14, 2004

Recap | Box Score | Notes

– Post-Game Quotes
South Carolina 82, Vanderbilt 75
February 14, 2004

South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom
“It was an excellent 35 minutes of basketball on our part. Vanderbilt played well down the stretch and maybe got us somewhat fatigued at the end. We did what we had to offensively. I’m very proud of how our team responded. We made some changes in our starting lineup and for good reasons. I appreciate the way our fans responded … cheering hard for our team and not jeering the other team. This was a tough Thursday and Friday for us. Not that we wore them out, but we did have some intense practices. Sometimes, when you make a lineup change, you’re not sure how it’s going to work out. We had an unusual combination in there at the end. Having a lead like that and then close the game out is a hard thing to practice … but, this was the best kind of practice we could have gotten at doing that. Those guys who were in there at the end need to learn how to close the game out … 20 wins used to be a magic number, but I don’t think it is any more. In all honesty, that doesn’t mean that you’ve had a successful season or that you’re going to the NCAA Tournament … I’m looking forward to the open date. We’ll take two days off and practice four. I told our team we want to be better this time next week … I want all of our players to know that there are capable players on the bench who want to play. We’re going to play those who give us the best effort and know their assignments the best.”

Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
“Tonight we got soundly beaten and USC outplayed us. They were on top of their game and the first 30 minutes they played really well. I congratulate USC because they are having a fine season.”

(About USC’s press)
“Their press is how they dictate the tempo of the game. They shorten the offensive possession and they don’t give up a lot of baskets. They make you take time off of the clock and they are very effective at it.”