Everything Mark Byington Said After SEC Semifinal Win Over No. 1 Seed Florida

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 4 seed Vanderbilt men’s basketball came away with a 91-74 win over No. 1 seed Florida in the first semifinal game of the SEC Tournament.

It was a convincing and dominating win for Vanderbilt from nearly start to finish. The Commodores were able to use Florida’s foul trouble to build a strong lead in the first half and did not look back. It was a collective effort from the Commodores’ guard and their big men that put together what could be considered the biggest win of head coach Mark Byington’s tenure in Nashville.

Byington spoke to the media postgame. Here is everything he said.

Opening Statement

“You could tell how much we wanted the game and how focused we were. From start to finish, we came out with just an incredible intensity. We knew we had to play well. Right now I think Florida is the hottest team in the country. Probably deserving of a 1 seed, defending national championship, the list of accolades that they deserve.”

“We knew (indiscernible) beat them. They weren't going to give us anything. I thought our guys did that. They went out from start to finish, played physical, fearless, played the right way, and played team basketball. So many guys stepped up. That's what you need to be able to beat a good team.”

“Proud of the guys. Not really celebrating. It's on Sunday, and that's what we started this tournament for, is to play for a trophy on Sunday, and that's what we have a chance to do tomorrow.”

A lot of people have questioned the size of the roster composition. Two days in a row you've been heavily out-rebounded but still been able to come away with a win. What does it say about the team's ability to compete against bigger teams?

“Yeah, I'm glad I don't listen to a lot of people or even know that myself. These guys are tough. We have versatility. We can go to a bigger lineup, AK Okereke at the small forward and play two bigs together. The two teams we just played, there might be more, but I doubt there's any more physical size on the inside than these two teams.”

“We stood our ground. I think there was some room for improvement there. But the fight was there. All those guys really fought for rebounds, fought for possessions. They competed. So even if we came up short a little bit, sometimes the second effort made up for it.”

Your team won by 17 points. What does that say about your team's efficiency?

“Yeah, I mean, they got a lot of misses back. I think it was one possession they got back. What we wanted to do, if a guy rebounds back, let's not give in on that.”.

“We wanted to play until the possession was over. I thought we got a little careless there about three and a half minutes to go. I think we were able to settle back in. I got experienced guards. When I got two guards, one had eight assists, one had seven assists, the ball was going the right places. You're going to see other guys be successful. I thought the guards did a great job controlling the game.”

You praised your team yesterday for the way they attacked the game. How about the first half today?

“Yeah, that was huge. Getting us going, momentum, kind of breaking down their defense with our defense. In the halfcourt, I mean, they are tough. The size and everything else, the physicality. Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles, some of the guys being aggressive with their hands, turning offense.”

“You need something like that in this game. I know our assistants have been talking about it to our players, and we've been echoing it. You are going to have to make some defensive plays, some plays that might not be scripted. Use your instincts, and those guys did.”

There is a big timeout in the 14 minutes in the second half. What do you tell your team in those moments to keep their heads cool?

“It felt like the first eight minutes of the second half took forever. I wanted to get Tyler Tanner out, but there were so many stoppages. We have long timeouts now in the SEC tournament. We didn't need any more. We had great momentum, but we had to regather it.”

“The game probably took a long time. I felt like the eight minutes were forever. We never really lost focus, never lost our intensity, no matter what it was.”

You won 20 games last year. I think today was the 26th of this season. Might be a 3 seed in the tournament. How have you been able to put together rosters that can compete at the highest levels in the SEC?

“We're looking for certain types of guys. First and foremost, care about winning. That's not a given with all these athletes these days. Sometimes people are motivated by other things. When they care about winning, they care about each other, you have a team that competes like this, shares the ball.”

“We try to find guys like that. I have a locker room full of them.”

Five players scoring in double figures in this game. How do you manage to be able to find that much offensive versatility?

“Yeah, I mean, we had confidence in our offense coming into the game. We scored 94 points against them the first time we played them. That might have been the most of any SEC team.”

“We really put our focus on defense. The offense is going to take care of itself as long as we rebound, play defense. But the sharing of the ball and making good decisions. With Duke Miles and Tyler Tanner being able to find guys, making them be successful, I thought that was the biggest part of our offense.”

I was wondering what it meant for you, for the team, for the organization, to be on the doorsteps of winning your first SEC trophy since 2012?

“Yeah, I mean, you could sit there and be cliché, say it's another game. That would not be accurate. This is what we want. We want to be playing on Sunday. We want to be playing a championship game.”

“It was one step at a time. We passed the first two. Tomorrow we'll have to be the same way. We'll compete. We're going to play a team that's on a winning streak, a team that earned their right to get there, just like we did. We want to play at a high level tomorrow. When a trophy is on the line, you're going to see guys flying everywhere.”

“I hope there is a lot of black and gold in Bridgestone tomorrow. Buy out the tickets, get in there. Buy 'em now before they figure out the result of this next game. If you can get the message out there, Vandy fans, let's pack it up.”

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