Oklahoma State University Athletics
UT Postgame Quotes
January 04, 2017 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State Quotes Head Coach Brad Underwood:
On his thoughts on the game:Â
Well, I thought it was a couple of interesting segments, in a lot of ways. In the first four minutes we committed seven fouls, they're shooting free throws and when we did not foul them, our defense was pretty good. We had them running offense at half court and we were taking them out of what they wanted to do and causing them all kinds of problems. We were without Lenny Waters tonight, Lenny is one of our most versatile guys and they exploited that, played the last four minutes of the half in zone, that let [Tevin] Mack get going, hit a couple. Then I thought there was a stretch in the second half which was just inexcusable in our part, that was just a 15-0 run and it was all layups and transitions. Some bad shots on our end led to that, but [we] just [were] not getting back. So those two runs I thought were very impactful tonight and very out of character for us, probably caused by the lineups. Nine offensive rebounds--we're one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country. But again, give them a lot of credit as they made plays when they had to. Tevin got going.
On the seven fouls before the first timeout:Â
[That's the] first time it has ever happened to me, but we've been fouling a lot. We'd thought we'd been getting better at it. It's our front court guys, usually. We've got to understand that it's positioning. We're very reactionary and we don't anticipate very well as much as we try. I'll give you a great example, three times in the first half they threw the ball into the post because we played dead behind it. In my 30 years of coaching and playing basketball, we've never ever done that. We got into wrestling matches, Leighton picks up a couple. You know, Leighton's third foul in the first half on a transition, he can't come close to that, making that play. Those dictated the game and they dictated the outcome, they got us on our heels and passive.
On the toughness of playing on the road in the Big 12:Â
[There are] great venues, great coaches, a league full of great players; I think it's just the combination of all that. You can throw in travel, but other than West Virginia the travel is not bad. When you get great venues and you get good teams and you get a group of coaches that are at this level, it's hard every night. Everybody's going to scheme you, everybody's going to create something to get an advantage and you have got to be prepared every single night and that's what makes the league special. The true round robin. I go back to Big Eight when I played and every game was hard, every game was a packed venue and you got a great crowd and that was intimidating. That's what makes this league special. It's just a combination of all that.
On Oklahoma State's response to Texas' run in the second half:Â
Well we had everything we wanted in our spread offense tonight. There's nothing worse for me, we try to score in the first seven seconds and statistics prove that out, but in basketball it's very difficult when you take a contested court with 17 on the clock. We've got to get the guys to pass the ball over cutters, it's a continual work in progress. We have all night and I can't wait to see the film and count them, because we'll show them every one of them tomorrow.
Oklahoma State Sophomore Guard Jawun Evans:
On the early foul trouble:
It kind of hurts a little bit giving them easy points. It was crazy. They were calling early, touchy fouls. They kind of laid off it a little bit, but it hurts.
On the Longhorn's 15-0 run in the second half:Â
It's all mental. Talking was a big key. We had lots of time, but we just didn't make our right rotations. I think it was all just mental and not talking to each other like we should have been.
On what he thought of Texas coming into this game:Â
I know they were a young team coming in. They like to get the ball up the court in transition. We just tried to stop them in transition, but at times they got the ball easily down the floor and got easy layups. That's what hurt us.Â
Oklahoma State Junior Guard Jeffrey Carroll:
On what's next moving forward:Â
Just regroup. Get back and focus. I think we lost a little bit of focus these past two games. We have to get that right, stay in the gym, watch more film, and play more defense.
Just getting back in tomorrow and get ready. They're the No. 2 team in the country. Our backs are up against the wall, and we just have to battle back and get ready. It will be a dog fight in Waco.
Â
Texas Sophomore Guard/Forward Tevin Mack:
On Oklahoma State's early foul trouble:Â
It was a huge difference. We knew from that moment on we could go and be aggressive, attack the paint, and try to get some fouls drawn and finish strong early in the game.
On shutting down the Oklahoma State offense:
It was a big part in our scouting. We just had to take that step defensively against them. We had four days to prepare for them, so we just really took it to them.
