Postgame Quotes: OSU vs Pepperdine

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton

On his thoughts about the game
"I was very pleased with our effort. I'm very proud of our young men for the way they played. They're dealing with a little adversity right now and we don't have the most ideal circumstances to start the season, but you can't tell those guys that. Those guys are committed to trying to play defense and sharing the basketball. Our offense took a while to get going, but our offense played well in the second half. One thing I stressed in the locker room is if they continue to commit to the defensive end, we've got enough shooters; we've got enough offensive players. The shots will fall, so we'll continue to emphasize that."

On if he predicted an outstanding defensive effort
"It's hard to know. We've got so many moving parts right now. I wasn't really certain. I did like our focus in practice toward the end of the week. We weren't very good on Monday, but we came back in the latter part of the week and we really dialed in to being committed to the defensive end. I thought that translated in the game. When we got out to a good start defensively, and the shots didn't fall, we just had to keep believing that those shots would fall and our defense had to hold us down for a while."

On Lindy Waters' improvements
"I've said all along that he and Mitchell Solomon had the best springs and summers of anybody on our team. They both took major strides in terms of building their bodies and becoming durable, but also from a skills standpoint, those guys did a good job of improving their individual ability. I wasn't really surprised to see him come out and play well this evening."

On Brandon Averette
"He's always been a good scorer despite his lack of size. He's incredibly tough. I don't know if I've been around another player who works harder on his game ever. He's really committed to this. He takes this very seriously. He has an unbelievable amount of pride. I'm really proud of him. I know he came in as a freshman and played behind Jawun Evans and he thought this year he might start, but coming off the bench and giving us that spark offensively and defensively is huge. He's really bought into defense. It really says a lot about who he is. He is a winner. He wants to win. Whatever it takes for our team to win, he'll do it."

On different lineups used
"We try as much as we can for some of these situations. You never really know what they're going to do during the game. We play a lot of different combinations and I try to mix up the units in practice every day. We play different guys with different guys to see what kind of chemistry we have and what kind of offensive and defensive things we can do. It gives us great hope throughout the year that no matter the circumstance that comes up, we'll figure out a way to get through it."

On any good surprises he saw during the game
"We took care of the basketball, for the most part. We didn't turn it over too much. Playing a lot of different combinations, especially this early, you don't have a lot of chemistry yet. For us to have only turned the ball over 10 times, although Pepperdine doesn't really pressure you the way we like to, was a really positive thing."

On his first win
"I'll take it. It's been a long journey, but I'm most proud of our kids in the locker room to show the type of focus and resiliency that they've been able to show, tells you a lot about them and some of the people they've grown up around. I give all the credit to our team and our staff."

Oklahoma State senior forward Mitchell Solomon

On the first game
"We came in here a little short-handed, and we came together as a team. We played well as a unit on the defensive end. Coach always emphasizes our defense and how that will keep us in games. Even though we didn't shoot well in the first half our defense kept us in it, and we played well in the second half."

On getting a win for Boynton's debut
"It means a lot to us ... to not only play well for the school but also play well for him (Boynton) knowing all the circumstances that he has been put through. It just means a lot for us to go out there and play as hard as we could, especially on the defensive end that he is so high on. To get a win like that really means a lot."

Biggest challenge playing without Jeff
"Jeff obviously brings a lot of scoring, but we leaned on each other on the defensive end to make up for that and keep them for scoring, which gave us a chance to make buckets in the second half. Any time you're missing one of your teammates it's weird, but he's just one guy. He's a great player, but we're a whole team. We just rallied around each other, and everyone stepped up tonight."

On Kendall Smith
"He brings a lot to the team. Being a senior, being a guy that's played a lot of big minutes in his league, he's really competitive and he's great at handling the ball most of the time. He has a good assist-to-turnover ratio. Anytime you can keep the ball and get a shot, that helps your offense."

Oklahoma State sophomore guard Lindy Waters

On playing without Jeff
"We all just stepped up whether it was offensively or defensively. We didn't really focus on the offense. We focused on the defense, and it rolled over and helped us offensively. We weren't really focused on if Jeff was here or not. We just went out there with the team that we had and found a way to win."

On the balance of this team
"We've got a lot of perimeter scorers, especially with Mitch being able to step out, Cam being able to shoot it; we've got a whole bunch of wings that can shoot it. We didn't really look for our shots. Just rotating the ball made it a lot easier."

On his second year
"I'm a lot more comfortable knowing what every game is gonna be like, whether it's non-conference or Big 12. I just wanted to be more aggressive offensively, knowing that we didn't have a couple pieces but still share the ball and play as unselfish as possible."

Pepperdine head coach Marty Wilson

Thoughts on the game
"Kind of surprised. More so surprised at us. More so of our lack of poise than our lack of discipline. As I told coach (Mike) Boynton, I didn't expect that, more so from our side. And take away nothing from them (OSU). They executed, they made shots, they played unselfishly. They did their job. I'm more disappointed at what we didn't do and I thought we were nervous. A lot of young guys, a lot of new guys. We have to change and grow."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brandon Averette

Kendall Smith

Mitchell Solomon

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