Postgame Quotes: Oklahoma State vs Texas Tech

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton

On tonight's effort:
"What I told our team after the game on Saturday and leading up to the game ... when we started preparing here on Monday was that I haven't held them to the standard necessary to have success, and that's on me. With that in mind, I got them back to that pretty quickly starting with practice on Monday, and the message was simple. It wasn't, 'we have to be heroes or do anything outside of our ability.' We have to be unselfish. We have to be the hardest playing team on the court. When we do those things we make shots better and feel better about how things are going. I take responsibility for how we played on Saturday, and I'm proud that they responded and played the way they did."

On losing the lead before half:
"Thomas Dziagwa who is a guy again, I haven't held him to the same standard. He hadn't been playing much. I haven't been on him as much to continue to be a big part of what we do, and he made two big 3s in the first half to keep us in a good rhythm offensively, which kept us close. We've been pretty good in close games."

On the start of the second half:
"We had to take care of the basketball better than we did in the first half, and we had to finish plays defensively so we can do what we do best, which is get out in transition. That's what ignited us on that run in the second half."

On going 9-of-9 on FGs and 6-of-6 from 3 to start the half:
"I don't know how to bottle that up and take it on the road to Austin with us on Saturday, but I sure will try the next two days. We played Oklahoma State basketball today. It was grinding out on defense, forcing them to be uncomfortable and offensively being very unselfish. We weren't very complicated offensively, but the ball found the open man. Guys let the ball loose without hesitation, and because of that guys are shooting the ball in better rhythm. We have good shooters. We haven't shot as consistently over the course of the year as I would like, but I still have a high level of confidence in all those guys."

On the fans:
"I would be totally remiss if I didn't give a great thank you to the people who showed up. They were really, really engaged. A lot of it was our students, and we appreciate them coming across campus and supporting fellow classmates. We had people from the community and some out of town people who made the trek and are just committed to supporting us. We have a great amount of appreciation for them and their willingness to come out here with the weather not being great and with us being on a little bit of a losing streak with the end of the season nearing. We appreciate the people who came, and we thank them so much and look forward to seeing them for one more home game in about a week and a half."

On what he told the team when Tech started to come back:
"One of the challenges when you do make shots is guys get too comfortable taking quick shots, and we got in a funk there on a couple of possessions where the ball didn't move as well because guys are trying to see if they were hot. I understand that having been a player. My message was, 'Hey, we gotta keep guarding. We gotta keep guarding. We gotta keep rebounding. We have to take good shots down the stretch to make sure that we put ourselves in a position to finish the game the right way.'"

On guys stepping up with Mitchell Solomon in foul trouble:
"I'm really, really proud of Mitch. Mitch owned my timeouts tonight, and that's not normally who he is. I could hear him, literally, as I was coming into timeouts and leaving, gathering the troops and encouraging them about playing the right way and continuing to play unselfishly in whatever scheme we were supposed to be doing. He knows it all. He's really important to us, and obviously not having him on the court hurt us a little bit, but I'm really glad he stuck with his teammates and encouraged those guys to play the right way."

On Kendall Smith's performance:
"His experience in this situations is a big part of the reason you want to have an experienced point guard. I feel confident when he has the ball in his hands that if he gets fouled he's going to make them, but also, if he doesn't get fouled, he's going to take care of the basketball well and get it to the right people. When he has the chance to score he can do that as well."

On finishing the season:
"We kind of hit the reset button after Saturday. I told them I was a little concerned whether the sun was going to come up on Sunday morning, but once it did I put in my mind I was going to try to encourage them to focus on this one. You can't win four without winning three ... you can't win three without winning two ... and you can't win two unless you win this one. We got this one, and we look forward to getting ready for Saturday."

OSU senior guard Kendall Smith

On the team's mindset when Texas Tech cut the lead to 4 points:
"I mean they're ranked No. 6 in the nation, so we knew they were going to go on their runs. I think Coach (Mike Boynton) did a really good job of calling those timeouts, making sure we were staying composed and locked in. We knew they were going to go on a run, but any good team can answer a run, and I think we did that tonight."

On the last couple of days:
"We made some adjustments. From top to bottom, we were just locked in the last couple days of practice. We really got after it defensively. We had a lot of energy and intensity. I think it carried over into tonight."

On his mindset when he shot free throws late in the game:
"As a point guard, it's my job to step up in close games. Lindy did a great job of finding me in our press break. It was all about shooting the ball with confidence."

On Mitchell Solomon:
"Mitch is a huge part of what we do. Whether he plays two minutes or 32 minutes, we know when he gets on the court, he is going to make winning plays. He is going to bring us together and make sure we're on the same page. Like I said, he's going to make winning plays. I'm glad he's with us."

OSU sophomore guard Lindy Waters

On what it meant to win for the fans who braved the cold, icy weather:
"It means a lot. We weren't expecting much with a potential ice storm. Me and Jeff (Carroll) had trouble getting here, so we didn't think there was going to be many people here. Once the game gets going, it starts to fill up and the students got rowdy, as usual, it gives us the energy to keep playing."

On the success in the first two minutes of the second half:
"We were just doing what Coach (Mike Boynton) tells us to do: defend, rebound and run. That's when we're at our best. We were making shots."

Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard

Opening Statement:
"I just want to congratulate Oklahoma State on a good Big 12 win. I thought they played harder than us tonight and with more emotion. That's really disappointing from our point of view. Also, I know with the weather and all, I was really impressed with the crowd tonight. It doesn't surprise me. I know this is one of the most historic basketball programs in the history of the game. It was really cool to see Coach [Eddie] Sutton here tonight. Of course, Sean [Sutton] has done a great job for us, and I know Scott [Sutton] is doing the same for Mike [Boynton]. I want to recognize the crowd. I thought the student section here was good. We didn't play our best, but I think you have to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit. That's about as bad as we have been whipped at the start of the second half. So, hopefully our team will learn from it."

On the attitude after the game:
"Disappointing. Our guys want to win. We have a bunch of good guys in that locker room that try really hard. We believe in team basketball. Tonight just wasn't our night. I think you have to give Oklahoma State credit. They're the reason we didn't play our best game. Obviously they have two special players that have been getting it done at the Big 12 level. Tonight, their shooters were the x-factor. If you go 4-for-4 from the 3-point line, and the others guys show up, they have good players. Mike [Boynton] has done a great job with them."

On OSU overcoming the defense:
"I think some of them were in transition. So, that's a sign of a well-coached team. They try to basically get down and get good shots before we can set our defense. I would agree with you. We have a good half-court defense. We take a lot of pride in it. But tonight, there was a lot of possessions where we couldn't even get set because they were running the floor and getting quick threes on us. We didn't help ourselves with our offense. Too many turnovers tonight. And just as bad as turnover, we would take a quick shot. We had some missed assignments. Who was supposed to be getting back. And who was going to the board. We just didn't play well tonight. You have to give Oklahoma State credit. They are the reason we didn't play well. They had four guys in double figures. They out rebounded us. They got to the free throw line more. The played better than us."

On Keenan Evans' status:
"I don't know. I know it wasn't 100 percent. A lot of respect for Keenan [Evans] trying. He has done everything he can and could since the Baylor game to put himself in a position. He's been working around the clock, nonstop. Chris Williams, our trainer, has done a great job with him. I thought he showed a lot of courage and heart trying to play tonight. But obviously, we have to stay the course. There's a lot of basketball left in February and March. We just hope and pray that he can get to a point where he plays a little more comfortable than he did tonight."

On if this was the worst Texas Tech performance he has seen:
"I think when you say things like that you disrespect the opponent. I will tell you this: Oklahoma State played well. They took a lot of things away from us offensively. They pushed the ball and were getting transition threes. I thought they had a good crowd that was behind them tonight. I just thought it was a tough avenue to play, and we didn't play our best. Credit the opponent: Oklahoma State."

On Texas Tech cutting into the lead:
"It's kind of like in football. You hit that point of reckless abandonment, and 'let's go.' There's four downs to throw the ball. Punting is not an option anymore. I think sometimes players just get more aggressive. I have always wanted to coach a team that plays like that the whole game. And we have come close over the years. I think we did get aggressive offensively. We hit some shots in that run. We were able to cause a couple turnovers by changing defenses. But without watching the tape, I think it was just a switch in momentum."

Texas Tech's Niem Stevenson

On OSU's run at the start of the second half
"Just be aggressive on both ends of the floor. Especially on defense. They were pushing it in transition, so we have to work on our transition defense."

On the improvement needed to stop big runs:
"Communication. Getting back on defense and finding the shooters."

On his performance today:
"I was just being a little more aggressive to help the team."

On facing OSU's momentum:
"They were up on us before. We came back at home, but it was tough. They played a great game."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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