Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU-Arkansas Postgame Quotes
December 09, 2000 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 9, 2000
OSU Head Coach Eddie Sutton
"I thought it was a great college basketball game for this early in the year. Arkansas is certainly going to win a lot of ballgames. They impressed me in the films that I looked at and they certainly impressed me tonight. I thought one of the keys was in the second half when we got control of the tempo a little bit better and maybe put them on defense a little bit longer. We didn't turn the ball over but four times in the second half. I think that was the thing that made me most apprehensive before the game, looking at the film and seeing how many turnovers they had forced their opponents into. We certainly have been turning the ball over against teams that are not in the same class as the Razorbacks."
On his team coming back
"I think that was one thing that impressed me tonight about our ballclub was the fact that, as young as we are and as inexperienced as we are, they didn't succumb to that. If they had hit the panic button we may have been down by 15 or 20. We hung in there."
On the intensity level
"I thought both teams played their hearts out. They were busting their fannies out there. It was a game that you would see in the NCAA Tournament. It certainly didn't look like an early-season game."
OSU Locker Room
Victor Williams
On the atmosphere of the game
"This was a big time game, Arkansas was pressuring us throughout the game and we wanted to keep it real close. We just wanted to take care of the ball and get into our set offense and try to get a good shot."
On the physical style of defense played
"Arkansas is a very aggressive team. They like to get up and down the court and shoot the ball. We knew if we could take care of the ball and limit the turnovers we had a good chance of winning the game."
On his three pointer that tied the game at 62-62
"Coach really emphasized this week that I needed to make my shots, he jokingly said that it looked like my shot took its Christmas vacation already. When I got the open shot I was fortunate enough to make it."
Andre Williams
On the electric feel to the game
"It was a great ballgame. Arkansas is a good team, their players down low are more athletic than we have seen, so we just had to match up with them on the perimeter as well as in the block."
On the alley-oop pass in the second-half
"That was a great play, Maurice (Baker) could not have placed that pass any better. All I had to do was just reach up and get it and put it through."
On defending Joe Johnson
"He is a very athletic player who has a good outside game, I had to step up and play him out in the perimeter and try to get a hand in his face on every shot. Arkansas provided a good test for our team."
Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson
"I thought Oklahoma State played a very strong, solid, physical basketball game. They had to, and they made some clutch plays going down the stretch. For the most part, we played them pretty strong. I thought the biggest part of the game was the free-throw line. We got to the line only 12 times. In a game like this that is going to come back to haunt you."
On Arkansas' level of agressiveness
"For most of the ballgame we played well defensively. We ran the basketball in a way that gave us a chance to have a victory. I thought for the last four or five minutes, however, they did a good job of getting the floor spread. I told our kids that we were not aggressive enough in the last seven minutes of the game, and that they (Oklahoma State) were very aggressive. That makes a lot of difference in what happens in a ballgame. We were playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win. Sometimes that will happen, and it's the first time we've been on the road. At the same time, I was very proud of the effort that was given and how hard they played in the ballgame."
On Maurice Baker
"He's a very, very good basketball player. He played 37 minutes. He put up the shots. He wasn't knocking down too many of his threes, but he went to the line and was five for five. He was key in plays, and he leads his team in rebounding. Tonight he had a very exceptional game against us."
Arkansas Players
Joe Johnson
On Rebounding
"Another aspect of the game we need to work on is rebounding. We have to get more of our guys in there battling for the ball."
On the Crowd
"I don't think any of that (atmosphere) affected us in the way we played. Like I said, in the end, they (Oklahoma State) came up with some big rebounds."
On the Second Half
"I think we kind of let up a little bit in the second half. In the first half, you know, we were really getting after them. In the second half we had a nice little lead on them, and then we kind of relaxed. We got complacent, and they battled back on us."
