Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Postgame Quotes
February 19, 2000 | Cowboy Basketball
Feb. 19, 2000
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
"I thought we played, you know, one of the best games we've played all season. Our defense again was quite good. In the first half when we were playing man-to-man most of the time we did a good job of keeping the ball out of the low-post area. In the second half we went to the zone, really to get some work on it because we know we're going to have to use zone against some upcoming teams. We continued to do a great job inside.
"We didn't cover their shooters as well as we would like. Still, we held them to 34 percent shooting. The defense was excellent. The offense was good, and we only had 10 turnovers. We handled the ball, and we got the ball in the hands of our scorers and executed quite well. The biggest key to the ballgame we told our team before the game was board play. We got beat the other night by a large margin by Texas. Nebraska is an excellent rebounding ballclub, and we were able to beat them on the boards tonight.
"We had five guys, I think, in double figures. Brian's (Montonati) coach was here. I was pleased that he had such a great game. Glendon (Alexander) had a great shooting ballgame. Alex (Webber) played more like the Alex that played last season late in the year, and I hope that's a good sign."
On Missouri
"You know, I haven't looked at that much film on Missouri. I've seen bits and pieces of two or three games. Coach (Kyle) Keller has been looking at film on them all week, and I've gone in there with him. They're probably one of the outstanding perimeter shooting teams in the country, which was very evident today. I've never heard of anybody hitting 12 treys in 20 minutes of basketball like they did against the Wildcats. I think that Quin (Snyder) has really done a great job with his ballclub. I'll tell you one other thing they are doing. They really are playing good defense."
Oklahoma State Players
Forward Brian Montonati
On the 39-point win after losing to Texas on Wednesday
"It was something we had to do. We had to come out and make a statement. A
lot of people around the conference and around the country are probably
thinking we're the kind of team that's going to show up against Nebraska.
But we came out and we put the loss behind us, we learned a little bit from
it and came out and played hard today."
On his two three-pointers
"I've been taking some heat. I have a couple of friends from home and my
high school coach was here today watching me play. They told me I could hit
it. I've been working on it in practice a lot, and it's something I didn't
really think about and stepped up and hit them both. Joe (Adkins) helped me
a little bit with the second one because I wasn't going to shoot it. But he
told me to, so I did."
On his double-double
"It's something I work hard at. At the defensive end, I get a lot of
defensive rebounds and stuff. Basically, if I get a double-double like this,
our team has a better chance of winning. It's just great."
Guard Glendon Alexander
On knowing he was going to have a good shooting night
"It was on the first one. I went into the open gap and Joe (Adkins) gave me
the ball, and it felt good when I released it. I think out of the four I
missed, three I rushed. On the last one I made, it hit the rim and went in.
I thought I shot an airball, but it bounced in for me."
On the rims at Gallagher-Iba
"I love the rims here at home. In fact, you know that 'priceless'
commercial? The rims are priceless. I love shooting at home. I wish we could
take our rims on each road game. I'm very comfortable in this gym. When I
get set, I know if it's going in or not. If I think I'm going to miss, a
great example is when the ball bounced in (on his last three-pointer), I'm
surprised somewhat."
Oklahoma State Locker-Room Quotes
Senior Point Guard Doug Gottlieb
On the game
"It's a funny thing you play Nebraska and they're at the bottom of the
league, and people thought we wouldn't be ready to play. This team is
focused. We lost in Texas to a good team. Really, we're paying for losing
the Texas A&M game, which is against a team we should really beat. Two
things: one, coming into this game on national T.V. and we're in top ten, at
least right now, and we want to stay in it. The second thing is this team
actually beat us two years ago here. I remember it. It's still fresh in my
mind. We were undefeated and they came in with Tyrone Lue and beat us. It
really suprised us and ruined a perfect home record. The guys were really
ready to play. Brian (Montonati) had an outstanding game, Joe (Adkins),
Desmond (Mason), and across the line everyone really play well. It's a good
game to get everyone ready for a really big week. We have two tough games
against teams that will be in the NCAA Tournament. This week will determine
who will win the Big 12 Championship."
Senior Center Alex Webber
On his performance
"When you start off hitting a bucket, it really seems to get you going. I
hit my first shot and it was just momenturm from there. I played a little
more than I have been so I got a few more chances to dive on the floor. I am
used to the floor because I stay on it most of the time because I'm kind of
clumsy. But, tonight was fun."
On the next week
"It's going to be long and it's going to be a test. We are going to find out
what we are made of. We will find out who is a man and who isn't."
Nebraska Coach Danny Nee
"We got beat by a very good basketball team. They played like the eighth place team in the country. They're physical. They played good defense. What I liked most about them was their assists and how they made each other better. I thought that that was really significantly noticeable. Their rebounders really rebound. (Desmond) Mason is a tremendous player. (Doug) Gottlieb sets them up. We tried to play zone defense for a while, but no matter what we played, if they got us in a one-on-one situation, we were going to have trouble."
On Oklahoma State
"They're good. They are really good. I don't see any weaknesses in their
game. On offense, they move the basketball and they get each other open.
Defensively, they're are physical. Eddie's (Sutton) teams always guard the
ball. Twenty-seven assists is a bunch. Gottlieb had eight and Glendon
Alexander had nine. That's the key. You don't have to look anywhere else.
They're going to move the basketball and make the other players go to it."
On whether Nebraska gained anything from the game
"It's really hard when you get beat this badly, and we got handled. I told
them that. But, we lost to the eighth-ranked team in the country. Where we
are and where they are is this score. It's very obvious."
Nebraska Players
Center Kimani Ffriend
"They are a very good team, a final four team. They play together and they have been together a long time. They have a lot of juniors and seniors and they stepped up tonight. We are still in the learning process and trying to get things together. Unfortunately, we just came in tonight and Oklahoma State played a better game."
"It is really bad because we are 10-15 and our hopes of reaching the NCAAs are dashed. We have to win the Big 12 Tournament. We now have to see if we can get to the NIT, which is looking doubtful. In order to go there, you have to have at least a .500 season and we are just not there."
"We played hard and went out there and tried to compete. It was a very physical game, but we just didn't play together and execute. Our shots weren't falling and we weren't getting back on defense. They were just running the floor and pushing the ball. They were getting a lot of open looks and knocking down their shots."
