Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU-Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
January 24, 2001 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 24, 2001
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
On the game
"Texas A&M is kind of a different ball club in that they are very talented. They could beat us and beat a lot of other people. They just somehow haven't been able to do that. I thought when we jumped out on them 27-16 we had a chance to break it open, and we lost our aggressiveness defensively and started fouling. I think out of the last 20 points before halftime, they got 10 from the free-throw line. Offensively we made some miscues and missed a lot of easy shots. When you take the number of free-throws we missed and the number of dead layups, you could have won the ballgame by 20 points. Fred (Jonzen) just had a horrendous game as far as missing easy shots underneath, but he did do a great job on the boards."
On Andre Williams
"Andre (Williams) played like Andre has got to play. He was a warrior tonight. He got 18 points and 11 rebounds. I don't think he is going to do that every night, but he blocked shots, and when he is playing like that he really has a tendency to intimidate people. He picked up the slack where maybe some of the other guys didn't play as well."
Oklahoma State Players
Forward Andre Williams
On his tip-in at the end of the half
"It is just God-given ability to get off the ground quick. I am kind of long and it was just being in the right place at the right time."
On OSU's rebounding edge
"He (Sutton) put on the board before the game plus-10 on rebounding. He wanted us to beat them out by 10 and we ended up beating them by 12 or 14. We did our job rebounding and it paid off."
On bouncing back from his game against St. Gregory's
"I just wasn't geared up for the St. Gregory's game. Going into that week I wasn't really enthused about playing it. A&M--it was just a different story, because last year they beat us at their place. I had something to prove to them. It was just personal. I wasn't geared up for St. Gregory's, but from here on out it is Big 12. I am ready to play for this now."
On last year's loss to Texas A&M
"That could have been the difference in us being a three seed and a one seed. It was a devastating loss. We went to their place and we were favored to win at their place and we end up losing."
Forward Fredrik Jonzen
On tonight's game
"We prepared for this game like every other game. Even though (Texas) A&M was 0-5, it is a conference team and they are pretty good. We have to play good against any Big 12 team because they are all quality teams. In the first half, when we were up 27-16 we had a chance to put it away, but we let them come back and stick in the game too long. I think we really competed in the second half."
On playing Colorado
"The main thing is we have to tighten up our defense. When we don't play good on defense, it effects our offense. We have to get more aggressive and get up on people. We have to get our defense back to where it used to be in order to win some games."
On free throw shooting
"Free throw shooting is an every day process. I missed six free throws today, and so I will get some extra free throw shooting in tomorrow. We could lose a game because of free throw shooting, and luckily it didn't happen tonight."
Guard Victor Williams
On defense
"That is what I am to this ballclub. I must provide intensity and defensive pressure on my man. I think we had a good defensive game in the second half, but we must improve day in and day out."
On making six free throws
"That is what you have to do to win games down the stretch. What we have to do as a team is improve our free throw shooting and make them down the stretch."
Texas A&M Coach Melvin Watkins
"In games like this, you've got to hit free throws. We know that, but we didn't. That started what ended up being a run for them. When we didn't hit those free throws, I think it took a little air out of our sail. We fought hard for the game. I thought it was a good effort. Inside, we've got a little donut going there. We're not getting as much as we need out of our inside. We were undersized. We've just got pounded inside."
On the second half strategy against Maurice Baker
"He had 18 points the first half. We had to do something. We tried to take him out in the first half, and he was not having any of that. In the second half we did a much better job on him. We just tried to chase him around and not give him any looks. If he got something, we had told our kids to make sure he worked for everything he got. He's a heck of a player."
On the Cowboys' offensive rebounds
"That was a problem right there. When you look at their second chance points, they had 25. That's tough to overcome. They were a little quicker to the ball. Some of it was that they were just more athletic than we were, going up and getting some rebounds. We had played good defense and got them to miss a shot, and then they went and got it back. That's what good teams have to do."
Texas A&M Player
Bernard King
On the game
"I think that during the first half that we started out really slow. Then we began to come along late in the second half. In order to come in here and beat them, we knew that we had to hit shots. They just weren't falling at the end."
On Maurice Baker
"I think he just started out so hot. Almost every shot that he got, he was open. He was rebounding. So, Coach just wanted us to get him out of his game. So we did. We just couldn't hold on to it."
On his foul trouble
"I was trying not to foul because I didn't want to get another foul. It didn't slow me down. I know how to play defense. I was scared to pick up that third foul, so I was trying not to foul."
On the loss
"A loss is a loss. It still feels bad. We could have got this game. It hurts, but we just have to keep working. We can't give up on the season. I think that once we get that first win, we'll be all right. We'll storm back in there and get a run started up again. We don't have that much time now, so we have to get it soon."
