Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
February 05, 2001 | Cowboy Basketball
Feb. 5, 2001
OSU Men's Basketball vs. Missouri
Feb. 5, 2001
Postgame Quotes
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
On the game
"I didn't hear what our players said, but this was one of the most important
games I've ever coached in. I knew how much our players and our coaches and
our fans and the families of the ten people that went down on that airplane,
two of those families (Flemings and Noyes) were here tonight, it would have
been devastating not to win. Missouri is a very good basketball team, and
we kind of made it hard on ourselves by missing a lot of easy shots and some
free throws, but our defense and our rebounding held up so that we were able
to win the ball game. It was a very important win for Oklahoma State
University."
On the game's importance
"It's important because it continued the healing process that all of us are
going through. These past few days have been brutal for our players, our
coaching staff, and certainly for everybody that loves Oklahoma State.
We've got a long ways to go, but we took one step closer to being well
tonight."
On crying while walking off the court
"I had a couple of tears. I get emotional sometimes. I've shed my share of
tears the last few days. Suddenly it hit me that we had accomplished our
goal. Our players wanted to win so much, not for themselves, but I saw
Victor (Williams) one time and he pointed upward. It's been hard in that we
haven't really been able to practice. We've only had three practices since
last Saturday, and even then we had to ease up a little bit. I was
emotional, but I don't think that I am the only one that shed a tear."
Oklahoma State Players
Forward Fredrik Jonzen
On winning the first game since the plane crash
"I haven't had any other thought in my mind except that we were going to win
tonight. This past week has been one of the toughest times of my life, if
not the worst, and tonight was probably the best time of my life. It's
something that really meant a lot to me. I think the team really pulled
together and played a great game. All of us, we live basketball. It's
something that we do day in and day out. We've been looking forward to this
game for so long now. This week has felt like an eternity. It's a relief
to come back to the court and start playing basketball again. That's why it
feels pretty good to have three games this week."
On the post-game locker room atmosphere
"It was great. It was emotional. Coach was very proud of us, that we were
able to come back and win this game. It really showed what we're made of."
On Missouri's performance
"We weren't expecting them to come in and be flat or to feel sorry for us.
That's the way basketball should be played. You have to come out. This is
what we work for."
Forward Andre Williams
On winning the game
"We did have to come out and win this game. Losing never crossed my mind.
It was like, we win or we win. We came out and got it done."
On focusing on the game
"It was hard to just focus on basketball. I'm just used to looking over and
glancing at a couple of faces that weren't there. At times, it was hard to
just focus on the game, but it's going to be an empty feeling from here on
out. I just have to play through it."
Oklahoma State Locker Room Quotes
Guard Maurice Baker
On playing the first game after the plane crash
"We had a lot of emotion today because of the big tragedy last weekend. We
wanted to come out and win and dedicate this game to them."
On the crowd
"The crowd gave us a lot of energy tonight. They showed us a lot of love."
Guard Victor Williams
On the intensity of the crowd
"It was fabulous. It was by far the best environment I have ever played in
in my life. I think the team deserved that, that type of crowd and this
type of game. We just really wanted to come out and play ball."
Missouri Coach Quin Snyder
"I thought Oklahoma State was terrific. They showed the type of character
that their team has, their coach has, and their program has. This was not an
easy game for anybody. I think the players gave everything on both sides.
I'm proud of my team and what they did as well."
On preparing his team mentally for the game
"I think there are a number of things that go into it, and we addressed it
throughout the week with the full knowledge that no matter what we said, the
situation itself was going to be challenging to come in and get a win. In
addition to the fact that this place is generally difficult to play,
certainly the circumstances around the game made it more difficult. Knowing
full well that the game has been connected to the last week and a half and
everything that has happened, we had to conceptually sever this game from
that tragedy and give it our best. We would do no one any honor by coming in
here and rolling over. We had to play every play and play every moment and
savor the game."
On the Cowboys' level of play
"I think that in the game they played against Iowa State down here, they
touched that level. Everybody felt the significance of this game for any
number of reasons. They raised their level. I thought we raised our level
too. It made for a terrific basketball game."
Missouri Players
Kareem Rush
On losing the game
"Losing is always bad no matter what the circumstances are. We know that
there was a lot of tragedy down here. Losing is still part of our season and
we hate to lose a game like this. I think that they played well and you have
to give them a lot of credit."
On the game's last play
"We tried to isolate me, go one-on-one and they got back pretty well. I
tried to find my man and they played great defense there. Their defense
definitely shut us down those last few plays. We played well and they played
well too."
On the emotion of the game
"From the get-go, they came out pretty fired up, but we matched them. We
came back and stayed strong. We battled very well and those guys got us in
the end. "
