Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Missouri
January 25, 2012 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 25, 2012
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Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State 79, No. 2 Missouri 72
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012
Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford
Opening Statement
“Our team has been getting better. I saw it through the Iowa State game and the Kansas State game. Even though we didn't win, I saw improvement and I saw positive things. Tonight was a product of us getting better each and every day. It was a product of our team staying positive and not slumping their shoulders and being negative. They've come to work every day having good, hard practices. After games, they focus on what they did wrong so they can get better, not to be negative. They want to win more than anybody anywhere. They get disappointed when they haven't, but they choose to not be negative. That's what I like about this team. They've stuck together.”
On the game
“That was a good win for our basketball team. I'm so proud of them. We've been through a lot and will still go through a lot. But this was a great win by a bunch of guys who decided to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. It shows a lot about them and I'm proud of every guy in that locker room who continued to play hard and stay positive.”
On Le'Bryan Nash
“Le'Bryan Nash played at a very high level. All his moves were a little bit more explosive. Everyone is going to look at his 27 points, but his defense was better than his offense. It's not a coincidence when you work hard and stay after shoot-around while everyone else is going to pre-game meal. It's not a coincidence that he told me yesterday he was going to be ready today and he had a good practice. It's not a coincidence that when you play great defense it mentally gets you into the game. His defense was really, really good tonight. And tonight he was alternating between the three and the four, which is very difficult to do in our system. He was the X-factor. When plays don't work we have to do something and he did something.”
On important plays in the game
“We made a big basket coming out of the second technical. We scored the next trip and cut the lead a little bit. Coming out of halftime they made a run on us. And I told our guys 'They are the second-ranked team in America. They are going to make a run on you at some point. Are you going to decide to look at the scoreboard or keep doing what you did in the first half and score.' We got out of our element in the first few minutes of the second half. We had some guys try to do it on their own, had several turnovers and it led to very quick points for them. That's not what made us successful in the first half. There's a reason they are the second-ranked team in the country. They are very good. But we are at home and we will go on a run of our own at some point if they hung in there and quit turning the ball over. After the technical I wasn't happy with Markel at all. When we walked in the locker room he was the first guy to apologize to all the players. And I didn't ask him to do that. He was very sincere about it. I still don't know exactly what he did. But I didn't think that was going to be the defining moment. I knew we would get back in the game.”
Oklahoma State senior guard Keiton Page
On where this win ranks with the Kansas gamea couple of years ago
“It's close. This is close. I don't know. I'm gonna have to sleep on it. This one felt good. This felt real good. But, it felt real similar. That pregame shootaround and that practice the day before, I could tell the guys were just extremely focused (before) that Kansas game. They had nothing else on their mind but beating Kansas. And yesterday's practice and today's shootaround, I could tell, seeing it in these guys' eyes, they were extremely focused and they had one thing on their mind and that was beating Missouri.”
On what this win does for the team moving forward
“It does a lot for us. It's a huge win for us, it's a big win, but it just shows us what we're capable of. It shows us that we can play with anybody. We still have a long ways to go...We've gotta get more wins, get some wins on the road. And, like I said, it just shows us what we're capable of. This team's hungry...for wins. We're gonna celebrate this one tonight and enjoy it tonight, but starting tomorrow, we've got to prepare for the future, A&M. Gonna go down there and try to get us a good road win.”
Oklahoma State redshirt freshman guard/forward Brian Williams
On what was different about tonight
“The atmosphere and everybody came to play tonight. Everybody played hard. Like Keiton said, we've been preparing for the last couple days, and the vibe's been a little different than usual, so I felt (really) good about coming into this game.”
On what made him think the upset was possible
“I just want to say everybody's level of focus. I haven't seen it like this yet from watching film and actually going out there and simulating what they do, everybody's just real focused in.”
On inspiration for the focus the team had
“This kind of game could go either way. If we don't come out to play, they could beat us by 30 or we could come out and play hard and win like we did today. So, we just went out with a positive attitude and it worked out for us.”
Oklahoma State freshman guard/forward Le'Bryan Nash
On his play
“I just tried to get in a aggressive in the second half, you know. I talked to my coaches and they said “You need to get more aggressive. Don't try to let the ball come to you, go get the ball.” My teammates got me the ball in good situations. Once it started rolling, the shots started falling, and we got better.”
On when Markel Brown went out of the game
“I had to pick up the slack for this team, because you know, we wanted this win and Markel (Brown), what a great job he did, even though he got a (technical). (He did) a great job on the defensive end and offensive end. Everybody in the gym knows he can jump, and he proved that he can score on anybody. That was a great play and that motivated us. Even though he got a (technical) and he got kicked out, that motivated our whole team.
Missouri head coach Frank Haith
Opening statement
“Obviously, it was a tough loss for us. I thought we didn't have the right mindset defensively in the first half. We allowed Oklahoma State to dictate the tempo of the game in how they were running their offense, and I thought too many loose balls. We didn't play the way we normally play, in terms of being active and aggressive and coming after loose balls. I think there were so many of those when we have the ball in our hands and they get it. The biggest one was when we were up two and we have a loose ball, and there's one right there and we don't come up with it, and (Le'Bryan) Nash hits a three. I thought that our focus was not what it needed to be to win a game like this on the road.”
On if they expected OSU to play the way it did
“Absolutely. This is a good ball club. Travis (Ford) has done a good job with this team. They're young, but when you play on the road, you have the bulls-eye on your chest, you're going to get everybody's best effort. We stressed it with our guys and we understand we're going to get Oklahoma State's very best effort tonight, and we did. We got their very best effort; they didn't get our very best effort. We give them credit because they came out and they were ready to play and they executed.”
On if the Cowboys' youth helped them
“They played loose and easy. They had nothing to lose. Obviously, they're just trying to get a 'W' in the conference, and I think when you're young, that could have an impact on it. When you're experienced, we have to have an impact on them. We didn't play like an experienced team tonight. We took the lead there with seven or eight points in the second half. I expected it to be a hard fought game; this is Big 12 basketball, there's good players, but we didn't do what we needed to do to finish the game out once we got control of the game.”
Missouri senior guard Marcus Denmon
On the team's focus before the game
"We came out in the first half and we didn't force our way over Oklahoma State."
On moving forward from tonight's loss
"All we can do is get back to practice. One win or one loss can't determine the rest of the season. We just have to regain our focus and get ready for the next game on Saturday."
Missouri senior forward Ricardo Ratliffe
"I just had to focus a little more, and make sure I made my shots."
On Le'Bryan Nash's performance
"He's just confident. He picked out good spots to make shots that he knows he can make. You can tell that he is in the gym, working on his game and versatility. I mean, he's 6' 7'', 230 and he's making three pointers. You can tell that he's confident."
