Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs Baylor
February 06, 2013 | Cowboy Basketball
Feb. 6, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State vs Baylor
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013
OSU head coach Travis Ford
Opening Statement
"It wasn't pretty. I can tell you that. We're glad we won. I told our guys when it's this time of year, you take them any way you can get them. We need to move on and not dwell on it. We didn't play well. Offensively, we looked like a different team out there — shooting quick shots, breaking down the offense too quickly and taking bad shots. When you're not making shots, and we were not making shots, you have to tough it out. We did that with our defense and rebounding. I was very happy with our rebounding tonight. You just take the win and move on."
On the final sequence in overtime
"Michael Cobbins had a whale of a game. He was super. To make that block, and Markel Brown to take it coast to coast — I was hoping he would do that. He had time. So many times guys don't think they have time, and pull up way before they need to, but he didn't. The ball just kind of bounced our way. Baylor could have easily got this game, but it bounced our way. I'm very proud of the way we gutted it out. There was a great crowd tonight and the students were awesome. After the game, the players kept talking about how awesome the students were."
On the lingering effects from the Kansas win
"As much as we've done the past two days to get that game out of our heads, there's really no way of doing that. There were some effects from that game out there — mentally and physically. We had some dead legs out there. We're glad to get this one, but we all know we have to play better than we did tonight. We played hard, and I'm proud of that, we just didn't make shots."
On what the team did to get the win
"When you look at field goal percentage and see you aren't shooting well, you have to look at other things. Points off turnovers, free throws, offensive rebounds — we had 15 offensive rebounds tonight against one of the best rebounding teams in the league. We played hard tonight, and that's the category that worked. That's the category that mattered tonight."
On looking ahead to Texas
"In this time of year, you just have to figure out how to win. Everybody is playing Wednesdays, Saturdays and Mondays. Everybody is playing a lot of games. We can't be making excuses. Texas has been in every game they've played, save maybe one or two, until the very end. They've had a chance to win a lot of games. They're a very big, physical and talented team. It's always been a tough place to play for us, so we need to get our legs back under us, get our minds right and get ready to go in Austin."
OSU sophomore forward Michael Cobbins
On final block
"I thought that we had come too far to give up a layup there at the end and put them up by two with clocking ticking down. I just tried to go up and get it and thank God I got it."
On preparation for Isaiah Austin
"It's just something that we've been putting emphasis on. Down there (in Waco) he did his job on us, in practice it was something we put emphasis on, we wouldn't let that be a repeat of down there and we got the job done here."
On Phil Forte
"I just told him to keep shooting, the shots would fall. You can't get down on yourself because once you get down on yourself, you lose confidence in your shot. He's in the gym way too much to just get down on himself. So I told him to keep shooting it because it was going to fall."
On shutting down Austin's offensive rebound game
"We went back and looked at the film and some of it wasn't him being aggressive but him using his length to get offensive rebounds. So we decided to push him back and go after him."
OSU freshman guard Marcus Smart
On Baylor's late comeback to force overtime
"I wouldn't say that we were terrified, but we were cautious about it. We were thinking that we have to get ourselves together. We had a 14-point lead and then they went on that run and started getting hot from everywhere. It started to put us in the sense of that our confidence just went down but we knew we couldn't be negative about it. We just had to stay positive about it and play defense."
On his performance
"I played decent, it wasn't one of my best games, but I played a good game that did enough to help my team win the game. I had seven assists, four steals and no turnovers. That's what you want out of your point guard. I distributed the ball, my shot wasn't falling for me, but my teammates were on tonight, and they came through in the clutch and that's all I'm really worried about. I'm not really worried about my game right now. Obviously, I didn't play as well tonight, but we got the win and you're just going to have nights like that."
On his alley-oop assist for Brown
"It was a play we called in the huddle and we executed it great. We knew Brady Heslip would be guarding him pretty tight, especially with what he did against Kansas. They knew it was a matter of time for him to get hot, and we knew Heslip didn't have the athleticism that Markel does. We just tried to throw it up to the rim. Most of the guys don't have even near as much as athleticism as Markel does, so we just threw it up there and let him do what he does."
"He's been going through a slump here, he knows it, but we just continue to talk to him to keep working, and last night he was in the gym up here at midnight getting shots and working and it paid off for him. It goes back to being positive, he knew there was nothing negative about it, he knew he wasn't playing as well as some of the guys that were playing. He did what he was supposed to do, had some great minutes, blocked out, got big boards, scored some crucial points and really came through for us. His confidence is back up to where he needs to be."
OSU junior guard Markel Brown
On game-winning layup
"I wasn't even thinking about it (the time remaining), I took two glances at it and it had five seconds left, so I was just trying to beat the clock as fast as I can, I took a double-take."
On tonight's game
"(There were) two great defensive teams out there. Give Baylor all the credit, they played good defense out there. We weren't making shots, it was one of those nights that we just had to gut it out, go out there and bang and work hard for the win. They played good defense on us and were able to pull it out in the end."
"It was huge, he's still trying get into a rhythm for this team. Slowly he's progressing and coming back to himself, but it was huge for him to step in there when we weren't making shots and to get those buckets that we needed. We're going to need more of that from him coming along."
On his alley-oop dunk from Smart
"It'll probably No. 10 (on Sportscenter's Top 10). They haven't been messing with me this year."
Baylor head coach Scott Drew
On tonight's overtime loss
"I think everybody saw a great game for TV, a typical Big 12 game with two teams battling it out. It just stinks to be on this end of it. I'm proud of how the guys fought back and gave us a chance to win. Credit Oklahoma State for making a big block and having enough court awareness to get a shot at the other end. (Phil) Forte had a huge three. These games obviously really hurt when you're on the other end of it."
On Pierre Jackson's contribution to Baylor's comeback
"We don't make that comeback if it wasn't for his play. He had some big shots and some great passes and put us in a position to really do some things. It was good to see Brady (Heslip) come back and shoot with confidence and do some good things as well. We had some positives defensively. We were good and gave ourselves a chance to win on the road. We've got to get a little better so we can get that done."
On Cory Jefferson's performance tonight
"It was nice keeping him out of foul trouble. I thought he really played well. In the first half when we lost that lead, he was on the bench with fouls and really had a great effort. We need him to keep that up. Both teams played really good defense. I think that's why the percentages were so low."
On the plan to get back to winning
"Real easy — win. Get a home game, because we know how tough it is to win on the road. We've got a home game, actually two, so we need to take care of business at home. If we don't do that this week, we're in trouble."
On the last play of the game
"The look was good, I think we just gave them a little too much time."
Baylor senior guard Pierre Jackson
On battling with Marcus Smart
"I don't really focus on the hype, but I know he's a great young player. He came out and led his team tonight."
On leading the team on a game-tying run into overtime
"I think I played a horrible first half. I didn't take care of the ball at all, but I have great teammates. They kept me positive throughout the whole game. I was able to knock down some big shots. I just needed to do something for my team. I didn't provide much early. There was eventually a time when they called on me, and I tried to deliver."
On the final play of the game
"I trust my teammates. I gave the ball to A.J. (Walton), and he wasn't able to make the shot. I think we took it a little too early, so they got the ball and made the layup."
Baylor junior forward Cory Jefferson
On getting off to a slow start but staying in the game
"We started off alright, I guess. It wasn't the way we wanted to, though. I know we had some good defense at the start. We didn't finish the first half how we liked it, but we played a lot better in the second half."
On making a run at the end of the game
"It's something we're used to doing. We work on it in practice all the time. Coach Drew has us well-prepared for games with these types of situations. I think we executed it pretty well."
