Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes - Oklahoma State vs. Texas, Jan. 10, 2015
January 10, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball
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Post-game quotes following Oklahoma State's 69-58 win over No 10 Texas On Saturday afternoon in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford
On the win over No. 10 Texas
"It was (a very satisfying win). There are some key stats you look at. Rebounding, it's a tie game at half and we're getting killed on the glass. It's one thing to give up offensive rebounds, but it's another thing to give them up and then give up a three. That's what kept happening in the first half. We go from being doubled in the first half to tying them in rebounding and only giving up six second-chance opportunities for them. (In the second half), I really liked our rebounding, and on the offensive end I thought we were extremely efficient. I think it was the highest percentage anyone has scored on Texas in a half this year. We got the ball in the right people's hands and we made some shots. It was a team effort. Everybody contributed to scoring the points."
On point guard Anthony Hickey
"Anthony's stat line is incredible. He does a lot of tangible things for our basketball team, but he almost had a triple-double: 10 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and only one turnover. Those are key stats. The seven assists and one turnover are what I really love, and then nine rebounds. He led us in rebounding for the day against one of the biggest, if not the biggest team in America. I'm proud of the effort. I told our team that I like our team's effort. I like the fight we have and I like the edge that we play with. We're not going to win every game, but I like how they're playing right now. I just hope they stick together, chemistry-wise. Even if there are a few guys that didn't get in the game that maybe normally get in, they're all going to get their opportunities. If these guys stick together, then they've got a chance. I like the fight to us. We were going against a team today that is a top-ten team in America coming off of a tough loss, and we took a very good shot from them. We just hung in there and made a couple of runs. I'm just excited for our basketball team because they played really hard."
On the performance of Jeff Newberry and Tavarius Shine at the small forward position
"That position continues to help us on both ends. I'm very, very high on Newberry. I like how active he is. He had a few too many turnovers today. I thought Shine was more physical today. I told him 'Yeah, you're making all of these shots and you think you've hit the big time, but I want you to play tougher and get your nose a little dirty.' He got in there and roughed it up a little bit with these guys."
On the number of guys that were able to step up and help pull off the upset
"Phil (Forte) made some big shots, (Le'Bryan Nash) made some big shots, (Anthony) Hickey banked one in, which was a big shot, actually. (Jeff) Newberry makes a shot, (Tavarius) Shine makes a shot. I thought Tyree Griffin came in and gave us very good minutes. He ran the team and gave us really good pressure on the ball. We know that Forte and Nash get a lot of attention, but we're not good enough for only one or two guys to (play well and still) win. It takes a total team effort, especially when you're playing a top-ten team. I was very happy with everybody. Anthony Allen got in and played well and Mitchell Solomon got in and gave us great minutes. Everybody that got in did something positive for us."
On the importance of rebounding and defense for this team
"We've learned that the hard way a few times in a couple of our losses. We need to concentrate on defense and rebounding; more on defense, even though rebounding is crucial. Our strength is defense. We've got to make sure our rebounding and offense helps our defense, but we have the ability to be a very good defensive team. Our press quietly helped us today. It kept them out of rhythm and it didn't create as many steals. I thought we kept them out of rhythm with our press and doing the little things that we were doing, but the effort and defense have to be there for our team to give ourselves a chance."
Oklahoma State guard Phil Forte
On the intensity of the game
"It was a little chippy out there, but when we're undersized like that we have to try to scratch and claw and do whatever we can because they're a lot bigger than us...If they got a rebound we would try to strip the ball away from them. We knew coming into this game we would just have to play hard."
On rebounding as a team
"They're one of the best rebounding teams in the country so we just needed to try and find a way to help our big guys out. Hickey did a great job today of getting in there, helping them out and getting some rebounds. All the guards were trying to get in there and do what we could to get those long rebounds. It was a total team effort, it wasn't just one person, but it was a total team effort trying to do anything we could to get rebounds."
On the importance of this win
"It's huge, obviously when you play at home you always want to defend your home court no matter who you're playing. We had a great crowd out there today. It's always good to win for them. We always want to win for our fans."
Oklahoma State guard Anthony Hickey
On the halftime adjustments
"(We just wanted to) pick up the intensity on the defensive end. We were getting open looks on the offensive end, we just had to get stops. We were just able to lock-down, Phil Forte got going toward the end and we were just able to pull off the win."
On his nine rebounds
"I give a lot of my other guys credit. They were able to box out and I was able to sneak in there and get rebounds. I started to notice that the point guards would get back, so I have to help the big guys rebound. I kind of stole some of their rebounds and they kind of get mad, but I'm just helping the team out."
Texas head coach Rick Barnes
Opening statement
"I thought we showed some fight. We obviously missed some shots. In the first half we were aggressive and that's how we want to play, but in the second half it went bad. We had four really big breakdowns on the defensive end and when we're in the zone, we're not going to give (Phil Forte) any looks. (Jordan Barnett) let him loose in the corner. (Myles Turner) let him loose up top and then on a man-to-man situation, (Javan Felix) just let him loose. Another big play was when (Isaiah Taylor) gave up an offensive rebound, and you can't do those things when you're not having a great night shooting the ball. With Isaiah, I think it'll take him another week and this week all comes at a really good time. There are some things we need to do. I thought (Cameron Ridley) was terrific. I thought he really did the things I needed him to do. I told the team the only problem was we got one shot, but (Ridley) did all the things that you really wanted him to do. Overall, just too many mental mistakes. Even when it came down to the end in our special situations and things that we were looking for, we didn't screen and we didn't set our cuts up. It's going to be a matter of getting a good look at it, but that's where we've got to get better. Again with Isaiah, obviously we knew it would take him some time to get back to where he's got to really improve. I think defense is a big part of it. I think that's really important, but again there were some good things, but not enough."
On the performance of Jonathan Holmes
"I thought he did other things well. He had a couple threes there at the end, but at halftime I told him our game plan was to get him inside. The way the game was flowing was where we didn't execute the way we wanted to. It wasn't just him. It was more Isaiah (Taylor) in transition when they were extending their defense. There was a little bit of pressure as opposed to beating the pressure like we did, and then making sure we get in to what we're supposed to be running. It hurts Jonathan a little bit when we don't do that. We were late throwing the pass too. That's the one thing we worked on this week. The timing of our cuts and then again, we didn't screen. We didn't pass the ball when it needed to be there. I thought Myles (Turner) did some better things today. There was that out-of-bounds situation and that really wasn't his fault. We want Isaiah to get after a made basket or a missed basket. He didn't get there. He keeps going out to the baseline and really making it hard for those two guys to make a decision on where he's going."
On the upcoming off time
"We need Isaiah to have some practice. We just haven't had enough practice time with him, and he needs the practice time so we can really get our team back together. We knew it was going to be a struggle. You go back to the game Monday night, I mean, we just didn't give ourselves a chance because of the energy level, but today I thought that part was there. Execution is what we've got to get right."
