Oklahoma State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes
January 31, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball
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No. 24/RV Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Jan. 31, 2015 | Stillwater, Okla./Gallagher-Iba Arena | Attendance: 13,611
Oklahoma State Post-Game Quotes
Final Score: Oklahoma 64, Oklahoma State 56
Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford
On the turnovers in the loss to Oklahoma
"We got out-scrapped in the second half. They beat us to every 50-50 ball and got a lot of second shots that led to points. That was the difference in the game. Our half-court defense, when we give it a chance is pretty good. It's tough to beat Oklahoma when you're giving them transition points. They got 24 points off turnovers and 16 points on second shots. You're not going to beat those guys doing that."
On the slow start in the second half
"We had all the energy in the first half and they had all of the energy in the second half. They are a much better scoring team than we are. We couldn't take advantage of (the strong start) in the first half, because we don't have enough scoring options. They took more advantage of getting second shots and steals in the second half."
On Oklahoma's defense
"It's going to be like this every game. Neither team is going to score out of their offense. That's not going to happen. It's going to be who steps up and makes the most plays. Who is going to break the defense down and hit second shots? That's going to be the name of the game every game from this point on. Everybody knows what everybody is doing. It wasn't 'Oh, this team ran their offense better than this team.' We got second shots and steals n the first half and they got more than we did in the second half, and that was the difference in the game. I even said it at halftime; we weren't taking advantage of some of our steals in the first half. We should have had more points."
On his message to the team moving forward
"Obviously, they got too many 50-50 balls and second shots in the second half. We've got to be a little bit tougher in the second half. I think we kind of lost our wind in the second half. I told them that we've got to keep our head up and move on. You can't feel sorry for yourself. We don't have time for that. Keep your head up and move on."
Oklahoma Coach Lon Kruger
Opening statement
"I thought (Oklahoma State) was quicker to loose balls in the first half, they hurt us on the boards and I thought that they were dictating most of the first 20 minutes. We made a little spurt there in the second half, and I thought our activity picked up and Ryan (Spangler) was great in his battle tonight. There were different guys at different times. Buddy (Hield) had a good run and got us going, I thought Jordan (Woodard) had a good run, and TaShawn (Thomas) was good on the boards. It was a shared effort by a lot of guys on the road and I'm proud of it. It's not easy to do that on the road against a good ball club like (Oklahoma State). It was a good win."
On the tempo of the game
"We were stagnant in the first half a lot. In the second half, defense led to some offense and we got a little tempo going. We got some steals that we converted going the other way and that's when we're at our best; when we're attacking in transition, and a lot of times that comes from our defense. When we got it going a little bit, that quicker pace helped us a lot."
On closing out the game
"In all close ballgames it's going to be a case of getting a stop here or a stop there, or a bucket here and a bucket there. It's such a fine line. At Kansas we were up four with six minutes to go, and they made a couple of plays and we missed a couple and the same thing happened at Baylor. Tonight, Frank (Booker) hits a big three out of the corner, Jordan makes some plays, Buddy makes some plays, and we got some stops at a critical time. So, it's a fine line between who's got that margin going down the stretch."
On the defensive game plan
"Our big guys have done a good job all year of having a good feel for when to go in the low post and when to stunt and get back. I thought Ryan and TaShawn did a really good job. Le'Bryan Nash is such a great player and you have to give him a lot of attention in the post like that, but I thought we did a good job with kind of mixing it up."
Oklahoma State Center Michael Cobbins
On Oklahoma's transition scoring
"We were a little careless with the ball. We just made some mistakes and they capitalized on those."
On OSU's first half vs. second half performance
"In the first half, everything was clicking for us. Everybody was gelled in together and locked in and that didn't happen in the second half."
On OSU's defensive focus on Buddy Hield
"Everybody had a job to do and we helped out on him to give our guards some help, but he kind of got loose in the second half."
On the second half struggles
"We came out flat and that's just something that you can't do in the (Big) 12 or any league that you're playing in. It's something that will be corrected."
Oklahoma State Guard Phil Forte
On OSU's first half vs. second half performance
"I think we did what we did best in the first half; played aggressive and imposed our will. In the second half they imposed their will on us."
On OSU's foul trouble
"Give them credit. They took us out of our offense. We made some careless mistakes on offense and defense and that led to some easy baskets for them and got them a little momentum."
On Oklahoma's defense
"At this point, that's every game. I know that's what I'm going to get every game from here on out, so I'm just going to have to watch the film, learn from it and see what adjustments I can make and how I can get my teammates involved more."
On getting Le'Bryan Nash back in the second half
"We were excited that (Nash) would be fresh coming out. We knew that he had some energy. We came out a little flat and they came out ready to rock and roll. I think from the start of the second half, they got on a run and got a little momentum going and carried it on throughout."
