Postgame Quotes: Oklahoma State vs Tulsa

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton
On Tulsa's defense:
"Certainly give them credit. Their defense definitely keeps you on your heels and makes you try to figure out what type of attack you should have. I've got to do a better job of preparing my team, so when a team plays that way we can figure out how to attack it a little bit quicker and more efficiently. That being said, we were able to get some better looks in the second half, knocked them down, we got out in transition and got some easy baskets as well."

On the energy level being raised in the second half:
"Absolutely and our crowd was doing that as well. I thought that they were engaged and that they gave us a boost. When it was close and sluggish in the first half, they stuck with it and we could feel their presence in the second half when we started to make a run."

On shutting down Tulsa's offense late:
"(Junior) Etou is a really good player and certainly going to have a lot of success as the year goes on, but I felt our defenses caused them to scramble in the second half a bit. We made their guards play a little bit faster than they wanted to. Even the few open shots they had, I just don't think they were ready for them. They're used to getting those shots later in the clock when they're in rhythm, so they were out of rhythm shooting them."

On making 3-pointers late in the contest:
"Kendall Smith made some big shots for us, and then Jeffrey (Carroll) and (Tavarius) Shine made threes to kind of put it away. That's what you need. Those are seniors - they're guys who have been through it - and we need them to play well in order for us to be successful."

On an adjustment period after knocking off Florida State:
"Yeah, I've felt it since Sunday to be perfectly honest. A part of it is, when you don't have much experience going through those things, it's a learning process. Our guys for 48 hours were told that they were good again. They hadn't heard that in a while. It feels good when people tell you that, but you can't get away from what got you to that point, and that's the blue-collar workout mentality that we have."

OSU sophomore guard Lindy Waters

On being offensively frustrated
"We haven't really gone against a matchup zone a lot in practice or even in games. We tried to get to the free-throw line, but we only shot one tonight, which is incredible. So yeah, it was a little bit frustrating, but we just tried to stay focused."

On Jeffrey Carroll starting rather than coming off the bench
"He's been playing really well. He's been really aggressive for us, which is what we need him to do. Coach has been preaching for him to rebound and once he rebounds, he'll get a lot better looks offensively. He had 11 rebounds tonight, so yeah it was great having him start."

On Mitchell Solomon's diving play that led to a Brandon Averette assist
"He saved me. I tried to make the pass to him and it got tipped, then he dove on my ball that would have been a turnover on me. So, shout out to Mitch for that. But I felt like that got us going. Just seeing somebody dive on the floor. He's always that one guy, like last game taking a charge. You can always count on him and that really got us going."

On his ability to take charges
"I have a lot of pride in it. I also look up to Mitch, because ever since I've been here, he's always been the one doing that. So I try to follow in his footsteps and try to help the team out."

OSU senior guard Kendall Smith

On the last five minutes of the game
"I just took what the defense was giving me. We have a great deal of confidence in each player on this team. We put a lot of work in and shoot a lot of balls in practice. It was just my night tonight."

On what coach Boynton preached at halftime
"He was just preaching how big of a game it was for us. Obviously, coming off a big win against Florida State, so he didn't want us to dwell on that too much. It's very easy when you beat a top-25 team to take a step back. He said all great teams go out and prepare for the next game as if it's the last game. We kind of came out slow, so he kind of got on us at halftime. So we came out the second half and played a lot better."

On what shifted the momentum in the second half
"We just played the right way and played more aggressive. We stayed locked in on defense. I think that's our thing, we're a really good defensive team. So when we get after it defensively, a lot of things come easy for us on the offensive end."

On the team chemistry
"We're definitely going to continue to grow as a team. Like I've said many times, we really like one another. Our guys genuinely like each other on and off the court. So when you've got a group of guys like that, it will just translate well. How we hang out with each other off the court will be how we look after each other and cover for each other on the court."

Tulsa head coach Frank Haith

Opening statement
"I thought our guys competed hard. I thought we battled some adversity out there tonight. I thought our guys were tough throughout until the last five minutes of the game. I thought our defense let up and give (Kendall) Smith credit he made some big shots. Obviously our defense was outstanding in the first half. I thought we did a great job of guarding the three-point line. We rebounded well. 35 minutes of this game I thought we were right where we needed to be. They made a couple threes in the second half, but the last five minutes is where their separation came."

Handling pressure
"I thought we did a good job of handling the pressure, but I look down and I think our bigs had a margin of three turnovers. Our guards, I think Sterling, only turned it over one time and (Elijah). Joiner he turned it over once, but for the most part we did a good job handling the job."

Tulsa's Sterling Taplin

On the last five minutes
"We got too comfortable. We didn't finish plays and they got a lot of offensive rebounds and they capitalized on them. That was the big thing, rebounding."

On what they could have done differently
"If we would have gotten more rebounds and pushed the ball, we like to run, and them getting rebounds stopped us from doing that."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brandon Averette

Jeffrey Carroll

Kendall Smith

Mitchell Solomon

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