Postgame Quotes
Jan. 9, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Kansas head coach Bill Self
On Kansas’ play to tie the game at the end of regulation:
“We just went flat and couldn’t get a quick basket. They’d throw it in and we’d foul. I think they made five of their last six, something like that. We ran our play and there was a great screen by Travis (Releford) and a good pass by Elijah (Johnson). We got lucky. This was Ben (McLemore)’s night. I haven’t seen too many perimeter players ever take 12 shots and get 33 points.”
On Elijah Johnson’s decision to go for a quick two instead of a three when Kansas was down three late in the game:
“I think there was 24 or 23 (seconds) left and we could have run a three point play, but we said, `Go get a quick two,’ and he did. He just went down and got a quick two and made some plays. Hey, they’re good. I can’t believe they have lost three games, well four games now, they are good. They play with so much freedom offensively and they always play great in this building. Every time Iowa State comes here, it seems like they give us all we want. It’s a tough match up for us because they can all shoot. We actually defended the three pretty well and they still got 38 up. It’s hard for Jeff (Withey). The guy out there who can really shoot it (Iowa State’s Georges Niang), Jeff guards him and he just gets out behind the arc and we have a couple of screw ups and he has eight points. He’s ahead eight to three before the game starts. How we finished the first half was deplorable. We were up nine playing two-for-one and you go in up four. That is as bad as you can possibly play and as dumb. They out played us in the second half until the last several minutes. That was a man’s game. There were some men out there playing down the stretch.”
On Kansas’ rebounding effort:
“They got 16 (second chance points), but I thought we did a great job on the glass. When a team that is plus-11 on the year (in rebounding margin) and misses 43 shots and they get 13 back, which is close to thirty percent, but that’s not bad. The problem was their second shot opportunities. When they scored, it seemed like they all came in a three of four minute stretch–(Will) Clyburn with Travis (Releford) and (Melvin) Ejim with Kevin on a big time tip-in. We had some plays that were bad plays. Out of 45 minutes, I’d say 40 of them we did an above average job on the glass to outrebound them by seven. That’s pretty good.”
On Kansas’ next game at Texas Tech:
“We have to go down there and have success. We’re not going to be able to practice tomorrow. We’re worn out. We’ll take tomorrow off and just watch tape and get ready to play the Red Raiders down there. Then we have a quick turnaround with the (Baylor) Bears right after that. The last two games we haven’t been our best, but the building has been great. What an atmosphere for fans to watch and certainly we had no chance to win the game if this game wasn’t played in Allen Fieldhouse and our sixth man didn’t come through. It was pretty fun to be a part of this one.”
Redshirt freshman guard Ben McLemoreOn the shot at the end of regulation:
“When it left my hand, I actually called bank. The way it left my hand, I knew it was going to hit the backboard. It was a good release and it went in, so I’m glad.
“It was a great screen from Travis (Releford) and a great screen from Elijah (Johnson). I just shot it and if felt good coming off of my hand.”
On Coach Self challenging him to score more:
“He just wanted me to be more aggressive. That’s what I was doing, trying to be more aggressive and trying to get my teammates involved. They were definitely getting me involved. Elijah and Travis were getting me involved in the game.”
On coming back:
“As a team, we just had the mindset that we had to lock down on defense and get stops. We got stops, took it to overtime and kept fighting to pull it off and get the win.”
Senior guard Travis Releford
On his perspective of the final play of regulation:
“I set the screen and just turned my head. I don’t even know what I was thinking at the time. It hit the glass and I saw there was one second left. I knew we had a chance, because we were going to take it into overtime.”
On the mindset going into the final play of regulation:
“No panic. We are a team that is going to fight. All the teams I have been on in the past, we just remind each other, we have been down, we have been in this situation before. We just keep fighting. Coach gave us that message in the huddle and we just came out and never felt like we couldn’t win.”
On how Iowa State was able to gain a lead:
“They got a lot of offensive rebounds and they made a lot of threes. I think that is what hurt us early in the game.”
Senior forward Jeff Withey
On coming back and getting the win:
“It just showed toughness. We had the formula to lose that game. We were down with a couple of minutes left and they kept getting offensive rebounds and scoring. Ben just took over the last couple of minutes. He had the four-point play and the last play was unbelievable. That shows that he is a tough player to take that big shot. Moving forward every game matters and getting this win is going to help us in the long run.”
On Iowa State’s strategy against him:
“I have seen a lot this year and the first eight points were on me. They just spread it and they were shooting really well tonight. They shot 38 threes, so they definitely tried to take me away from the basket. Offensively, a lot of the time I was matched up with a four man, instead of a five, so I couldn’t use that as my advantage.”
Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg
Opening statement:
“I can’t say enough about our guys and how they fought out there for the entire 45 minutes. It came down to a freak play there at the end. When it left his hand I said `we got it’ as it looked like it was off to the left and it banks in. The question always is, do you foul in that situation, up three. With Georges (Niang) out we were small, we felt anything could happen. If they did hit one free throw and tap one out it was a way we could lose the game. We also thought we knew the play they would run and they did run it. They hit a tough shot, but can’t tell you how proud I am of the effort. We have a lot of respect for Kansas. We are not about moral victories here. It’s a game we should have won. We can’t let it affect the next one. We get back to work tomorrow. It’s a short turn around for Texas on Saturday.”
On the team’s mood before OT:
“Our guys were fired up. They went out there and played hard. They hit a great out of bounds play. They hit a three and then they called the foul on Tyrus and extended the lead to six, we miss a three and now the lead is eight real quick. It’s tough to come back from that.”
On withstanding KU’s runs:
“I thought our guys played with tremendous resolve and did a great job staying in there and keeping together. Like I told them, if we keep fighting like that and having each other’s back all season long we are going to be right up there at the top of the conference when it’s all said and done. Just a great effort by our guys, just could not close the deal.”
Iowa State senior guard Chris Babb
On Iowa State’s execution:
“We played very well – we executed on offense, we defended, we rebounded. Just that last play, we let them get a shot up. Bank shot or not it was still an open shot that we should have taken care of. We were supposed to switch and didn’t really get there. We can build off this and get ready to play on Saturday.”
