Kansas Postgame Quotes

Feb. 7, 2007

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 97, Kansas State 70
February 7, 2007

Head Coach Bill Self
On the Game:
“When we came out tonight I was concerned about how we would respond to the loss against Texas A&M, and guys responded with toughness. In the toughness categories, such as rebounding, we did a good job. I didn’t think that we guarded them well. 41 free throw-attempts were their best offense. Everybody played well, and we took care of the ball in the first half.”

“I was talking to Bob Huggins before the game and I said, `You’re guys are playing great,’ and it was a mutual respect. One thing he said to me was, `Isn’t it amazing that all it comes down to is making shots’, and he’s right. It comes down to who can put the ball in the basket. Obviously early in the game we did that, which got us off to a nice start. Julian (Wright) was good. He didn’t play as much because of foul trouble, so we had to go with a make-shift lineup. I thought for the most part everybody played well. I think that we have great offensive weapons, we just have to be more consistent on the offensive end. Brandon (Rush) is as good of a shooter as anyone in America on some nights, and on other nights he labors. When we go stagnant, it seems that we really struggle on the offensive end. We have to be more consistent offensively, and also guarding people.”

On KU’s impact freshman:
“He (Darrell Arthur) played well. He had 14 points on nine shots. He looked like the old Shady tonight. All freshman go through tough times, and hopefully he’s come up out of that valley he was in. Also, Sherron Collins has been on a bit of a roll lately.”

Kansas Player Quotes
Sophomore Guard Brandon Rush
On the margin of the win:
“I didn’t expect this at all. I thought it was going to be a come-down-to-the-wire game. They came in and weren’t making to many shots and everything was falling for us, so it turned into a blowout. When we go to their place, it will be a lot tougher.

On the key to the win:
“I think it was a combination (offense and defense) today. In the first half, everybody was making shots. Then with our defense, we held them down pretty much, not letting them shoot the ball too well. This is what we can do for 40 minutes after a game where we gave it away to Texas A&M.”

Freshman Guard Sherron Collins
On his quickness:
“Losing weight is something that has helped me out. You still haven’t seen how fast I am. I think I am showing a little more speed than I showed earlier this season. I credit it to my coach and to Hudy (Andrea, Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning). I thought it was punishment, but he told me it would help me out. I know I can still be faster.”

On having a big lead early:
“Coach was stressing all week on our offense. We just tried to execute and get some open three’s. Stuff started coming easy and we started running our offense.”

On finishing the game:
“We just have got to keep them down. We have to have a killer instinct and have to play that way every game. When we have a lead on somebody. we just have to keep building on the lead and not let them into the game. We nee to make them force up bad shots and play solid defense.”

Freshman Forward Darrell Arthur:
On Kansas State:
“They played a real good game against Texas, so we knew that they were going to try to come in here and play real well. We tried to lock them down defensively and tried to make a statement from the Texas A&M game. I think we did real good offensively in trying to get to the lane. We tried to keep it out of the shooter’s hand. Martin (Cartier) had seven three’s the last game and we tried to keep it out of his hand as much as possible.”

Kansas State Coach and Player Quotes
Head Coach Bob Huggins
On Kansas winning:
“They are better. They are way better. They made shots. We got demolished. We didn’t do what we had to do defensively, so we had some guys doing one thing and some guys doing another.”

On the difference in the game:
“They had 12 points on offensive rebounds and 11 points in transition, that’s 23 points. Our margin for error is very small. When we don’t do things right, we don’t block out, we don’t get back (on defense), we are not going to win against a team this good. In my estimation, this is one of the most talented teams in the country. They are very, very talented, and very well coached. We just have to get that point where we are (that good).”

On the second half:
“We did not do what we prepared to do. They executed and we didn’t execute. When they are better than you are to start with and they execute, and you don’t, it’s going to get ugly.”

Junior Guard Blake Young
On the game:
“We came out flat and didn’t play with energy for the entire game. We didn’t play defense and they came out and hit a few three-pointers when we were in the zone and forced us to plan man. They got into the middle on their ball screens and the final score shows what happens after that. I am not sure they are the toughest team we have played all year. They excuted well and they outrebounded us. They were the toughest team we have played on the board. They got a lot of their points off of put backs and in transition. We just didn’t play good defense. The games we win are when we play good defense.

On Coach Huggins message after the game:
“He told us we have seven games. He told us we are either going to lay down or come out and play hard.

Senior Forward Cartier Martin
On the game:
“We didn’t play well at all. At the beginning, we gave them too many easy baskets and they outrebounded us. Coach was disappointed. Any time you take a loss by more than 20 points and you are trying to make the NCAA Tournament, your coach isn’t going to be happy. We have seven more games left in conference play. The main thing we have to do is put this game behind us because we can’t change anything now. The crowd played a part tonight, but that isn’t what beat us. We pretty much beat ourselves.

On the early turnovers:
“They scored a lot of points on turnovers and second chance points. That is basically how they ran off with the game. Kansas played well tonight. We just didn’t play like a team tonight.

Senior Forward Jermaine Maybank
On what he brings to the game:
“I just try to do the intangible things that coach asks me to do. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough tonight. I know what I can do and I just try to do that when needed. This is not an individual thing, it is a team thing.

On the second half:
“We shut down as a team. We didn’t play Wildcat basketball today.