Postgame Quotes
March 3, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 82, Kansas State 65
March 3, 2010
Kansas head coach Bill Self
On how he felt the team played:
“We played really well. Sherron (Collins) couldn’t make a basket in the first half. He took some bad shots that led to baskets for K-State. Tyrel (Reed) came in and kind of bailed us out. Of course Xavier (Henry) was fabulous. He and Markieff (Morris) were fabulous in the first half. In the second half we came out and had an unbelievably bad start. After we let them tie it up after a big run, we played very well down the stretch. We played smart and defended them well. They still beat us on the glass by seven but we took really good care of the basketball, except for the first four minutes of the second half. There was a lot of emotion going on. The pressure was on us to win, to win the league out-right. Pressure was on Sherron, but Cole (Aldrich) felt the same pressure. But our guys handled it pretty well. I thought we really guarded well, even though they shot a good percentage in the first half. That was a good basketball team we played today and we are real happy with the win.”
On the career of Sherron Collins:
“It is an unbelievable run. He didn’t play bad. He shot miserably the first half though, but played obviously better on offense in the second half. That was a lot of hardware that was sitting there at half court that he has been a part of winning. Another thing that is great, as much as he has improved as a man, in May he walks down that hill with all those other graduates. It was a good win and a big night for Sherron, and a big night for Kansas in general. And then so many people stayed to listen to him talk, that’s probably as big a show of respect as anything.”
On getting ready for Saturday’s game at Missouri:
“Its Missouri. Its Missouri and we haven’t won over there the last couple of years. We have the No. 1 seed locked up, we have the trophy locked up, we have a three game lead going into Saturday’s game. But forget the records, we’re playing Missouri and that’s enough said. We’ll celebrate this win tonight but we’ll have their full attention by tomorrow afternoon.”
Kansas Senior Guard Sherron Collins
On his last game:
“It was a very emotional day. I was trying not to get too caught up in it, but it was hard not to. I kept remembering it was my last game. All of my teammates kept reminding me. It was wonderful. As for the game, I think we played pretty well. We had to get back in it. We knew they were going to make a run, but we just had to make our own run. It’s a game of runs, especially when we’re playing a team like K-State. It ended perfectly. My teammates did a great job.”
On his play:
“In the beginning I was really jittery. I was a little too anxious and wasn’t playing well. I was shooting quick shots and guarded shots, but the coaches kept telling me to relax and play the game. I just had to take a couple of deep breaths. I had a little pep talk with myself at halftime and everybody else was so confident.”
Kansas Freshman Guard Xavier Henry
On playing well:
“My teammates are doing a great job. We have been practicing hard and they continue to find me. Tonight, I just knocked down shots and got easy layups.”
On playing for Sherron:
“We have been talking about that for a while. We knew it was his last time running out of the tunnel and we let him know every time. We told him it was the last time he would be taped in the training room and the last time we would be eating dinner here. It was one of those things that we built up because we knew it was going to be so emotional for him and we just wanted to be behind him.”
Sophomore forward Markieff Morris
On playing under Sherron:
“It was an emotional night for all of us. He is a leader and a big brother and we let him know every day. Coach keeps telling us we only have a certain amount of practices left before his last game. It’s going to be tough not seeing him next year, but we went out with a bang.”
On winning the Big 12 outright:
“It’s really big. When we lost to Oklahoma State, we knew we were going to have to bounce back. We got in the gym and practiced hard and played hard.”
Kansas State Head Coach Frank Martin
On the game:
“We succumb to the pressure. We only had four assists all game and it is tough to win with just four assists. Kansas did a heck of a job of guarding us. Because of foul trouble, we had to alter our lineup which makes it difficult for us to score. We weren’t real good defensively and we absolutely sucked on offense. We kept battling and battling to try to stay in the game and give us a chance, but offensively we were so bad. We were also bad with our man-to-man defense so we had to go zone. We aren’t a zone team. So all the zone really did was put a mask on our deficiencies. Eventually they were able to get the shots off they wanted against the zone and they made them to their credit.”
On if he felt his team was overwhelmed:
“We had the game tied at 45 so I don’t think we were overwhelmed at any point in the game. We just succumb to the pressure that they applied on us. I have never known Kansas to come out and go through the motions in this arena. I guess we are victim number 59 now. That is what they do. We stayed the course and tied it at 45. I don’t think we got overwhelmed.”
On Rodney McGruder and Wally Judge playing more minutes today:
“I thought they matched up a little better with Kansas and I wasn’t happy with some of the other guys. We got into deep foul trouble and we had to play more guys. We had to go deeper into the bench. To their credit, they made some mistakes, but they went out there and tried their hearts out.”
Kansas State Junior Guard Jacob Pullen
On the overall game:
“(Kansas) had a great crowd, they hit some tough shots, and they pulled away at the end.”
On the difference in the second half from the first half:
“They got a lot of great shots and they did a great job of guarding. We went to zone because of foul trouble, and they made some great shots. We just had some mental breakdowns. It was things we did every day in practice – we didn’t box out, we didn’t rotate over, and we had to pay for it.”
On what happened in the second half:
“We settled down and made shots. We tied the game up and knew we were in a position to win it; in the first half, second half, and we just let it slip away.”
On if he thinks Kansas is the best team in the country:
“They lost, but still they’re one of the best teams in the country. They have (Xavier) Henry playing better – if you have an inside-outside presence like they have, it’s tough to beat them when they are connecting on all cylinders.”
Kansas State Freshman Forward Wally Judge
On Kansas being the best team in the country:
“At times they are. They are talented right down to the last man on the bench. Every team is good in the Big 12. There is competition every night. Tonight they beat us up on the boards, they ran the floor, they pretty much scored inside any time they wanted to.”
On if they were overwhelmed with everything going on tonight:
“As a team, no – we never think about that. Honestly, I approach every game like it’s just another game, we don’t look at rankings, we don’t think about the next game – it is just another chance to get a win.”
On what they are looking forward to playing Iowa State next:
“Like Coach (Frank) Martin said, we want to give the seniors a good game. To the fans, for the last time seeing this team in Bramlage, the last time our seniors are going to play in Bramlage, the last time this team gets to be together in Bramlage, we are going to come out and try to put this together for our seniors.
