Postgame Quotes vs. North Texas

Nov. 19, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Notes |

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

On the game overall:
“The first six minutes were great and the first 10 minutes of the second half were great. There were some minutes in there that weren’t very good. The last 10 minutes of the first half stunk. We did some good things. We did defend their little quick guards better (in the second half).”

On the play of the starting five:
“Brady (Morningstar), Tyshawn (Taylor) and Tyrel (Reed) combined for 18 assists and two turnovers. That doesn’t happen very often. Brady also had four steals and Tyrel had three. Brady was really good today. Marcus (Morris), he needs to get on the defensive boards, but he was good and made shots. Markieff (Morris) got us off to a great start. All-in-all you have to have balance when you score 93 points and only three guys are in double figures. That means there are a lot of guys with seven, eight or nine (points).”

On the team’s three-point shooting:
“We made them. If I’m not mistaken I think Marcus made a couple and Elijah (Johnson) played really well in the first action he has seen this year. We are a pretty good shooting team. We didn’t shoot our free throws very well, but we are a good shooting team, we just haven’t shown it yet. It’s nothing to get giddy over, but it’s certainly the best we’ve played so far.”

On guarding North Texas:
“It’s a little bit easier to guard when the two big guys are post-up players and not pick and pop guys. We were able to do a better job off the ball screen and not have to worry about getting back to our guy shooting the basketball behind the arc. The hardest teams to guard are the ones that have a guy that can stretch you from that spot. They don’t really have that so we did a pretty good job keeping the ball out of the paint the first 30 minutes or so.”

On Elijah being vocal and playing aggressively:
“He should be yelling at himself to get into position before yelling at anybody else. Let’s not get carried away. Elijah can shoot the ball, he hasn’t made shots because he hasn’t played much, but he’s a good shooter. Of course he’s so athletic and can play around the rim so well. He did some good things in the back-up point slot.”

On Josh Selby’s status:
“We got word today that he is going to be suspended nine games retroactively. He’s sat three and it’s a fair ruling. It’s not one that anyone is overly excited about, but it’s very fair. The NCAA has been good with us in communicating with us even though we haven’t communicated that they have communicated to us to the press. It is fair and certainly understandable. He is kind of a victim of circumstance to be quite honest. We do have rules and it’s pretty clear how the rules read, but if you’re a 17 year old out there and nobody tells you these things, you could easily get caught up in the same thing. Hopefully he can be an example for other youngsters out there moving forward. He’s disappointed that it’s that many games, but he’s excited to know that he will be in a Kansas uniform before too long.”

Junior Forward Marcus Morris:
On tying the Home wins streak record:
“After the game it was nice. Coach Self told us during the week it would be a big win, so it was nice. He just told us good job and that we did a better job in the second half.”

On how he is feeling with his play right now:
“I’m just staying confident and I know that I can knock down shots from anywhere. I can open the floor for my teammates and let the game go on. Just knowing that this is my team this year and that they are waiting for me to spark them.”

On starting the second half strong:
“I got very fired up in the locker room, Coach told me that I needed to come out strong, and that the second half was my half and that I needed to get the team going.”

Junior Forward Markieff Morris
On the energy during the game:
“It was nice because Elijah (Johnson) finally got to play again, and Brady had (10) assists, it was just a nice game.”

On the progress he has seen in the defense:
“I think we can play really good defense at times, we let (North Texas) get too many easy shots – we always have things to work on, and hopefully we will improve. Our defense on the ball is not as good as it can be. They got too many points inside, and we just ball-watch too much, instead of going after it.”

Sophomore guard Elijah Johnson
On the fan base:
“Very, very important. I feel like it was something we owed them from before we were born. Everybody cares about this program, and it has great tradition.”

On if the next nine games are important without Josh Selby:
“It is important period; we need to get better as a team. Josh is a piece of the puzzle, definitely, the perfect piece of the puzzle. You can’t wait, you have to go. When Josh comes back, he will bring more to the table.”

North Texas Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement:
“We started off in a mix out high and wide. I thought on the other end of the floor they shot the ball extremely well. They executed down on the offensive end. We got off to a great second half and I thought our guys continued to battle. We couldn’t withstand the run that they made and we never recovered from it. It was just a long night. I thought our guys played extremely hard and gave a great effort. We didn’t execute as well as I would have liked to but I thought Kansas had a lot to do with it because of the way they played, their style. I thought they were good on the defensive end of the floor and I thought they played exceptionally well in the second half. I thought we did a great job of making a basket right before half time. We came out in the second half hoping we could score to cut it to seven, but we missed a shot, they go down and score and never look back.”

On Kansas’ offense:
“They were just being Kansas. They executed really well and they shot the ball extremely well. I think they went six-for-six from the three point line at one time. Whenever they are playing like that, which they are capable of playing, like that and they proved tonight that they are a tough team to handle. We weren’t able to execute, we took some quick shots. They do a great job of feeding off of it and getting out to a fast break.”

On any KU players standing out:
“No, I am familiar with all those guys and I know they are very good basketball players. They are a great team. Coach Self does a tremendous job and I thought those guys played like they are capable of playing. They are a top five- basketball team and they played like it.”

North Texas Guard Josh White
On Kansas’ inside game:
“They were very intense defensively. That is something I am sure their coach really harps on. I think their defense gets them going offensively because they got a lot of fast break points. I think their defense really carried them today. They are a very long team and very athletic. They are not the number six team in the country for nothing.”

On UNT’s shooting woes:
“I think we got some great looks. Our guys penetrated and we got some great looks but we just did not knock them down. We had some wide open looks it is just about us knocking them down. Part of it was them and part of it was us. We got some great looks but we just didn’t take advantage of it.”