Kansas vs. Nevada Quotes
Dec. 1, 2005
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Opponent Postgame Player Quotes
Nevada 72, Kansas 70
December 1, 2005
Kansas Quotes
Head Coach Bill Self
On the game:
“The reason we lost the game is because we didn’t come as individually ready early in the game as we should have. We made so many silly plays, and it was just a mess in transition. We were not sorted or matched up. It was just one bonafide mental mistake early in the game, and the next thing you know, you’re behind the eight ball. We were fighting from behind all night long. We took the lead and were shooting free throws. We came up empty, but Nevada is a good ball club. We were a good ball club in the second half. Our guys made a lot of good plays down the stretch and they (Nevada) made a lot of good plays as well.”
On Nevada Forward Nick Fazekas:
“They had a great player tonight. He was better than anyone on the floor tonight by a long ways. We knew that and we did not have a guy that could guard a player like that.”
On the last 45 seconds:
“We tried to foul sooner and we did a poor job at not fouling. We let many seconds go away because of this. I think Brandon (Rush) thought he fouled, but we let seconds go away there. We had a three-point play drawn out for Micah (Downs), but we ended up driving it due to us only down by two. Jeff (Hawkins) got the ball to C.J. (Giles) at six inches, and it looked like he got fouled.”
On Kansas’ aggressiveness:
“We competed, but we didn’t need those loose balls. We go zone-to-zone, and they got four points off of us. Our guys are just not jumping to get the rebounds. Aggressive players just don’t do that. We have to get into that aggressive mindset. We did some good things obviously in the second half. We put them in the bonus early due to silly fouls. We do not have experienced enough players yet who understand that you just cannot foul like that and give them free points. We need to be sound.”
On Kansas’ improvement:
“I think we are getting better from a playing standpoint. There are some good things we are getting better at, and there are some things in the break-down we have to improve.”
Sophomore Center C.J. Giles
On the final play of the game:
“I felt some contact. His hands were on my hands, but I don’t know if the officials could see it. We opened the game with a bad start. If we would have came out as tough as we did in the second half, we would have won the game. That last play would not have mattered.”
On the team:
“We are a lot more of a team this year than we were at this same time last year. Last year everyone was trying to learn from our four seniors. Now everyone needs to step up. We are getting to know each other a lot better and we’re coming together.”
On coming from behind:
“It’s really frustrating. We just need to learn to turn it on at the beginning of the game instead of waiting until the second half. We had a similar experience against Arizona where we came out sluggish and did not start playing until the end of the first half. We need to turn it on from the get go. I am a little disappointed, but I know that we will get better as the year goes on.”
Freshman Guard Brandon Rush
On the final shot:
“I wanted it really bad. But whoever gets the ball is the one who goes to the rack. In the second half my shot really started to fall. I got my chances to shoot the ball tonight.”
On his performance in the second-half:
“Coach got on me really bad, but it got me hyped and I wanted to come out in the second half and prove him wrong.”
On being the go-to player:
“That is a role that I want to take on.”
Sophomore Center Sasha Kaun
On Nevada:
“They are a solid team. They have good players, and (Nick) Fazekas is unbelievable.”
On fighting back in the second half:
“It is frustrating but hopefully it will give us the message that we need to come into the game and play from the beginning.”
Nevada Quotes
Head Coach Mark Fox
On the game:
“I’m extreamly proud of these kids. After what happened a year ago, for them to come back one year later and win I’m extremely proud. They made a lot of plays to win the game. We beat a very good basketball team”
On Junior Guard Kyle Shiloh:
“Kyle Shiloh made two hard-nosed, tough plays in the last minute, and they were huge winning plays for us.”
On Junior Forward Nick Fazekas:
“He’s a winner. He came to play, and he came to win. He made a lot of big shots and played well at both ends of the court. He got a little fatigued late, but he really played well. He’s an All-American type player.”
On having the lead:
“We hit some foul shots, and that really allowed us to keep the lead. We only had one three or four minute bad stretch. We shot a bunch of three’s against the zone, but I felt like we could play through that. We got the lead back, and we were able to make the free throws to keep our lead. We played in front, and that’s the better way to play. It certainly beats the alternative.”
Senior Center Chad Bell
On the game:
“It was a big win for us. It gives us a lot of confidence, especially on the road where it is hard to get wins anywhere. This is a big confidence builder.”
On the atmosphere:
“It was very hostile, but we stayed together and pulled out the victory.”
On the KU zone defense:
“We work on it a lot in practice, but when they first threw the zone at us it caught us off guard. The coaches made some big adjustments for us on the sidelines, and we were able to adjust.”
Junior Forward Nick Fazekas
On the last play:
“We actually thought (Hawkins) dribbled the ball out of bounds, and then C.J. (Giles) got the rebound and I think a few of us actually blocked it.”
The feeling of beating Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse:
“It was a good feeling, but we aren’t surprised by it. Kansas is a great team and we came in here with a lot of respect for them, but were not surprised about winning because we feel as if we are good enough to beat anyone. To come in here and get a win is a big deal especially against a team like that which is loaded.”
On a career high:
“I just felt good, I took the UNLV game to heart. I just played bad against UNLV and I wasn’t going to come out here and do it again. I just felt really determined to come out here and do my thing.”
On Kansas’ most troublesome defender:
“C.J. probably gave me the most trouble because he is so long. He is the longest guy they got. They were sending double teams at me. I tried to make them not effective and just shoot the other way.”
On hitting big shots:
“Coach has a lot of confidence in me and every time after a timeout he would make a call to go to me. He just has confidence in me to make a big shot in a big moment in the game and I did it tonight.”
