Postgame Quotes
Dec. 2, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 77, UCLA 76
December 2, 2010
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On if it was a ‘lucky’ win:
“Oh yeah, (UCLA) out-played us, and that’s evident. We were very fortunate – Mario (Little) said he got fouled at the end – but we were just very fortunate. Getting the ball in quick was about the only smart thing we did tonight. We got it in quick and put pressure on them, but we were very, very fortunate. I think they controlled the game, and certainly out-played us. If we make our free throws, it wouldn’t have come down to the last possession. We made so many mental mistakes that gave them every opportunity to win the game. The crowd was great – they were the ones who won the game for us.”
On if he thought they were not guarding UCLA sophomore forward Josh Honeycutt well enough:
“Honeycutt had a great night, he was very good tonight. He was by far the best player in the game. I actually thought Brady (Morningstar) did a nice job guarding him, I didn’t think anyone else guarded him very well. He got fewer points while Brady was guarding him as opposed to anyone else.”
On if he thought UCLA center Josh Smith would be a tough matchup:
“I did, he dominated our big’s physically. We knew if we didn’t guard him very well, he would become effective. I thought Josh played very well. If I was coaching against us, I would attack our post players every possession. I’m going to put it out there because everybody can see it. It doesn’t take a guy who studies a ton of tape to realize that, it’s that our big guys don’t guard very well. We have to get a lot better at that.”
On if he liked Tyshawn Taylor’s aggressiveness:
“Tyshawn made the two biggest offensive plays for us when we were down four in the second half. I thought Tyshawn played really well.”
On if he felt confident with Mario Little shooting two free throws at the end of the game:
“Mario is a confident kid. I felt better with him on the line in that situation that the four free throws he shot prior to that. I thought he would make the free throws, for sure.”
On their non-conference schedule:
“I think we can learn a lot more by playing teams that are certainly capable of beating us. All the teams we have played and will play are very capable of beating us. We did sneak out wins. I thought we played very smart against Arizona, I didn’t think we played very smart tonight. We need to learn some things. Don’t get me wrong, I love coaching this team – I think we have a lot of good things going, but we stop our self. We have to learn to do a better job at that.”
Senior guard Mario Little
On the game winning free throw:
“I asked Coach what he wanted me to do on the last free throw, and he told me he wanted me to miss the last free throw.”
On the win against UCLA:
“We did not play good and it was an ugly win for us, but they played very good. We both wanted the win, but they put in a little more effort than us throughout the game.”
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor
On the victory against UCLA:
“I think that neither team played their best game, but it was one of those games that we were going at it. Neither team played their best defensively, but that happens sometimes in games like this. It was a tough game and each team played hard, but it was one of those games.”
On his team:
“We are a deep team and we have guys that can do a lot of different things. We showed that a little tonight, but we have to do more of that in our upcoming games.”
On Marcus and Markieff Morris being in foul trouble:
“I thought about ‘what if we had these guys in when the game was tough?’ They have to play with their hands up so they can be aggressive without fouling. They are getting better and we are going to continue to get better as a team.”
Junior guard Tyrel Reed
On his aggressiveness throughout the game:
“Our guys were not hitting shots and fortunately, I was. I was trying to do different things during the game, but I did not do well defensively.”
On the coaching staff:
“We have great coaches here and Coach Dooley works with us every day on improving our shots.”
On the end of the game turnover:
“They were running the press offense and trapped me on the baseline. I ended up throwing the ball away, which was probably the worst thing I could have done. It was not smart on my part and I should have called a timeout. We are fortunate that we got the win. Mario (Little) stepped up and made a big shot.”
UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland:
On the recap of the game:
“I was watching the replay of the foul at the end of the game on my computer inside the locker room. It was really a poor way to end the game on that call. I was a loose ball, both (Mario) Little and Malcolm Lee are putting their hand on the ball at the same time with 0.9 seconds. Normally, you wouldn’t make that kind of call at that point in the game unless it was very obvious. From what I saw, it was very disappointing to have the game end on that note. That being said, they are a very great team. I was excited about our character and our toughness tonight, the way we kept coming back. There were so many plays that could have made a difference for us. (Tyler) Honeycutt really had a great game tonight. He let the game come to him. He scored 33 points on 15 shots. This was Josh’s (Smith) first of what will be many double-doubles of his career. It was good to see him play so well tonight. We’re disappointed because we thought we had a chance to win. It is also disappointing to see two good teams finish on that kind of note.”
On the effects if UCLA would have won:
“It would have been a great win, but it didn’t happen. We will have to bounce back, that’s the key for us. It shows that this young team of ours can play among the best teams in the country.
On the young team:
“We’re very young. It was Lazeric’s (Jones) first time playing in a hostile environment. He can play better than he did tonight. We had too many turnovers. We had 19 turnovers which is critical. A lot of the mishaps on the offense were my fault. We have to get better at running motion. I thought they did a good job doubling Reeves (Nelson) and taking away his inside presence. It was a learning experience. We go back home now and have a number of games at home.”
On Tyler Honeycutt:
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, I think Tyler is going to have a good night. Tonight one of the keys for him was staying out of foul trouble. He actually played 28 minutes tonight and that was key for us. He really shot the ball well. He’s worked very hard on his perimeter jumper between the end of last season and now. I would say he’s improved a lot. He did a lot of good things.”
On Kansas:
“They have a very good team. It’s one of the top programs in the country year-in-and-year-out. Bill (Self) does a fantastic job reloading. If you think about it, and they lost three guys to the NBA off of last year’s team, they’re still a top five team. That really speaks to what a great job he (Bill Self) and his staff has done. They’ve always been really good defensively.”
Sophomore Forward Tyler Honeycutt:
On atmosphere at KU:
“I got to the gym early and got a lot of shots up. I like the flow and the rims. I’ve been working on my shot a lot. I got a lot of shots in after practice so I was feeling really good and confident.”
On the three to tie the game:
“We got the steal and I wanted to bring it back out because I didn’t know how much time was left. I knew we needed a three. Malcolm (Lee) gave me the ball and I came off the screen and they went under so I felt like I was making a lot of my threes so I’m sure the team appreciated me taking that three at the end.”
