Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“Congrats to Baylor. They made enough plays throughout the game to win the basketball game this afternoon. LaceDarius (Dunn) and Ekpe (Udoh) were really, really good. I thought Tweety Carter did a great job of running their team and picking spots. He made some huge shots late.
“It’s amazing when you look at our percentages shooting the basketball that we were actually in this game and had a chance to win late. We got good looks when we executed, but it was just one of those afternoons where we couldn’t make shots. I didn’t think we played smart at times. I thought we did a very good job early of attacking their zone, but I just don’t think we played smart at times on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. We are a team that has to do the little things at a very high level. They’re huge things for us and that’s something we’ve been very inconsistent at.”
On containing Baylor’s guards:
“We talked about how we needed to defend LaceDarius Dunn. I think LaceDarius is one of the best scorers in college basketball. I think he’s one of the best shot makers. He and James Anderson are the best two pure scorers in our league. James is a little bit better because he can do it in different ways, but Lace is probably the better shot maker. For instance, in the first half we leave LaceDarius Dunn one time to run to Quincy Acy 17 feet from the basket. That’s what I mean about not thinking. What are you thinking to do that? We talked about when he caught it, you can not give him space when he shoots a set shot that he’s able to get off. So you’ve got to jam him. We wanted to try to make him a driver. And he goes left about 90 percent of the time. Well when he drove today, you saw him go left. In the second half Tweety Carter did a great job picking his spots and he hit a couple 3’s that were really, really big for them -- big momentum shots for them.”
On is Tiny Gallon’s production today is what he’s been expecting from him all season:
“Yeah. Certainly not 23 (points) and 15 (rebounds), but just being a presence for us down there and being a presence for us on the boards. I think Tiny has been better the last three games -- today and the previous two. Against Kansas, I thought he competed and did some good things that didn’t equate to scoring, but he did some things that led to scores for us in that game. He did a good job at Baylor last time, he just got into foul trouble early.”
On OU’s 2-for-18 effort from 3-point range:
“Some of them were good looks. I thought others we had an opportunity to kick the ball inside. Tommy (Mason-Griffin) did not shoot the ball well today, although he got some good looks. Cade (Davis) did not shoot the ball well today. I thought both of those guys got down on themselves and that can’t happen. You have to have the mentality, ‘I’m going to make to make the next one.’ (That’s) another little thing, but a huge thing. It’s just being mentally tough and being able to fight through and play through stuff.”
Oklahoma Player Quotes
Freshman Forward Tiny Gallon
On playing against Baylor’s size:
“It’s real tough, especially because we’re not the biggest team in the world. But all their post men are like 6-11 or 7-foot and their zone is very big. There were a lot of holes in their zone, but a lot of people tried to take it to the rack. It was just like a block show down there.”
On his performance today:
“I wasn’t forcing shots. I just let the game come to me when people are moving. Our point guard, Tommy (Mason-Griffin), trusted me and all my other teammates trusted me. They gave me the ball and I tried to make plays. I tried to give my teammates the ball and I rebounded. I tried to get every rebound I could. I just played basketball.”
On the importance of only having one foul in the first half:
“That was very important. That had been my thing this whole season, you know, with fouling out and stuff like that. So I tried not to get as many fouls in the first half. In the second half, I should have used my fouls. They were going to the hole so I should have used my fouls.”
Senior Forward Ryan Wright
On the team’s performance tonight:
“One of the big emphases was to just go after them. One of the biggest ways you can take those guys out of the game was to go at them, so that’s what all the bigs tried to focus on this week at practice -- try to take the ball up strong, go at their chest.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the win, but that was just our offensive game plan right there.”
