Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“It was good to win. I thought we did some good stuff. We are still a work in progress, but I thought we did some good stuff. I thought we got a little bit tired and maybe part of that is how hard we’ve gone in practice and how much we’ve gone. It was good to win and now we look forward to getting prepared for conference.”
On the starting lineup:
“We started a different lineup because of circumstances with some different guys. Some decisions they made forced me to make some decisions. We are still searching, but I thought we maybe took a step today with how we practice and the effort we have had at practice has been better. We know we have a long way to go, but again we have to do that very quickly because there are no easy wins in our league.”
On getting a big win after a loss and before heading into conference play:
“It’s important to win. I don’t know if our guys would admit it, but they were probably struggling a little bit confidence wise -- especially with the manner in which we lost the last two games. To have some positive stuff happen to us tonight is good. The level on Saturday will be a lot different, a lot better. It will be on par with what we saw against Gonzaga, with what saw against UTEP.”
On Tony Crocker’s rebounding performances:
“He plays hard and he does things the right way. Usually when you do that, good stuff happens for you. He works at it and I think he has developed a little bit of an identity. Just try to go get the ball. He has been a little bit relentless going to get them. He’ll chase down long ones. We grade block outs and he does a very good job with block outs. He does a very good job even when he’s blocking out against bigger guys.”
Senior Guard Tony Crocker
On his rebounding performance:
“While I’m down there I’m just trying to work around the big guys. Keeping them off the glass is the big thing. Going and getting the rebound is the plus. We want people that are going to go out there and fight. No matter how big you are you have to go against bigger guys. We’re going to be going against bigger teams from here on out.”
On beginning conference play Saturday:
“It’s going to be hard work. It’s going to take a lot of work. Teams are only going to get bigger and better. So we really have to focus on the little things like boxing out and getting back (on defense).”
On the team’s preparation for conference play:
“I feel like we need more work than in the past. We have some days to prepare and get ready. We’re going to go hard in practice.”
Junior Guard Cade Davis
On the game:
“I think we stayed mentally focused through the whole game. We set goals in certain areas for this game and we executed, that so that was a big step for us to come out and really try to focus on our defense more. What we get out of this is what we put into it. We’re trying to get better as a team and wanted to end on a positive note in our non-conference schedule and to move on to conference play. We know we have a tough task ahead of us but it is good to get a win and just move on.”
On trying different defensive schemes:
“That’s just to keep us mentally focused; to make sure we know what we are doing and to execute all of our stuff. He (head coach Jeff Capel) just wants to make sure that we know our stuff on offense and defense.”
Head Coach Frankie Allen
Opening comment:
“I wish we could have played a little better, but I think Oklahoma had a lot to do with that. They caused too many turnovers and we never got a clear look at the basket. They did a good job of contesting our shot. I thought one of the bright spots was our freshman, Sean Berry. He had a double-double. We get back in our own element now. We played (at) Nebraska Saturday and here today. Obviously, the Big 12 is the Big 12. Hopefully we don’t have anyone severely injured. We had one guy that had food poisoning. We come to Oklahoma, I tell him the steak is great and he orders fish. I say if you can’t see water don’t order fish.”
On Oklahoma’s pressure defense:
“Right now their coaching staff is looking for the right way to play the right people going into conference play. They tried a lot of different things. They picked up the pressure and I was pleased. That’s why our one kid, (Tim) Burns, had to get an IV because he had to play so much because he is our other ball-handler. It bothered us because it took us out of sync and it forced us to come up and have some other people help handle the ball.”
On guard Tim Burns playing with food poisoning:
“We didn’t start him. He had been starting but he didn’t start because he was feeling so poorly. The sports medicine staff here really helped us out. They had people give him some IV’s and work with him. At least he was able to get out here. You could tell he was a little weak. All in all, it was a fine gesture on the part of Oklahoma’s sports medicine staff to help us out like they did.”
