Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“I am really, really proud of my team. I thought we played our hearts out through a lot of adversity. We weren’t sure if Cade (Davis) was going to be able to play. I got a call early this morning that he was vomiting and we’ve had an illness going around our team. Thank goodness he has some toughness in him and he wanted to play, because he was phenomenal. That was the best he’s played since he’s been here (at Oklahoma). I thought he played terrific and I thought all of our guys did. I thought Ryan Wright was tremendous off the bench, Steven Pledger playing 38 minutes and making some big plays, some big free throws down the stretch. Again, I am proud of this group. It’s been a good week for us and hopefully it’s the start of something pretty good.”
On handling Missouri’s pressure:
“One of the things I talked to our guys about is that Missouri does a great job of turning turnovers that they keep live in action and play, into quick points. Some of our turnovers were unforced . (You could say they were) forced just because of pressure, the thought of pressure and being mentally fatigued. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job.”
On if the Sooners will be the type of team that has to win ugly the rest of the year:
“I’ll be OK with winning. Whatever it takes. That’ something we’ve talked about with this group. We are a better offensive team than we have shown, especially in the first half. We were more efficient in the second half. Where we have struggled all year, especially in our losses, has been defensively. If that means uglying the game up, then we want to be ugly the rest of the year because we have to defend at a high level.”
On if Ryan Wright’s performance was his best in an OU uniform:
“Definitely. And we needed him. That’s the way Ryan has been practicing. He has been more aggressive in practice and perhaps he finally understands what we have been trying to tell him his role is – play off the other guys, rebound and defend. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself. It may not mean he gets 12 (points) and eight (rebounds) every night, but just to be a positive influence out on the floor.”
Sophomore Guard Willie Warren
On the importance of other teammates stepping up in today’s game:
“That was huge for us. Tiny (Gallon) was out this game, Crock (Tony Crocker) went out. So now it’s like OK, what are we going to do? Me and Tiny aren’t going to be able to do everything. Pledge (Steven Pledger) came in and played like 36, 38 minutes for us and hit some big shots for us. Cade (Davis) came in and played fantastic and this is probably the best game I’ve seen Ryan (Wright) play since I’ve been here. Just all-out aggressive, going for every rebound, finishing around the rim, wasn’t fumbling passes. The MVP of the game for me today goes to Ryan Wright.”
On if he feels he was more effective in this game:
“Yeah, in this game I tried to pick and choose my spots. Ever since the Baylor game, that was like my worst deficit since being at OU, and that’s something I never want to be a part of again. We’ve turned it around a lot. We know that we still have a chance, a huge chance actually, to go to the NCAA tournament. One thing we’re doing differently is we’re taking it game by game. We’re just preparing hard every week and we’re not, you know, not diving on the floor in practice and then coming in the games and diving on the floor, because everything carries over (to games).”
Junior Guard Cade Davis
On playing despite being ill and on not starting in the second half:
“I was sick this morning with a virus, or a bug that’s going around, and so I just tried to get an IV in me at halftime. I took two before the game. I went in (at halftime) and was just late getting out.”
On generating offense by driving to the basket:
“I just took it upon myself, you know, me having to play the 4 (spot) this game, and with the big man on me, I had a slight mismatch so I was trying to go to the hole and get fouled.”
On playing the 4 position due to Tony Crocker being out with an ankle injury:
“Crock stepped up and he’s been huge for us inside. When we lose him, he’s valuable to us rebound-wise, scoring-wise. So me trying to play the 4 spot, it’s new. Maybe I wasn’t going to score as much, but just play defense on the big guys and rebound and get it out to our guards and let them go.”
On most of his scoring coming from inside:
“Just kind of like Willie (said), trying to pick and choose my spots. Like I said, the big guy came out on me. With their pressure, we’re going to get the ball turning and we’re going to get into the driving lanes and a lot of that came from them scrambling and us moving the ball well.”
Senior Forward Ryan Wright
On if he believes this was his best game since he’s been at OU:
“Yeah, I thought so. My main thing was I was just trying to be aggressive. This whole week in practice I’ve just been trying to be aggressive, trying to finish everything around the rim, trying to get every rebound, and that’s what the team needs from me. Just to be that guy that’s going to bring that aggressiveness and that toughness, and I know if I do that then my offense and everything else is just going to take care of itself. Playing with guards like Willie and Cade and Crock and all the other good guards we have on our team, I know that stuff is going to take care of itself.”
On reading Willie and catching his passes in the paint:
“Yeah, I was just trying to get my hands ready. Whenever Willie drives in the lane, he’s a great passer, so I just try to get my hands ready and try to be ready to finish plays.”
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson:
Opening comment:
“First, I’ll congratulate Jeff Capel and his team. They fought to the bitter end and I thought that was the difference of the whole game. They wanted it a lot more and it was, I think, dissipated in the second half. They did a lot of blue-collar things; got every loose ball. Early in the game I thought we were quicker to the ball. There’s a thin line to winning and losing on the road. We had our opportunities and we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves. But at the same time I thought they made their free throws more. Even with 10 seconds we had an opportunity; we turned them over with 10 seconds. I guess we had a kid on the floor and they called a travel. But that’s life on the road, I understand that. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and get better.”
On Missouri struggling to make baskets:
“We had some opportunities to get some fast-break points and we’re not finishing. When you do that you’re always putting yourself in the hole. One of the first things you have to do on the road is play defense and you have to shoot the ball. You have to put the ball in the hole and get to the free throw line just as much as the other team. They got there and made them down the stretch – four more than we did. Not only that, you look at the rebounds and that gave them some extra opportunities as well. But you have to put the ball in the hole and we didn’t do it shooting 35 percent. That isn’t going to win many games.”
On Ryan Wright and Cade Davis:
“They had some good performers. Cade Davis, I thought he played lights out. He played like this was the championship game. Then of course (Ryan) Wright, he was the recipient of a lot more playing time and he I’m sure he produced. I’m sure he let Coach Capel know that, too.”
Missouri Sophomore Forward Laurence Bowers
On missed opportunities in the game:
“Coach always stresses to us the first five minutes of the second half and we came out and had three straight turnovers. We didn’t even get a shot attempt for like three minutes. I think if we would have done the things we would have been capable of doing, and did the stuff Coach told us to, we could have bumped the lead up a little bit and could be sitting a little more comfortably.”
On Cade Davis’ performance:
“In the scouting report, we knew the dude could shoot the ball. We knew that he was a 3-point shooter. For him to not only take the ball to the hole, but for him to rebound the way he did – he had (15) points – I’m not going to say it was a shocker, but I don’t think we expected it. Their team benefitted from him playing an all-around game.”
Missouri Senior Guard Zaire Taylor
Comparing J.T. Tiller to Cade Davis:
“J.T. just has that energy that he can bring and when he brings that it’s a whole different team. I’m a whole different person. I feel like Cade Davis did that for them today. Him being sick and for him to perform the way he did, anytime he did anything like catch the ball, I saw J.T. get all amped up. I didn’t know he was sick at the time, so I was wondering why everybody on their team was so happy every time he did something. J.T. is that for us. He can really get us going like that, and he does make some plays.”
