Head Coach Lon Kruger ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On the team's rebounding:
"They rebounded the ball much better than we did. We came out of a weekend where we thought we had become a lot more physical and more aggressive on the boards. We did in the second half, but the first half we didn't carry that over at all. We have to understand it's about every possession every night, and we'll keep learning and keep getting better."
On playing in tight games:
"Tight games late are great to learn from. You can't simulate those situations in practice, whether it be executing a play or getting a big defensive stop. We've had that opportunity, and while we'd like to have games in better control than that late, I've liked how we've responded at those moments."
On Amath M'Baye's play:
"Amath has played well. I thought he had his best game on Sunday against West Virginia, and he came back with another good effort tonight. He still has those moments that he wants to erase and change from the negative to the positve, but he's such a good worker and has such a great attitude about it. No one works harder or spends more time on it than Amath does, so his game is going to keep getting better and results are going to keep getting better."
On Buddy Hield's play:
"He didn't have a good run in the first half, but he came back in the second half and I thought gave us a big lift. He knocked down a three, got a steal and had a runner in transition. There was a lot of good energy out of Buddy there. I thought Cameron Clark came in and gave us a lift defensively as well, so it is going to take the efforts of a lot of people at different times to help us keep making progress."
Junior Amath M'Baye ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On performing well in the second half:
"I think this team has a great ability to perform in the clutch. This is the second game in a row where it has been close at the end and the freshmen step up, everybody steps up. That's experience we are going to need down the stretch."
On the win:
"It was a tough game. They have a great team and played well the entire game. It could have gone either way, but I'll take the 'W' any day of the week. That's something we need."
