OU Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“What a hard fought game. I thought both teams played really, really hard. I think that’s why you see guys so tired, and fatigued and cramping up right now. I thought both teams competed at a very high level and I thought both teams really, really wanted to win. I’m proud of our guys. I thought we fought for 45 minutes. It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to play some pretty good defense throughout the evening. There in the second have we hit two big 3’s by two freshmen, Tommy Mason-Griffin and Steven Pledger, to get the crowd back into it. It was eerily similar to our previous games when things weren’t going well. We were down eight and the bottom fell out for us in the others, and even in this one we weren’t scoring but we were getting stops to keep it manageable. We finally started making shots and got on a run and took a lead. We’ve been a good free throw shooting team and we weren’t today. We weren’t down the stretch and it almost cost. Again, I’m really proud of my guys, really proud of this effort and hopefully this is something we can build on.”
On the team’s defensive effort:
“We have done it before. I don’t understand why we didn’t compete in other games, didn’t play hard and didn’t defend. This was a very good offensive team we played against, and to hold them to 27 percent shooting – our crowd helped us and that was a big plus. But we had some fight in us and that’s what it’s going to take for us the rest of the year.”
On the team’s effort:
“I’m proud of all of them. All of them did some really, really good things. I thought Cade Davis did a very good job on James Anderson. Steven Pledger hit a huge, huge shot for us and he finally saw the ball go through the basket. I thought guys just competed out there, so I’m proud of all of them. Not just one or two guys, I’m proud of all of them.”
On Tommy Mason-Griffin’s play:
“To play 43 minutes and not have a turnover against that pressure is good. I thought he did an OK job defensively. He gave up on one of the last possessions (in regulation) that Ray Penn hit a 3. To have 14 points in his first Bedlam game and three assists and no turnovers with the kind of pressure we faced, I thought he did a good job.”
Freshman Guard Tommy Mason-Griffin
On keeping his composure during his first Bedlam game:
“It’s not so much a game of toughness, it’s a game of run. So whenever they make a run we just have to stay level headed and know that in the rest of the game we’ll get back and get stops and try to score early. It’s a long game, so we have to take every possession seriously.”
On making four 3-pointers:
“You know I’m a jumper, so you feel that adrenaline pumping. It’s easier to get shots up with your legs if you feel that adrenaline running. It’s a big game and the crowd is into it. So I just wanted to make open shots and take some of the pressure off for my team.”
Freshman Forward Tiny Gallon
On the importance of wining this game:
“It’s very important. Obviously, they won last year and we’ve got the game back at home so it’s a big rivalry. The game is very big to the team. Just coming back from being on the road, it’s good to win.”
On the emotion felt when OU took over the lead with Mason-Griffin’s 3-pointer in overtime:
“Everybody on the team trusts Tommy. He’s a scoring point guard, but he’s a pass-first point guard too. When he made the shot, that just switched over and the crowd got into it. We got excited and we kept the lead. I just kept rebounding and Cade had hustle plays, made shots and steals. Everybody’s adrenaline started pumping and we just got into it.”
Junior Guard Cade Davis
On defending OSU guard James Anderson:
“We kept talking about how last year he came into our place and had a great game – 37 points or something like that. So we really wanted to try and keep his hands off the ball and contain him. Me and Crock (Tony Crocker) were trying to switch on him at times just to make sure we could get over the screens. Overall I thought we did a pretty good job. I know he had quite a few free throws in the first half, but we wanted to make him earn (his points) instead of let him have wide open shots.”
On the significance of winning this game:
“It’s huge. It’s the biggest game because it’s right here and now, especially since it’s against our state rival. What better start to have than to try and beat them and start a run in the Big 12 for us as a team. [Mason-Griffin and Gallon] have never been to a Bedlam game. I hope they realize how big it is. It’s just as close with every game from here on out when you go against another opponent. We need to come out with the same energy, same passion and the same effort like tonight so we will be successful.”
Head Coach Travis Ford
Opening comment:
“I’m disappointed we lost. I thought we played great defense tonight. We put ourselves in position to win the game tonight with our rebounding. We just missed a lot of easy shots tonight. I give Oklahoma a lot of credit. They played really hard, challenged shots and did a great job of playing defense. Obviously when you look at the stat sheet, we had two guys who played an average of 32 minutes go 2-for-19. You’re just not going to win too many games on the road when you shoot like that. I’m proud of our defense and rebounding and, again, give Oklahoma credit. They did a great job coming off of a tough loss and played really well and hard.
On guard James Anderson’s injury:
“He got hit pretty hard on the head. He’s got a pretty good bump and is bleeding a little bit. I’m not sure of the extent of it, but you saw when he came back in the game he was groggy. I told our guys other guys have to step up when he goes down. You can’t get beat by one guy.”
On tonight’s dismal shooting performance:
“If you told me we were going to shoot 27 percent (from the field), 20 percent (from 3-point range), 60 percent (on free throws), then, wow, it would have been pretty ugly. But our defense was good too. Their defense was very good. It was really a defensive game.”
On the final play of overtime when Obi Muonelo stepped out of bounds:
“We were a little tired. We let them get physical on us. We were trying to get James (Anderson) to come off a screen and Cade (Davis) played really physical with him and he couldn’t get the ball. Then they pushed us toward the sideline and they just took out the play with their physicality.”
Senior Forward Marshall Moses
On the game:
“Give credit to OU. They played a great game, defensively and all around. Like Coach (Ford) said, we didn’t make shots. I’m really disappointed in that and in myself. I missed some shots that I know I can make. For the most part I am happy that we played hard even though we got beat. It is a good feeling to know that we can compete night in and night out in this league. It just always hurts when you get beat by your rival school. That part is bad and I feel bad about that, but I am proud of my teammates and proud of the way the freshmen, for the first time in this kind of environment, they played hard and gave all they have. We just have to make shots down the stretch.”
Freshman Guard Raymond Penn
On his first Bedlam experience:
“It was war. Coach told us, ‘When you come to Bedlam it’s an all-out war.’ I got a busted lip, blood all over my leg, but it was fun. If I had to do it again I would.”
