Head Coach Lon Kruger |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opening comment:
"I thought the ball game was going back and forth there for the first 25 minutes or so. Texas A&M is a good, physical ball club and they hurt us on the boards a little bit, especially with a little bit of a smaller lineup. Their size hurt us a little bit, but I thought our activity defensively during the second half was really a key in converting some transitions going the other way. [That] is probably what made the margin there a two or four-point game for a while, but then we popped it to 10 off of a couple steals."
On forcing 19 turnovers:
"The activity on the ball is that they set a lot of ball screens. They do a good job with that. I thought we were okay against it in the first half, but we weren't really creating any turnovers or advantages. I thought in the second half we were getting after the ball more aggressively. We had the big guys getting some hands on the dribble and guards getting back in there as well. The activity defensively was really important."
On moving Cameron Clark to the 4 position:
"Cam's activity was fantastic. He had a really good week of practice and attacking and knocking down jumpers there and getting to the rim a couple times. I thought he worked really hard defensively. There is size difference on the defensive end. Cam is strong enough and athletic enough to not get hurt by that size difference and use his quickness to his advantage."
On the production off the bench:
"It is nice to have guys coming off the bench playing well when you have three starters who didn't get any field goals. Again, to this point, different guys coming off the bench are picking us up defensively. Buddy [Hield] did a really good job coming in the first half and gave us good activity in the second half. Cam [Clark], of course, was fantastic. It is not just scoring, but activity coming off the bench which is good energy."
On the team growing:
"This group keeps working at it. That is the good thing about this group, they want to have a good basketball team and they are willing. They are finding a little bit more about themselves each game for what they have to do to be more effective."
Senior F Romero Osby |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On playing physical:
"Texas A&M is known for being real physical. They have big guys get real low, especially Ray Turner. He kid of sets the tone for the team. Coach [Lon Kruger] has been getting on us about getting more physical and attacking.
"When it is a physical game like that you just have to stick your nose in there, if that makes sense, and just try to be physical and counteract what they are doing. If they are being real physical pushing and shoving, then we have opportunities to drive by."
On having good production coming off the bench:
"It means a lot. One thing last year that was talked about a lot was that we didn't really have much depth and only played six or seven guys. To have guys like Cam [Clark], who works really hard, I am really proud of him because I know he works really hard, and he doesn't pout when things don't go his way. It was really good to see him have a good game. It was also good to see Buddy [Hield] come off the bench and make plays."
On teammate Cameron Clark:
"Coach [Lon Kruger] is always on him about attacking. I am always in his ear telling him to keep attacking. I am not taking credit for it; he works really hard before and after practice every day. When a guy works like that eventually they are due for something big. I am happy that he got a chance to do it and we got a win out of it."
Junior G Cameron Clark |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On play the 4 position:
"I felt comfortable down there attacking the bigs and moving the ball to help my teammates to get open shots. It was good."
On the challenges defensively:
"Just moving my feet, and getting around them. They are bigger so I have to do a lot more work to get on the inside."
On coming off the bench and getting MVP honors:
"It feels good. I just had more opportunities to create and attack more, so it was good."
