Post Game quotes >>> Soonersports.com

[Sam]

Here are some highlights of them for me.

Capel

“We are very fortunate to get a win. You have to give a lot of credit to North Carolina Central. I thought they were tremendous. I knew they would come in very hungry. I know their coach; we were AAU teammates. We were in the backcourt together. He was one of the best players ever at North Carolina Central, one of the best scorers ever, always played with a lot of passion. Watching them from last year and following LeVelle’s [Moton] career, he’s done an incredible job there at North Carolina Central and his team’s taken on his identity. They prepare very, very hungry. They knocked us back there when they made their run in the first half, and I thought we became very tentative with our inability to make a shot. That affected us on both ends of the floor.

“It was kind of from a busted play. I was happy to see him step up with confidence and shoot. All of our guys lost confidence shooting the ball because we couldn’t make a shot. Steve stepped up. We think Steve is a really good shooter. He’s a guy that should never lose confidence in himself.”

“Eight-of-17; he has to finish more. I said to Andrew after the game against Coppin State when he had 22 (points) and six (rebounds), I told him the next day in practice, “You’re happy with that. You should have had 28 and 10.” Tonight he should have had more. He should have had 28, 30 points. He has to do a better job of finishing plays down there. This is no disrespect to North Carolina Central or Coppin State, but especially as we start to play bigger, better, and more athletic teams. He has to do a better job of maximizing those opportunities.”

Pledger

“I really can’t. It’s shooting. Shooters have to shoot. I just have to make shots. Thank God I hit them at the right time.”

“That time it was just ‘calm down.’ I’ve been in this situation before. I work for moments like that. So I just go through my progression and keep shooting.”

“When I caught it, he closed out how you teach a close-out: hands high on the shooter. But he was inside the 3-point line, and I was probably two or three steps behind it. I know that’s my range, so I just shot it. It was confidence; supreme confidence.”

Thompson

“It just kind of happened, I guess. It’s not like I went in there thinking I was going to go score and get an assist. We just played and it ended up being me. It could have been Steve (Pledger), it could have been anybody. They just found me at the right time.”

Fitz

“Tonight just wasn’t our night, or it wasn’t my night. It wasn’t anybody’s night, but I think that our heart and the way that we play all the time really helped us pull it together.”

Their coach

“I’m really at a loss of words as far as what it does to you physically. It just takes the life out of you. As a competitor, just beat me by 100 points. It’s almost like Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football. He always tried to kick it and she pulled the ball right out. It hurts. But nevertheless, we have to go back to the drawing board. It’s a long season and we can’t have a pity party.”

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