Post Game Quotes >>> Soonersports

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From Soonersports.

Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening statement:
"First of all, congratulations to OSU. They made winning plays, for really the last eight minutes of the first half and throughout the second half, but we got off to a good start in the first half. I thought we attacked their pressure. I thought we were good offensively and good defensively. Our foul trouble hurt us and we had some odd line-ups in there, but our bench was terrific. (Barry) Honoré, (C.J.) Washington, (Tyler) Neal and (Calvin) Newell really gave us some good minutes. Down the stretch, we just couldn't play without fouling and offensively in the second half we struggled. When your starting point guard has six turnovers, and (Cameron) Clark during conference play is maybe our leading or second-leading scorer and (Steven) Pledger only get nine points combined from both of those guys, it was pretty amazing we were still in the game down the stretch. Credit them though, they are a good team, especially here. They were coming off an emotional win. I thought their crowd helped them out and I thought they made tougher plays down the stretch."

On Cameron Clark's performance:
"He just didn't play well. He didn't play well offensively or defensively. We didn't lose the game because of him. We lost the game because of our inability to make tough plays. One of the things I told our guys coming in was that the team that usually wins this game with this rivalry, is the tougher team. And I thought they were a little bit tougher getting the balls and rebounding it. Toughness is not just physical, it is mental. It is being able to execute and being able to handle pressure. It is being able to know that a guy is only going to drive right and being able to remember those things and go out and execute that. I thought they did a better job than us doing that."

On if seeing more bench players is a blessing in disguise:
"There is no blessing in a loss. We lost, so there is no blessing. I thought our bench played really well and I am happy for them. I thought they stepped up and gave us some tremendous minutes. But for me, and especially right now, it is pretty emotional after a loss. There is no blessing, there is no silver-lining for me. Now, if you ask me in a few hours or maybe tomorrow, maybe something, but right now there is not."

Senior Guard Cade Davis
On his last Bedlam game in Stillwater:
“This being our last one you want to come in and have a good game and I’d take a win and not have any points, but it is what it is and we’ll have to learn from this and make sure we’re tougher. We can’t be satisfied with our four wins or be happy with the lead that we had. We might have got a little too excited there early but we should have kept our composure and kept fighting because they never gave up and ultimately that helped them win the game.”

On letting OSU back in the game:
“It was tough watching them constantly knock down free throws and us fouling and being in foul trouble. It was tough to see the lead dwindle down and know that they’re going to make a run. It’s just part of the game. We know they were going to try to get a spark and get something going but even though they did that we still have to fight through it and keep playing.”

Sophomore Forward Andrew Fitzgerald
On what went wrong:
“Not being disciplined. Not being tough. When it comes down to these rivalry games, you have to be tough mentally and maybe a little bit physically. Everything was going well but if we were to sustain that lead we probably would’ve come out with a win today.”

On what to improve:
“We need to just keep our head up and stay focused. It’s good that we had been knocked down like this game right here so we can get our heads back to being where it was when we were 0-3, to be back focused to beat a tougher team. Things happen for a reason and I think we were happy with our success with a four game winning streak, but now we’re knocked down and now it’s time to get back and play OU basketball again.”


Oklahoma State Head Coach Travis Ford
On Bedlam:
“I think somebody said it best earlier when I was walking through the hallway: that was a true Bedlam game. I just want to say how impressed I was with Oklahoma and how impressed I’ve been with their team watching them on film. Jeff Capel has good players and he does a good job of putting them in the right places. They play hard and they play together. That’s one of the hardest fought games we’ve played. You look back at the start and it was bad but it could’ve been one of the best things to happen to us. I told our guys, Bedlam is about the fans. We know how important it is for our fans to beat Oklahoma and how important it is to them to beat us. I told the team this game is no more important than any other game. But it is a special game. You remember these games. I remember being at Kentucky and playing Louisville and Indiana and the rival games. They’re special. But they aren’t any more important."

On the game:
"We didn’t play well early, but they just played terrific. It was more about them playing good than us playing bad. They were making shots and we weren’t responding very well on both ends. We needed to change things so we scrapped a few things and said let’s just get after it. I thought our defense was a lot better in the second half."

On the technical foul:
"I can’t say I was trying to get the technical foul, but I was upset. As they were shooting their free throws I did have a brief moment with our team. I think they understood that at that point I was mad at everybody; players, refs and everybody. I think they got the message. Sometimes you plan to get one. But I was upset and I think it did start a little bit of a fire."

On post players:
"Darrell Williams has played back-to-back good games and has been doing the things he should be doing. He played well, but that’s what we expect. I thought Matt Pilgrim was terrific. He may not have the best stat line but what he did for us defensively was good. What he did on (Andrew) Fitzgerald, what he did when we started doubling in the post, what he did on rebounding and what he did screening-wise he did very good and he played to win.”

Oklahoma State Sophomore Guard Jean-Paul Olukemi
On what the mindset was after falling behind after 15 points early:
"We just wanted to play good defense. Markel (Brown) was out there playing good defense and it just carried over. Everybody just started D-ing up (defending). We were just trying to get the ball down inside to (Marshall) Moses and get him good touches."

On more defensive intensity in the second half:
"In the second half, we wanted to make sure they got really tough looks, if they got any, and then execute on offense. For us, defensively, we had to make sure we got a hand up defensively on all their shooters. I know Cade Davis is a really good shooter, so it was really key to contest his shots."

Oklahoma State Junior Guard Keiton Page
On if him taking the ball inside rubs off on his teammates:
"I think so. It's something Coach Ford has been stressing to me all year and I've picked up on it. I've been getting in there and trying to make plays for my teammates and I think they're seeing that too; pushing the ball, getting rebounds and jail-breaking, trying to get down the court and make some plays as well. I like that style of offense and I think it fits our team and fits our players real well and it's been working out for us the last couple of games, so we'll see what happens."

On Matt Pilgrim and Darrell Williams:
"For Matt, just his presence out there on the court. He's so athletic, so strong. He gets rebounds and that helps us out. He's a great offensive player. His defense is tremendous, and that's where we can be a big-time team; down there on the defensive end. We can turn our games into 'Ws' and Matt's just a playmaker. Darrell, we've expected what he's done the last two games since he stepped on campus. He's starting to get the hang of it and what he's starting to realize is how tough we are. He's got to play extremely tough every game. I think he realized coming in how tough the Big 12 is and I think he's just now getting that factor down of how hard he has to play. He's done that the last two games."