Post-game Quotes
2/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Tulsa Head Coach Doug Wojcik:
On Jerome Jordan's play... "As I analyze our team, I think we were a little nervous to start the game. Jerome didn't really handle the post digging very well, and he ended up with six turnovers. But he adjusted in the second half and got his feet under him. Down the stretch everyone made a move, made a play or did something to help us."
On the game... "I thought Marshall played a great game and I will say this again, I have always thought Tyler Wilkerson is one of the best post players in the league. He's a very good player, I've always felt that way, and he put on a show tonight. I think Donnie Jones did a nice job coaching, with one of their players suspended and on a four-game losing streak. I give them a lot of credit.
"Back to my team, I thought we made some plays down the stretch. Bishop Wheatley in the end [of the game] Wilkerson was taking him to the block each time because he's giving up size and weight. Then he forced him to take that jump shot on that last possession. Bishop also tipped the ball out on the free throw miss that got Justin Hurtt his three-pointer, and he got the tip to Bryson Pope on his three-point play.
"Ben [Uzoh] hit the jumper late in the game. He looked fresh as a daisy on that shot after looking tired for the whole game. Ben also got the block at the end of the game. Jerome did a great job blocking out Whiteside, he hit his free throws down the "stretch and then played the last five-and-a-half minutes of the game with four fouls. Steven Idlet got a double-double.
"We showed a lot of grit. It wasn't the prettiest first half as we shot 28 percent, but we really came back in the second and shot 57 percent, which I'm proud of."
Tulsa Senior Jerome Jordan
On Marshall's play and the depth of the conference as a whole... "Every year since I have been here the league has gotten better. There are better players and the teams are just betters as a whole. [Marshall] is a really, really good team and it's unfortunate that they couldn't have their point guard play but we did just whatever it took for us to get the win."
On the first half... "We knew that their backs were pretty much to the wall, losing the games they had. So we had to come out and try to exceed their energy, and unfortunately they got out to a decent lead. But we kept it close and didn't let them run away with it, and in the second half we were able to do the stuff that we needed to do to win."
On playing 7-footer Hassan Whiteside... "It was a really good challenge and I haven't played anyone his size pretty much the whole year. I think we were pretty much the same length, and it was a really good battle. He's got great skills and we just needed to do our jobs as a team defensively to keep him away from the basket."
Tulsa Junior Justin Hurtt
Thoughts on the game... "We started off kind of slow, but we fought back. We really played hard. We could have started better, but we made the plays we needed to down the stretch. That's what gave us the will to win."
On getting every team's best shot... "That's something we pride ourselves on. We know that everyone is going to give us their best shot. People want to win the league and everybody is coming after us. We try to have the right mindset to come out and play hard from the beginning because we know everyone is going to give us their best shot.
On the tempo of the game... "They were really energized to play and that kind of hurt [us], because we came out kind of flat. But we picked it up as we went along. We picked it up on defense especially, and then offensively we started making some shots. We really didn't shoot the ball well at first, and then we started making shots as the game went along."
On Jerome Jordan's dunk at the end of the game... "Jerome [Jordan] running the floor, that was kind of a funny sight, seeing him dribbling down the court and getting the dunk, but that was a good play."
Marshall Head Coach Donnie Jones
Opening Statement... "I'm proud of our team tonight. We came in under some adverse situations, some things we've been battling. We've been in a lot of close games, and we just haven't found a way to win down the stretch. We've got a lot of young guys playing, they're going to be in it again. Give Tulsa credit. [Head Coach] Doug [Wojcik] has done a great job with this basketball team. Jerome Jordan did what he needed to do tonight, made free throws. [There were] a lot of free throws shot tonight. [It was a] very physical game, very tough game to call officiating-wise. Both teams really competed hard, but give Tulsa credit. They won it when it counted."
