Tulsa Postgame Quotes vs. SMU
1/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2012
Tulsa Head Coach Doug Wojcik
Opening Statement
"Deja vu. It was a tough loss for us."
What were you looking for on the last play?
"They've shown on tape that Samarrippas comes off a high ball screen and goes hard to the basket like he did in the Oklahoma State game. They usually run Nyakundi up, and people get confused. We stayed with Nyakundi. We switched on the ball screen at the end, and he made it. I thought DJ did a good job. It was a contested shot. He made a great shot. It's just everything prior to that is why we were in the condition we were in."
How frustrating is it to have that lead and lose a game like that?
"It's extremely frustrating. It's been two years of frustration to be honest. We finished second in the league last year and every game was a nail-biter, and every game this year has been a nail-biter. This game we don't shoot a lot of free throws, but we make our free throws. We turned the ball over too mush this game. We're learning tough lessons in losses, instead of learning lessons through winning."
Talk about the 1-3-1 SMU used late in the game
"As soon as we saw it we attacked it. We got in corners action. We don't really have a four-man that can really shoot the basketball so we had him up top. We played against it against Northwestern. We wanted to get shots for Scottie and Jordan and try to get the ball inside as much as you can. We just didn't handle it very well."
SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty
Opening Statement:
"Very proud of my team. Two years in a row to come in here against a terrific program and pull out a win is special. Our guys hung in there. We didn't shoot the ball very well in the second half. I thought we had good looks. We kept handing in there, and went to the 1-3-1 zone and got some turnovers and that changed the momentum a little bit in our favor. To be in a situation where we've been a lot this year and probably will be in the future, where you have the ball, tie score and 25 seconds to go. We did that twice against Oklahoma State and didn't score. We were ion a similar situation against Ole Miss, and tonight to execute, get a shot, hit it and walk off the court with a `W' is pretty exciting. Very proud of our guys."
Was it a play you drew up?
Yes it was actually. It was a play we put in after the Oklahoma State game because we got two looks in that game but didn't like the looks, so we were trying to go to Rob (Nyakundi), and Jeremiah (Samarrippas) was the second option off the ball screen. He had a good look, and when he took the shot I think most of us thought it was going in."
Talk about your defense late in the game
"Again, I think the 1-3-1 was good. They're good. We couldn't keep them out of the paint. They ran the ball up the floor really well. I was concerned about their dribble penetration, then they're so big inside and their offensive rebounding. So we made them spread it out a little bit and change the rhythm and go to the 1-3-1 which we've done in the past. It gives them a different look. We were fortunate to create some turnovers."
Talk a little bit about the job Doug has done here at Tulsa
"Listen. Doug is, first of all, one of the finest people you meet. Secondly, he's one of the better coaches that I've coached against. His teams always play hard. His teams are always well organized. He's averaged 20 wins since he's been here. He's been to post-season play pretty much every year. He may have over-scheduled in the non-conference this year when you lose a guy like Justin Hurtt and then you play Wichita State, Creighton, at Missouri State. I know there's a lot of people in this town that would like to see you play tough non-conference, but that's really not fair to him because our league is tough enough. Things change. He's in a conference now where there's a team that's been consistently in the top 20 each year, and the conference tournament has been on their home court. So for Doug to go to the NCAA, you have to go through Memphis on their home court. It's hard to do. There's a lot of luck involved. The game has changed a lot. The programs have changed a lot. If Tulsa, quite frankly, was in the Missouri Valley, they would probably have similar success that they've had in the past. Yet, he's had tremendous success, but Conference USA is a different animal then the Missouri Valley especially when you talk about teams like Memphis, then the travel is different. It's tough and our league is getting tougher."
