TULSA POSTGAME QUOTES VS. SMU
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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TULSA HEAD COACH Frank Haith
Opening statement
"We lost to a very good SMU basketball team today. I thought that Nic Moore was fabulous. I don't know that we've played a point guard with his feel and how he played today. He played like one of the best point guards in the country. He was outstanding. I thought their length bothered us. We had a game today where we shot the ball from three - made nine threes. We made free throws. But their length - points in the paint, which are points we normally get, we didn't get those today. They affected us. I thought that was the difference in the game. I thought their second chance points - even though we had more offensive rebounds than them. They cashed in their second shot opportunities more so than we did. It's one loss. We need to get ourselves ready to go play on the road at UConn."
On SMU point guard Nic Moore's play
"He has great feel for their pick and roll stuff. He made nice passes. Obviously, when you have a guy like that your offense is going to flow better"
On SMU's 15-0 running in the second half after Tulsa tied the score at 43
"I think we tied it up at 43 and then they went on a run. The difference was, when we tied the ball game up, we were getting clean rebounds and then we were getting out in transition and that's when we're at our best. When we didn't stop them, and they scored, we were not able to score. That's why they got separation. We were not able to get clean rebounds. They scored some in transition there."
On the length of SMU's frontcourt
"Kennedy got in foul trouble, but then they throw Cunningham at you. It was noticeable how much bigger and more physical they were than us. Obviously they've got four really good post players. They're all very skilled, very talented, high level guys."
On SMU's length altering Tulsa's shooting stroke
"We're not a great shooting team; although we made nine 3's tonight. They rotate and make plays. It didn't just affect our bigs. It affected Shaq and our guards when we drove in there. I think we've got to continue to move the ball and continue to attack. We've got to continue to rotate and play the pass. Sometimes when they rotate you can't force it. You've got to pass the ball and I think we've got to do a better job of that."
On the team's mindset coming into such a big game on a 12 game win streak
"When you lace them up and you win 12 in a row, which is what we won, you know this team has great mental toughness. It's comeback time and time again. I didn't think we were going to go undefeated. We lost to a good team today. I think we have to have some mental coaching with our team and then get ready to play a tough UCONN team on the road."
On the atmosphere of a near capacity crowd
"It was great. Unfortunately, we weren't able to give them a win. But, it was awesome to see the building like that. Hopefully they will continue to comeback and support this team. This team will play their hearts out for them. It's just one of those nights. We didn't get it done tonight."
On the difficulty of the shots Tulsa was forced to take
"When we got shots after being covered up, and James got some good looks but, they just don't go down because there's constant pressure. They made it tough for us. Their length and their physicality made it tough for us."
TULSA JUNIOR GUARD James Woodard
On what they were able to do to prevent him from scoring in the second half
"They probably put more emphasis on me because I hit a couple of shots in the first half. I still feel like I had a couple of looks in the second half, but the ball just didn't go in. Defensively they did a great job of showing their help, when I had ball, when Shaq had the ball, they just did a great job defensively."
TULSA SOPHOMORE FORWARD D'Andre Wright
On the challenge in the paint for them
"They had a plan tonight. They have great players and they did a good job of defending us. It was a rough game but all credit goes to them and their defense. They had a great game plan."
SMU HEAD COACH LARRY BROWN
On the 15-0 run in the second half
"We were hoping we would bounce back, but when they tied it up we were shooting quick and turning it over. They were beating us on the board and it seemed like their energy was up a notch. Then all of a sudden it just seemed like we hunkered down and started defending great. Our bigs were great, they run a lot of ball screens for our guards and did an amazing job. Yanick is so smart defensively. He rebounded in traffic. I think our bigs are one of the reasons we had the run, and we also kept them off the line. They have been averaging 32 free throws a game here, so I thought that was huge."
"A lot of the defensive problems were because we took quick shots. Once we started taking good shots, we were able to get our defense set because we scored. They are so good in transition, we needed that to help us convert and keep us out of transition."
On the Cincinnati loss on Thursday and changes for today
"I think everybody was pretty upset. Yanick texted me after the game and said he thought that we didn't play with the kind of energy that we normally do, but he promised that would change tonight. I thought once that game was over, everybody was focused on trying to play better. We knew we had to coming here."
On the length of his team
"Our bigs are long, but they're also athletic and they can move their feet. We don't get worried on switches, but they have pretty good length. Smith, Wright, the guards are all long and athletic, but most people we play against comment on our bigs. They say how mobile and how active they are. I'm proud."
On shutting down Harrison and Woodard
"We looked at the stats at half time, and Woodard was 4-for-9 with 12 points, but I don't know how you could have guarded him any better. In the second half when they made that run, defensively for about eight minutes, we were great. Part of that is we scored and could set our defense. But their guards are so good, Ray has also been playing great. Frank has done a wonderful job. I looked at their early games, and then all of a sudden they win 21-straight lead games and they're undefeated in this conference, which I think is a step up. He has done a wonderful job with this team, and it's so great to see a full house. I think it is great for our league that Tulsa is being supported like this because they have such tradition here."
