Oregon State - UTEP Post Game Quotes
March 30, 2009 | Men's Basketball
March 30, 2009
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OREGON STATE HEAD COACH Craig Robinson
On the series…
“It's terrific. It wasn't our text-book type of game, but to win a game like this in a championship series for the first one is just so big. The guys hung in there and we lead the whole game. We were up by 21 at one point and I was thinking that we do not know what it is like to do this. We did get out of our game plan, and we could have collapsed, but the guys sucked it up and held on to their guts and came through. I just can't say enough.”
On UTEP coming back from 21 within three…
“We knew it was coming and with them shooting 20 more shots than us and our 15 turnovers, I would have told you we lost the game. That is just a tribute to these guys and them working hard.”
On the lead…
“We wanted to stick with our game plan and control our tempo. We got out to a very early lead with some clean stats. I thought our shot selection was perfect and what I was worried about was what had happened in the second half when they started racing down the floor. We were tired and not thinking. This isn't our type of tempo just yet; and we would love to be able to play this way and have this success on our end, but I thought our guys did such a terrific job. Having them play our tempo and losing it a little bit and then coming back to do what we wanted to do.”
On half-time talk…
“We talked about how hard we had to play and put a lot of pressure on them, because they have some really strong athletes. On offense we wanted to take a little more time and the longer we took to shoot, the better shot. We shot 60 percent from the field; so, taking the time to get a good shot really helped.”
UTEP HEAD COACH TONY BARBEE
On the game…
“We got off to a slow start. We have been on the road for awhile. Oregon State has had all three games at home for the tournament. I think it we were road weary. We were not as sharp as we needed to be against Oregon State's variety of zones. We were able to get in the paint and to the line; but, they were unconscious on shots.”
On OSU's zone…
“They are pretty athletic and big and can be tough to drive on. We had a lot of great looks that didn't go down. We have some adjustments to make for game two; and, hopefully, a game three.”
On the Beavers shooting…
“They executed well and I give them credit. They had those open looks and were able to knock them down. They had some great shots and made the plays they had to. They have been at home the past three weeks and we have been on the road the past three weeks it seems like. It will be interesting at our house with our crowd. I give my guys credit, I am proud of them, but they did not get it done.”
OREGON STATE JUNIOR Roeland Schaftenaar
On the crowd…
“It was amazing to see eight thousand people here; it was almost full. We are really happy for our seniors that all of those people came out for us; I think they came to see a pretty good game so we are really happy for our seniors who got to play their last game like this. I am really thankful for the people that came.”
On holding a lead the entire game…
“We have been coming from behind a lot lately, but we were up early and then for some reason we threw the ball away a couple times and they have some great three-point shooters. Things got close again real quick.”
OREGON STATE JUNIOR Lathen Wallace
On feeding off the crowd…
“I love it when there are a lot of people here. It's exciting and that support is great. I was in a flow of just let it go and let it flow.”
On this being a must win game…
“We were at home and we had the crowd. We won the game, so yeah, it was a must win.”
On the pressure in the second half…
“We usually start off from behind. They were going to make a run regardless, it's the championship game; they are going to play their hardest. Both teams were executing and we ended up with the win.”
