Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
January 19, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2012
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Oregon State 87, UCLA 84
January 19, 2012
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Head Coach Craig Robinson
Opening Comment...
"Well, all of you guys that are kind enough to come to our practices and get to know our team, you know that we've been dancing around this week about how important this game was. I've tried to limit the amount of pressure that I put on the team by saying that all of the games are important. But this was an important win for us tonight on a lot of different standpoints. First and foremost, it was important getting a win when you haven't won one in a few. We certainly had gotten used to not losing more than one or two games in a row, so this was new territory we were in and we had to learn how to bounce our way out of that. Secondly, you guys have heard me talk about how hard these guys work in spite of the bad luck that they've had over the past couple few games, and they did it again this week. They came to work on Monday and they were like, 'okay, well we are back home, we have got to win and get back to work.' It is remarkable to me as their coach to see them with that kind of maturity. Sometimes they can be mature and sometimes they can be immature, but that is such a mature attitude to have in this situation. There is a lot of pressure on those guys. Not only do they want to do well for themselves and the guys in the locker room, but also for these fans and they are enjoying these crowds we are having. Seeing them go to work every day, that is big."
On the key to getting separation in the second half...
"The key was finally getting UCLA to not score. It seemed like they were shooting 75 percent from the field in the first half. In the middle of the second half, we got a couple of stops in a row and then we converted on the offensive end and we were able to take it out to about eight points and then stretch it to 10 or 11 points. I think the key was that slot in the game. It is what good teams do. When they have an opportunity, they seize upon it, and our guys did a great job. It made UCLA call a few timeouts that they didn't want to call, and that helped us toward the end of the game."
On ending the 13-game losing streak to UCLA...
"I don't think the guys really pay attention to those kinds of stats, unless someone happens to Facebook them or tweet them. They are not statistical guys in that way. But it is fantastic to get a win against a program that is so enriched in tradition. We had a tough time with those guys and I thought that we could have beaten them last year, but the ball bounced the wrong way a few times. So it was nice to be able to beat them and do it at a time when we had to win a game. It was a nice win for us."
On the defensive performance...
"I think that there were still some lapses here and there, but when we had to play and we went man against them, I thought we did a good job. In that section of the game when we got some separation, we got a few stops in a row. In this conference when you play against elite high-majors, they are going to score on you. So it was nice to be able to stop them and then be able to stop them and score on our end to spread it out a little bit."
On getting points off of turnovers...
"What happens with turnovers is that you are playing hard and you force guys to make mistakes, then there is a second part that we want to take advantage of. We don't want to just force guys to make mistakes and then go down and make our own mistake. When we get a turnover, we try our best to run something and get something out of it. Whether it is a good shot, a layup, or a foul, we want something positive for us. In this game we were about even on turnovers, but we had 20 points off turnovers and they had five points and that was the difference. That is a big deal and that is one of the stats that we pay attention to."
On slowing down their post players...
"It started out like they were going to do whatever they wanted down there, so we had to make a couple of adjustments and I thought our guys did a very good job. That is a physical team and it is one of the teams in the league that really matches up with us. I think the focus is more on pressuring the ball so that the pass would be harder, and then playing their guys once the ball got there."
On taking the momentum to the next game against USC...
"I think the biggest thing is the confidence that comes with winning and beating a team that is doing well in our conference. The second thing is execution. We still have to get better defensively. When you are as efficient as we are on offense, our defense ends up being secondary and instead of it being second we need them to be even."
On if he felt pressure to win this game...
"I wanted to win this game. These guys operate the way a coach wants his team to operate. They come to work and they work on their craft. They are doing all of the right things off the court. This is the kind of team that when you try to turn a program around, you need a lot of things to go right and very few things to go wrong. This team has held up their end of the bargain. It is important to take advantage of all of the work they put in to win the games. They have lost a couple of close ones, so this one was really important from my stand point because I wanted them to get back on the right track."
Junior guard Jared Cunningham
On the second half and ability to gain separation from UCLA...
"We had some key stops down the stretch and everybody played big. We communicated well and that's what made us win in the end. We were just trying to play our game. We went hard this whole week in practice. We just wanted to go out there, play defense, and play hard all the way to the end. We made some big plays and everybody stepped up. We got the win tonight and that's what we needed."
On the big win in front of the home crowd at Gill Coliseum...
"It's great coming back home, seeing the fans and seeing the people that support us. We had a nice-sized crowd today and the fans were really loud. That's what helped us get momentum."
On gaining confidence going into the USC game...
"This gets us more motivated. We have another practice tomorrow and a game on Saturday. We have to get focused going into the next game and be ready to play. The focus today was there and we just have to keep going from there."
Sophomore forward Devon Collier
On how badly Oregon State needed the win tonight...
"We needed this badly. We were on a losing streak so we needed to get a win. This one was good for us."
On Oregon State's defense tonight...
"We made a couple of stops on the defensive end and that is what helped us. We made them turn the ball over and I think that helped us a lot on defense because it transitioned into points."
On starting the game out well...
"They just kept on giving it to me and I just kept on going to work. It was working so they just kept on going with me."
On making sure they avoid a slow start against USC on Saturday...
"We just have to come out hard like we did today. We have been coming out slow our past games. We came out hard tonight and that is what helped us the whole game. They are 0-6 so they are going to come out hard and try to get a win over us. We have to come out hard and be ready to play."
