Postgame Quotes: UCLA 77, UC Riverside 66
December 11, 2014 | Men's Basketball
UCLA 77, UC Riverside 66
December 10, 2014
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
Opening statement ...
"We knew it wasn't going to be an easy one. They came in winning four in a row and four of five. We knew it was going to be difficult; it's not easy on our guys who are young and inexperienced. I'm just really proud of what they did in the second half. We did not play particularly well in the first half, and I thought in the second half we played with a little more toughness and with a little more energy. Lessons learned - we've got to do that for 40 minutes. But there are lots of teams around the country getting beat by teams they probably think they shouldn't be getting beat by, and we've been able to go through this non-conference with a lot of inexperience and still get the wins. And now we're 8-2 and now we go through a stretch where we're playing ranked opponents. The next five games beyond are going to be against incredible opponents who are ranked and very tough. Hats off to Riverside. I thought they played extremely hard and did a lot of good things, but at end of the day we got a double-digit win, we held them to 32 percent (shooting), we outrebounded them, and we did a lot of good things."
On not being pleased at the half for the second straight game ...
"I wasn't pleased again. I hope it's not a habit. It's been toughness. We turned the ball over 16 times. I thought we were a little more careless tonight, especially in the first half. In the second half the turnovers were more aggressive turnovers, and if you're going to turn the ball over, do it aggressively. I just challenged our toughness again. If we're going to reach our ceiling, it's about getting tougher. A lot of these guys are going through this for first time and a lot of them are going through it for the first time in new roles. We've got a very unselfish group, but they just don't talk enough. We've got to become a more talkative team."
On slow starts ...
"These two games we've had slow starts. We had a lot of stress on the defensive end, and I don't know why we were so stagnant in the first half. We didn't get many shots up; they had 21 more shots than we did. That's not characteristic of what we want. We'll see if that's a trend. I hope it's not. We have a nationally-ranked Top 10 team coming in on Saturday, and our guys waited a long time to play a ranked opponent. We've got them in our building, so we've got to play well."
On playing well only against big-name teams ...
"From a coaching standpoint, you can't do that. It's a lesson our young guys have got to learn. I've put heat on Norman and Bryce; they have to help these other guys and know you don't do that - you don't get up for a Riverside one way and a Gonzaga another way. What happens when you do that is what's going on across the country where you have Incarnate Word beat Nebraska and Michigan lose back-to-back games. If you're only going to get jacked up for a team because of a name across the jersey, then you're only going to play well so many times. We're trying to get consistent; we're trying to get tough. We've got weaknesses, obviously, but if we can get really get tough, get some nastiness to us, that water is going to rise, and the tide going to rise with this team. If we don't develop that toughness, we're always going to be this kind of team right now."
On Kevon Looney ...
"He's an outstanding player, very consistent. He's a double-double waiting to happen. You don't see that from freshmen too often. I'm obviously glad he's on our team. You have people preparing for him, and he's still getting double doubles. Tony Parker was also really good tonight. That's the Tony we need: 16 and 16. That's an impressive double-double. 16 and 16 you're getting some work done. Alex Larsson fouls out in 16 minutes, and Tony had a lot to do with that. Without Larsson, they're small, and that opened it up for us."
Tony Parker (Junior, Forward/Center)
On outrebounding Looney ...
“He was messing with me when I came to the bench. We strategize before every game about how we are going to rebound. It's good to out-rebound him, he is very good and tips everything to himself, and he is very long.”
On respecting other teams ...
“We just have to respect every team. We did this last year. We have to get better because we don't have such a strong bench this year. Our bench is very young and inexperienced.”
On playing a ranked team ...
“We are more prepared after playing Oklahoma and North Carolina. We have to play tough. This is going to be a tough game for us. That is why Coach is preaching toughness because those guys (Gonzaga) are really a tough team.”
Bryce Alford (Sophomore, Guard)
On playing a ranked team ...
“It's big to have it here at home, so it's good that we have those games under our belt. It's time for us to get recognized nationally, so we've got to be ready for these teams.”
On changes for upcoming ranked teams ...
“We have to learn to be tough. I don't think we have to change things. I just think we have to be tougher. This is what the coaching staff has been preaching to us.”
Norman Powell (Senior, Guard)
On halftime speech by Coach Alford ...
“At halftime Coach asked who was going to be a leader and I know since I'm a senior, that's my role. So, when I hit the three and got a dunk in transition, I was hoping that it would give us some energy. I just know we can't start slow like we did tonight against these ranked teams.”
UC Riverside Coach Dennis Cutts
“I didn't think we played as well as we could have, but UCLA had a lot to do with that. They made us rush shots and take them out on the perimeter. We just aren't that kind of team. Their length and athleticism really affected us. We certainly managed to play better but we have to improve to win these types of games on the road.”
“UCLA is explosive at all five positions. You can try to take away one guy and another one can step up to hit you. They are comfortable driving and shooting out there. Their length on defense allows them to really get after you.”
“You can tell how much we've grown from three weeks ago against Utah and now. But we have to keep growing and getting better. We competed but couldn't make enough of the kind of shots we needed to win.”
Steven Thornton (Senior, Forward)
“Coach was proud of us, and he knows and explained that we've come a long way from where we started. We are happy with how we played but know that we can do better. You can see our progress in our ball movement and defense. We play hard for each other. Everyone has bought into the program.”
