UCLA 72, Oregon 63
February 14, 2015
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
“That's a huge win. I give a lot of credit to Oregon, that without a true post player they did a good job of forcing you to play all over the court. They can make threes. I thought our guys made good adjustments at halftime. In the second half, I thought that we really defended well, holding them to 34 percent shooting and just 23 points. In the second half, we really did a good job on the backboard. We did a good job rebounding after those first 10 minutes. For the last 30 minutes, we did a good job on the backboard and that was key for us.”
on what adjustments UCLA made to limit Oregon's 3-point shots
“I thought we were over-helping. That is a good thing. Earlier in the season, we did not do as much helping. They got some second shots. So at halftime, that is what we talked about. It's kind of like special teams, but in basketball, with OBs [out-of-bounds plays], free throw situations, easy looks that way. We just didn't want to over help. We thought that we could defend the drive with minimal help. Norman is hard to guard. We got them in foul trouble. We did a really good job, where we get them by almost 20 points in the paint. It was a good job of getting them in foul trouble.”
on UCLA being able to close out teams
“I hope we are growing and maturing. I've felt that for the last two and a half or three weeks, maybe even longer than that. There was a speed bump because of Tony's absence for two games when we didn't have Tony [Parker]. That is hard to deal with. When you look at him, the last seven of nine games, if I'm right, we have had Tony and we have played really well in those games. He makes such a difference for us. He had a presence to him. I hope there is a maturity level that is happening with this team. They know each other better. We are taking better shots. Against Oregon State, we shot around 45 percent and today, around 50. We are making free throws. Hopefully, we are maturing a little bit.”
on UCLA's guards managing the demands to play major minutes
“It's been really good. I wish I would have gotten Noah [Allen] in the second half more. But we had Norman, Bryce and Isaac and we played it out with them. I think Noah has been doing a lot of good things. It wasn't anything that he didn't do. I liked our rhythm. We pretty much had a six to seven point lead that whole half. I think five points is about as close as they got. We just ran with it that way. We are seeing guys like Isaac and Bryce and Norman learning how to play 35 to 36 or 37 minutes. Bryce was at 40 and I think Isaac was at 40, so I didn't get them much of a break. We knew we would be done by 2 o'clock. We have all day tomorrow as a day off before this final road trip. We won't resume until 1 on Monday, so we get almost 48 hours off here, so we just rolled with it. I think the guys are managing their minutes much better now.”
UCLA junior center/forward Tony Parker
on his two blocks
“I felt like we had to do a lot to protect the basket. In the last game, they got a lot of dunks, so I really wanted to protect the rim. We just played position rebound. Kevon and I just did what he usually does.”
on the team's confidence level
“We are just playing better as a team right now. I especially love the lob that I threw to Norman tonight. That was my Chris Paul moment.”
UCLA freshman forward Kevon Looney
on the confidence of the team now versus the beginning of the season
“I have to say yes, we have better experience now. It was new for us initially, but I think we are ready now for stuff like this.”
on his consistency
“I really thought I could be good. I worked all summer with Coach Alford about what I was going to be doing. Now I'm just really confident on what I can do.”
on the team's fast start today
“Coach really talked to us about getting a fast start. The last time we played them, they went out to a 15-4 lead, so we knew we had to start out strong.”
UCLA senior guard Norman Powell
on his first-half dunk
“I would probably rate this dunk a top-five dunk. I knew that they really liked to hedge on screens and I saw a slight opening and the rest was just instincts.”
on his struggles against Oregon State
“I just really tried to be more effective this game. I decided to be more aggressive and drive to the basket.”
on upcoming road trip to the Arizona schools
“We are ready. We want to establish a good road resume. We have to focus on how we approach Arizona State first and then prepare for Arizona.”
on the effect UCLA's fans can have to encourage the team
“We like it when the fans come out like they did this afternoon. We like it when they make a lot of noise and distract the other team when they shoot free throws. We also know that it really depends on the time of the game, weeknight starts such as 7 or 8 aren't easy, because L.A. traffic can be tough.”
on the last home stretch
“We really want to finish 3-0 at home and finish strong.”
Oregon head coach Dana Altman
“They really did a great job rebounding on both sides of the court. They had a lot of tips, put backs, and offensive boards that didn't allow us to get into transition. Our ball movement stopped in the second half. We took some early shots that kept us out of rhythm. There was no flow that half.”
“They made plays but we got to the rim and just didn't finish. [Kevon] Looney really had a good game with some big rebounds. You can really see why he'll be a lottery pick.”
“It was a disappointing loss, we just couldn't finish. We just have to go back to work and go home and play better in our last two home games.”
Oregon senior guard Jalil Abdul-Bassit
“That was a tough loss, but it's time for us to bounce back. It definitely felt like a big game. Every game feels like a big game in our conference.
“The team did a great job to start and helped me get my shot. It felt like every shot I took was a wide open shot. They kept me going. The second half was tough for us. They knew who our shooters were and we also stopped our ball movement.”