Postgame Quotes: UCLA 73, California 54
January 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 73, California 54
January 11, 2015
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
Opening statement…
“It's always a key after you win the first game of a home stand to back that up. I thought our guys did a tremendous job of doing the things we needed to do. I thought Tony (Parker) struggled early, but we established post-feeding early in the game and in the second half he was really good. I thought another big key was Norman (Powell) and the job he did on (Tyrone) Wallace; holding him to four points, three assists and three turnovers. That will probably be the low game for Wallace all year. I thought that was a tremendous key to our defense. We held them (California) to 54 points and 40 percent shooting. This team came in leading the conference in assist/turnover ratio and they had nine assists and 16 turnovers. I was really pleased with our defense and I thought our offense did a lot of really good things as well. I liked the ball movement in the first half, but I didn't like our pace, but in the second half our pace was much better. Overall, this is a tremendous win for us.”
On Norman Powell's performance and if he's at 100 percent…
“I thought he was terrific tonight. He practiced hard yesterday. He could tell you what percentage he is, but I hope his percentage stays where it is. He had 14 points, four steals and guarded (Tyrone) Wallace the whole game. He knows it's a team effort, but he's mostly responsible for holding Wallace down. For him to sustain a bruise to his hip and practice as hard as he did yesterday, I thought he was terrific tonight.”
On the team's confidence after tonight's win…
“If we're talking about getting three wins in nine days, the mission is over if we don't get the second one. We have a mission to get three wins in nine days and now we have a chance to do that. It's not going to be easy, we have to go on the road again for three straight. If we do it, we'll get this thing tilting back the right way. This is a very tough stretch and our guys know that. We have a chance to right it and we've gotten better in the last week. It's great for the team because they've worked so hard.”
Bryce Alford (Sophomore, Guard)
On the importance of the Stanford win for the team's confidence…
“It was huge for us. It was like getting the win like we did, I fouled out in the first overtime (period) and the guys played huge. I'm usually out there for 30-35 minutes a game, so the other guys really stepped it up in the second overtime. It was a really big win for us. It's going to give us momentum.”
On playing inside/out …
“It's our biggest strength to go inside initially. We tend to score more points that way.”
Normal Powell (Senior, Forward)
On his hip…
“ It's getting better. I still have some bruising. As long as nothing is broken, I'll be on the court.”
On the pressing defense…
“It's been really great and working for us. We are long, especially with Kevon (Looney) who has a seven-plus wingspan. It helps when pressing because after the team passes half-court, they only have twenty seconds to get into their offense.”
On guarding Tyrone Wallace…
“I just made sure I stayed in front of him. I know that he tends to drive to the basket and shoot a lot of up-and-under shots. Today the key was keeping in front of him.”
Tony Parker (Junior, Center)
On the difference of playing down low…
“We draw a lot of attention down there. It's easier for our guards to get better looks. We want our guards to pass some easy shots.”
On the Cal and Stanford match-ups…
“It was good today. I took a charge. They had two bigs, so it really helped me to face those guys this weekend.”
On the importance of the Stanford win for the team's confidence …
“We really picked it up in the second half. Norman really carried us in the first half. It's conference (play), so we have to gain momentum.”
California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening statement…
”UCLA did a great job stopping the ball early and capitalizing on our slow start. They did a great job getting all the 50/50 balls, the rebounds and the tips. There is no question that we came out and played more aggressive in the second half. We got good looks around the rim but we didn't capitalize in the paint.“
On Jordan Mathews…
“I told Jordan Mathews to just focus on catching and shooting in rhythm. He's been more relaxed and that's helped him be more aggressive and strong with the ball. He's a 3-point threat when his shoulders are square and he's ready to catch and shoot. He did a great job for us with that tonight.”
Jordan Mathews (Sophomore, Guard)
On tonight's game…
“Our guards didn't pressure the ball enough, especially in the first half. That was our fault. They came out and played good defense on us. We just have to watch the film to see how to improve offensively. We also let them get easy buckets in transition, which is part of their game. “
