University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Oregon State 66, UCLA 55
January 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Oregon State 66, UCLA 55
January 22, 2015
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening remarks
The first half just wasn't us, whether that was not having played for eight days, or just having to deal with some of the stuff that we've had to deal with, having a new [starting] lineup. In the second half, we were much tougher. We played a little bit more like how we're capable of playing. It was a tough shooting night. We did not make very many shots. It's going to be hard to win in somebody else's building when you shoot 30 percent. We were soft in the first half. In the second half, we got to playing tougher than what we normally do.
on whether there was a narrative he gave the players coming into this game
“I don't know about a narrative. A lot has changed. Kory [Alford] has been sick back at the hotel, and I know he doesn't get to play a lot. But he's been sick, and Kevon [Looney] was under the weather and wasn't sure what he was going to be able to do. We knew that he would be able to play. And then with Tony, was a gametime decision. We had the chance to possibly fly him up. But for a young team, that's not an excuse, but there was a lot thrown at our guys. They handled it much better in the second half than they did in the first half.”
on when the decision was made for Thomas Welsh to start
“We were assuming that Tony would not make the trip. Now, we have to wait and see for Saturday with what his status will be. Once we got on the plane yesterday, we kind of knew that he wasn't going to make it. We had been planning that way just because Tony has not practiced the last few days. It's a new rotation for us, just because we don't have another center [after Thomas Welsh]. When we did go a little smaller, we were pretty good. G.G. [Goloman] gave us a huge lift. G.G. is getting better and better. I think that he and Tom, for two freshmen, were really good. Kevon learned to deal with and play being sick in the second half. In the second half, you saw Kevon play that way that he is capable of playing. I thought that the freshmen gave us an awful lot. They gave us a lot of good things.”
on UCLA's focus to get the ball to its frontcourt players
“Part of that is Tony, and part of it is the zone. Zone [defense] makes it a little bit harder to do that. Our practices changed on Monday when we all of a sudden found out about Tony. Now, you're in a position where you're going to a freshman center instead of just letting him play. Their zone kind of dictates that. I thought that we got some good looks. I liked our aggressiveness. Bryce was very aggressive and did a lot of good things from that standpoint. Both he and Norman both competed and played very hard. But, you're right, I think that paint scores were pretty even and we were not able to get the ball inside like we wanted. Tony has been a big part of that.”
on UCLA's run later in the second half
“I thought that we did a good job of making some stops and then we made some shots during that stretch. Not only did we make some shots, but we got to the free throw line and we got the clock stopped. That's always a benefit when you get behind. I credited the team after the game, that to get down by 17 on the road in a place that they have not been beat this year, to battle all the way back, those are positives. Those are good things. We've got a very quick turnaround. We have to get to Eugene and be ready for a very quick turnaround for a 1 o'clock tip. We did not needall of the things that were thrown at us as a team this week, but that's part of college basketball. It's part of learning. Our guys will learn. I'll be very surprised if we don't play very hard on Saturday.”
on whether he sees G.G. Goloman's role expanding
“We'll have to talk about that, because I think that G.G. has been doing some good things. We can play him as a big guard or as a stretch four. He's been making some big shots. He had four steals where most of them were defensive rotation type of things. He did a very good job with that. He has always had a very good IQ and his skill set has been very good. He just needs to get more games under his belt. Tonight had to have been a career high in minutes. That's really good for him because I thought that we got some really good minutes out of him.”
on Oregon State guard Gary Payton II
“Well, in the first half I thought that he dominated. We talked about that at halftime. We did a much better job on him in the second half, but in the first half it was the Payton show. I thought that he dominated the game in every way that you could. He rebounded, he drove up, he had four steals by halftime. I think in the second half we settled down. We had nine turnovers at the half and finished with 12. We did a better job of playing the way we've been playing in the second half. I have no idea if it was eight days between games, or why we started the way we started, but in the second half we were much better.”
