Postgame Quotes: Colorado 62, UCLA 56
January 03, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Colorado 62, UCLA 56
January 2, 2015
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
on his initial reaction
“I thought the guys fought hard. I appreciate the effort. We had a lot of similarities to the Alabama game, the last four or five minutes we just couldn't make enough plays.”
on getting out to a fast start against Colorado
“I thought all that was really good. We got the ball moving, we got defensive stops. We had a good run to start the first half and the second half. I thought both of those things were really good.”
on why the team could not sustain its offense in the second half
“I don't know. Didn't make many shots. If you shoot 30 percent, that makes it hard on you.”
on Bryce Alford
“Yeah, he had a tough game shooting it. I thought he handled it well, getting hounded pretty good. This was one game he didn't shoot it well, and he has a lot of pressure on him, a lot on his shoulders. I understand that and appreciate that. He gave great effort. I thought he handled the ball well, did a lot of good things that way and was solid defensively. It was just a night where he couldn't make a shot. You're going to have nights like that. Hopefully, he doesn't have too many of them. There were some ill-advised shots. He wants to do so well. There were some tough shots. We've had several guys take some tough shots, and that's what we've been working on – working on our offense more to where we are attacking the rim and going inside-out.
“I thought Thomas Welsh was terrific tonight off the bench. We just couldn't get things going quick enough where we could get to the free throw line. We got beat bad at the free throw line, and they [Colorado] are very good at doing that.”
on Colorado forward Josh Scott not playing
“Well, obviously he is a great player. Hopefully, he will get feeling better. I don't know what his status is. They are obviously a lot better with him. I thought their kids fought, and I thought our kids fought. I thought both teams really fought hard and tried to get it. They had some guys step up and do some good things for them.”
on changing anything after losing straight games
“We've said it, I knew back in October this was going to be hard. This was going to be a very difficult stretch, [where] we go from December 13 to January 27 and play two home games. So, I knew it was going to be a difficult stretch. It's just hard. We knew we were going to be slight in the backcourt, and that makes it really hard on us and puts a lot of pressure on the backcourt. We just have to keep working. The guys have done a great job working, and they are a fun group to coach, And I feel for them because they are giving great effort.”
UCLA senior guard Norman Powell
on whether Josh Scott's absence changed UCLA's plans
“Not, we just coped with it and tried to play the best basketball that we could. It comes down to us giving them easy scores in transition and not being able to stop what they were trying to do. We took some bad shots which helped their offense. They're an athletic team, and they like to get into transition and get to the free throw line. We have to limit our bad shots and work out offense and try to just play the game of basketball the way that we know how to play.”
on any growing level of frustration
“We are right there. It was a close game. We were close and we were down by just one at halftime. We need to play the way that we know how to play. Our defense picked it up, and I guess that is one of the positives that we can take from this. We know that these games are going to be tough. The Pac-12 Conference is a strong conference. No game is going to be easy. It's about grinding it out, playing tough, playing physical and making shots.”
on what he thought was the difference in the game
“They made more shots than we did, and they got to the free throw line. If you take out Bryce [Alford], we were 2 for 6 from the line. We had 70 total shots and they had 48 shots. We just did not make shots, and we were not moving the ball. The difference is that they took good shots and we took bad shots.”
on how tough of a loss this was
“No game is going to be easy. We know that. But it's about figuring this out. We know that these two road games are tough. Now, we just need to focus on getting the split and go up against this really good Utah team.”
on being a senior and helping the younger players
“Sure, definitely, whether it's during the game, after the game or even before the game. I mean, for these guys, it's their first conference game, and this is our team's first conference road trip. These guys might have some jitters or there's some nervousness because everyone wants to play well. I like to tell them that I've got you guys and we need to settle down. Or that we just need to work on the offense and focus on getting a stop and doing what we need to do. When the other team goes on a run and the crowd gets loud, I try to tell our guys, 'Hey, don't worry about the outside noise, we're just playing basketball. They can't affect what we're doing.' We just have to work the ball around and get good shots.”
on what he told his teammates after the game
“After the game, it's just about staying positive. We were right there. Some guys had some tough shooting tonight, and I've been there before. I just told them to focus on working harder and to go after the next play. You don't need to dwell on the bad shots or a bad turnover, whatever the case may be. You just focus on the next play, the next game. It's a long season and everybody has gone through tough stretches or tough games, especially me. It's all about keeping our guys motivated and focused on the next play.”
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle
opening remarks
“I think that if a team ever needed a win, the Colorado Buffaloes needed a win tonight. I don't even want to think about where our heads would be if we didn't win. We gained a lot of confidence from this and didn't play our best, but won. If you turn the ball over 18 times, shoot 37.5 percent from the field and win by six you're pretty fortunate, but it's a tribute to our defense. I thought out perimeter defense was great and Wesley Gordon on the interior, with seven blocks and a double-double, I thought he was a man-child in there. Obviously, with Josh [Scott] not playing, Wesley stepped up, Tory Miller had some great minutes off of the bench. Dustin Thomas stepped into that starting role and it was just a great team victory.”
on momentum changes
“I thought we showed great toughness and resiliency all night with that stretch of rough calls and the way we started the second half where we missed a wide open three and then they made it. I thought Xavier Johnson gave us an unbelievable spark and energy during that second half. He wanted the ball, demanded the ball and was going strong. We played him in the second half at the four-spot, and he doesn't like to hear me say it, but it's kind of his natural position. He was a beast down there, really rose to the challenge and gave us unbelievable energy and spark.”
on pregame preparation
“The thing that we challenged our guys with before the tip was to compete for 40 minutes. We had to compete for 40 minutes, and I thought we did that. We didn't necessarily play great, but we competed and showed great toughness throughout the game.”
on Colorado's energy level
“It's the first time that I've seen it for pretty much 40 minutes. We've had that high energy in spots before. Usually your energy, grit and determination come out when you're making shots, and tonight it came out when we didn't make shots. To me, that's a great sign of toughness because it's hard to dig deep when the ball isn't going in for you. It didn't go in really well for us tonight, but our guys battled and we showed that grit and toughness in adverse conditions for the first time, and for 40 minutes for the first time.”
on Colorado's players responding to Josh Scott being inactive
“I told them about thirty minutes before the game rather than wait to announce the starting lineup. I wanted to give them some time to digest that, understand that we were a man down and that it was time for us all to step up to the challenge. Coach [Bill] McCartney came and talked to our team about resolve, digging deep and playing together, and I thought our guys really responded.”
on the difference in the final minutes
“I thought that we made free throws, for one thing. We went 21 for 25 from the line, so we made our free throws down the stretch. Other than a few turnovers, we took care of the ball pretty well. We executed offensively and didn't get stops on defense every time, but we got enough stops. When it was 55 to 51, I told the guys that if we got stops we would win the game. Down the stretch we executed offensively, made our free throws and got enough stops and rebounds on defense to put the game away.”
Colorado junior forward Xavier Johnson
on defeating UCLA
“It feels good. All the hard work we put in finally showed. I'm happy we were able to come out with the victory, and we are going to keep progressing forward from here.”
on finishing strong at home
“We just wanted it. We had a lot of players step up since Josh [Scott] was out. Tory [Miller] stepped up huge for us. Along with Dustin [Thomas], Fletch [Tre'Shaun Fletcher], and Jaron [Hopkins]. Everybody stepped up big for us and put in work for us tonight, and that's how we were able to come away with the victory.”
Colorado senior guard Askia Booker
on Colorado playing with a chip on its shoulder
““Right before we came out onto the court, I grabbed the guys and I told them, everybody in the gym doesn't think we can win without Josh Scott. And I told them we are guaranteed to win this game if we play hard enough and we play together. The outcome is that we won, we played together and hard. We didn't technically play too smart, including myself, but we played hard and we played together.”
on winning the game with Josh Scott not playing
“We defended and rebounded. That shows you, through thick and thin, if you defend and rebound you can still win the game, whether it be by one point, 10, 15 or 20 points. But if we do cut those turnovers down, somewhere between 10-12, maybe we win by 20 or 15. It was one of those nights [where] we didn't take care of the ball, including myself. I think that we are going to get better at that and make better plays. But due to our defending and rebounding, we won the game.”
