Postgame Quotes: UCLA 86, Stanford 81
January 09, 2015 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 86, Stanford 81
January 8, 2015
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
Opening statement…
“I couldn't be more proud of that group of young men. They've really been fighting like crazy. We've been saying it for 26 days; the team's we've been playing are outstanding. We got a lot thrown at us; this is the first time since 1972 that UCLA has gone 26 days in between home games. We're doing it with an awful lot of young, inexperienced guys and we've been right there, we've been seeing it. They have had incredible attitudes. They have fought and fought and fought. To be down 14 with nine minutes to go and you find a way to win. We have some young guys in there that grew up and matured. We had so many different things happen in that game. Guys made incredible contributions. GG (Gyorgy Goloman) comes off of the bench, has his best game and was terrific defensively when we needed it. Norman (Powell) gets hurt and tries to play again. Bryce (Alford) fouls out after hitting what we thought was a game-winner. We deal with a tough situation at the end. Tony (Parker) and Kevon (Looney) had career games and Noah (Allen) and Thomas (Welsh) came in. Isaac (Hamilton) has to play point guard the last five minutes. I just couldn't be more pleased with that group of young men because they've been through a lot.”
On overall impression of the tonight's game…
“I've been doing this a long time and I've been proud of an awful lot of teams after certain games, but no more proud than I am of this group of young men. They've battled and had great attitudes. They've been working on their emotion because they're not really an emotional group. Even our bench, I talked to our walk-ons and the guys who didn't play, we had great emotion. We talked about the student body. We've lost five games in a row, it's pretty easy to just kick us, but our student body didn't do that. Our students came out and really helped our guys. The energy in the building was really good. We came out and made a couple of plays in the second half and we needed that.”
On importance of keeping Tony Parker out of foul trouble…
“We really rolled with him tonight, we didn't get Thomas (Welsh) into the mix like we like to. Tony (Parker) was really going. I think he really hurt them (Stanford) in this building last year. It's one of those matchups where he felt good. He had been really good in practice. 42 minutes had to be a career-high for Tony. If you look at his numbers, he had 13 shots, 12 free-throws, 12 rebounds and 22 points; his stat line was really good. In a game where I thought he was terrific, even his foul-shooting went up. He's only shooting about 42%, so if you shoot 50% your free-throw percentage goes up. He did a great job on (Stefan) Nastic. Nastic is a good big and he fouls him out. I thought getting Nastic out of the game was big.”
Bryce Alford (Sophomore, Guard)
On feeding the post …
“They got together early and started playing together well early. They did a good job playing and getting buckets, as well as being garbage men and cleaning up misses. We knew if we missed a shot they'd get the rebound. They did great job.”
On his three-pointer and foul at the end of OT …
“When they were looking over the call, we were just praying we had a shot. The three-pointer is a play we run often. I had space, and I was confident I could make it if I got the shot. On the foul, I was backpedaling, but we caught a break with a missed free throw, and my boys did great in the next overtime.”
On what making his first shot did for his confidence…
“It was definitely good to hit my first shot. They say when you hit your first shot, it's going to be a good shooting night. I didn't shoot particularly well, but I made some shots, and it's really good to be home and get a big-time win in Pauley.”
Tony Parker (Junior, Center)
On staying out of foul trouble …
“It was real important this game to stay in the game. I knew we really had to guard well. Thomas (Welsh) was struggling today, and I knew I needed to pick him up.”
On stopping the team's losing streak …
“It was big time. We knew we had to get a win, and we needed to do anything we could to do it. The fans and the student section were great. They gave us a lot of energy and kept us in the game. That was big for us - our fans were pushing us when we were really tired.”
On Gyorgy Goloman's play …
“It was big what GG did, coming in and giving us big-time minutes. He played a great game for a freshman. A great game.”
Kevon Looney (Freshman, Forward)
On his play during the team's scoring run while down 14 …
“I was just playing my game and had to pick up my energy. This was a must-win game. We knew we couldn't lose. No one wanted to lose. So we picked up another gear and kept going.”
Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins
On being up by 14 with 10 minutes left…
“This was a tough one. Offensively, we didn't stay to what we were doing earlier. Give them (the Bruins) credit, they made some timely shots and some timely threes. We just didn't move the ball. UCLA is very tough defensively. The ball was sticking instead of moving around. It's a disappointing loss, but we have to bounce back.”
On Parker and Looney …
“Those bigs were relentless on the boards. Their inside presence really helped them. Looney is a guy I've seen since high school. He is a great player and one of our best players in college.”
Chasson Randle (Senior, Guard)
On the loss…
“It's very disappointing that we weren't able to close out the game. Defensively, we just didn't get any stops. “
Anthony Brown (Redshirt Senior, Guard/Forward)
On Stanford's losing streak in Pauley Pavilion … (Stanford has not won in Pauley Pavilion since 2005)
“We are aware of the streak. It's very disappointing. We just have to get ready for USC on Sunday.”
On the difference in the game…
“The two bigs (Parker and Looney) were definitely the difference.
On being tried…
“We didn't get tired. We just didn't rebound on the defensive end. We have to give them credit.”
On what changed in the second half…
“The ball just stopped moving. We didn't reverse it like we were doing earlier.”
