University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes: UCLA 89, ULL 80
December 16, 2015 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 89, Louisiana-Lafayette 80
December 15, 2015
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
“I'm really proud of our guys, especially our bench. Noah [Allen] and Ike [Okwarabizie] haven't played much and Noah made a huge shot for us, made a few free-throws and I thought he really defended well. Both guys brought some toughness. When we got Ike in there, in the four minutes he got, he got two rebounds and made a presence. [Louisiana-Lafayette] is a team that's picked to win its league. This is a good offensive team, and I thought we started the game well defensively, and then it got away from us. They made 13 three-pointers, and you never want to see that. We did keep them off of the free-throw line, and I thought out-rebounding this team would be huge; I think we were plus 10. We got tested, but without Thomas [Welsh] and Prince [Ali], two guys who have been in our rotation, we had some guys step up. I thought Bryce [Alford], Isaac [Hamilton] and Tony [Parker] were really good. Bryce made some huge plays for us and Isaac, before he got in foul trouble, was doing a lot of good things.”
On preventing a let-down after the Gonzaga win…
“I thought we started really well, I think it was 10-0 to start the game. I think what happened was that we haven't been up by 20 points in a while, and I think we got up 19 or 20 and we relaxed. All of a sudden we were throwing behind-the-back passes and no-look passes. We shut down our defense, and a team like this can score. I don't think [Louisiana-Lafayette] have been held below 70 points all year. That was the lesson our guys learned, we got up 19 and we relaxed instead of continuing to do what we were doing. It wasn't so much getting the guys up; I like what we saw.”
On Jonah Bolden's extended play in the last two games…
“I like what I'm seeing; he's showing progress. He had nine points and five rebounds tonight with two big blocks. He gives us activity and length, and he's had 30 and 32 minutes in the last two games. I like what Jonah did, and he's starting to come into his own a little bit, and we're going to need that.”
UCLA senior forward/center Tony Parker
On guarding Shawn Long…
“He's a tough player. I played against him for awhile. He made all his free throws and really played well for his team.”
On Thomas (Welsh) not playing tonight…
“I scouted this team (Louisiana-Lafayette) a lot, so it was weird not having big Tom next to me. That is my guy.
On the 19-point lead…
“We just took our foot off the gas. Louisiana-Lafayette is a real tough team. I felt that if we would not have done that the outcome would have been different.”
UCLA junior guard Bryce Alford
On making key game decisions…
“I've gotten a lot better at that this year. Now I know when the team needs me to score and also when the team needs me to get us into something.”
On getting up for this game
“It's not hard for me to get up for a game, I'm a competitor. It's not hard for me at all, just like the guy next to me (referring to Tony Parker).”
Louisiana-Lafayette Head Coach Bob Marlin
On the second half surge …
“We were a little disappointed in the way we started the ball game. I don't think we had the focus we needed to play a team as good as UCLA. I don't think we were guarding, and UCLA got off to a great start shooting the basketball. We knew Bryce (Alford) could do it, but the other guys shot the ball well. We fought back to get it to a workable amount at halftime, which gave us a little bit of juice for the second half, and we just told the guys to keep battling. We felt good to get back in it and get it to within four, but then (Noah) Allen jumps up and scores his first points of the year with a three-point shot, and they stretched it out. But I'm proud of the guys for continuing to fight.”
On the play of Shawn Long…
“He's trying not to be as emotional in his play, and I think it hurt his fire a little bit. He's trying to stay even-keeled, and he got worked up in the second half. He took a hard spill in the first half; thank goodness he wasn't hurt. His neck was hurting him a little bit, but we got him back in the second half, and he did a good job for us on the glass. He definitely inspired the other guys.”
“It was a good effort by us, but we have to play better to beat a team the caliber of UCLA.”
Louisiana-Lafayette senior forward Shawn Long
On his play …
“I played as well as I could. I had a rough first half, but I stayed with it and found opportunities.”
On the fight of his team…
“Like I told the guys in the locker room, we can't hang our heads. I felt like we put up a good fight. UCLA is a good team, and they're probably going to be a tournament team.”
