University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Colorado 68, UCLA 59
Colorado 68, UCLA 59
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
January 13, 2018
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
โThatโs probably as disappointing as weโve played all year. Our effort was poor, we were flat. I give Colorado an awful lot of credit that really played hard and executed better. Outside of Tom [Welsh] we really just didnโt have much as far as a good concentrated effort. I take responsibility for that. Itโs our job as coaches to make sure we are ready to play. And itโs not just that we werenโt ready to play, we had low energy and low effort. Thatโs hard to watch. That was the worst offensively weโve been all year and again I give Colorado a lot of credit for what they were able to do defensively.โ
on UCLAโs shooting
โWe were 8 of 18 from the line and 5 of 25 from three at home and only scored 59 points. We werenโt perfect defensively tonight but in the second half we were really good. Held them to 29 points and 36 percent shooting, we just couldnโt score. We got down and missed free throws, they made a layup then we missed one. They hit a wide-open three then we missed a three. There just wasnโt much going for us offensively and once again you have to give Colorado credit.โ
on if he felt this type of game coming
โNo not really because we played our best game of the season last game against Utah. We have a lot of young guys going through this for the first time so maybe its understanding success. One of the things we told them was try to understand why we did play so well against Utah: we had great energy, great effort, good togetherness and fought. We didnโt have any of that tonight. When you donโt do that in league play youโre going to get beat. I thought we were really out of sync offensively probably the entire night.โ
on Coloradoโs defense
โThey did a good job of mixing things from zone to man. They were really pushing it with their man defense. They trapped Aaron [Holiday] trying to get it out of his hands. I thought they did a really good job of that. I thought we had some looks too. Some looks at the bucket from three and we just didnโt make them.โ
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on being down the whole night
โItโs always tough when you get down early. We started off slowly, they got out to a big lead, and itโs always tough to come back from that lead.โ
on tendency to take more shots when shots are not falling early
โI feel like we didnโt really take bad shots in the first half, we just missed. But theyโre not falling, so we need to get the ball to Tom [Welsh] and drive and kick to get even better shots. We just have to take our time and work through it.โ
on having a tough night with big home crowd:
โI didnโt feel like I didnโt have a good showing, I just missed shots. They [Colorado] obviously played great on me. I tried to get my teammates involved, but obviously I need to do more for us to win. I didnโt play to my potential tonight, so we lost, and thatโs my fault. At the end of the day, we have to learn from it and get better.โ
UCLA senior center Thomas Welsh
on going on a 10-0 run by himself
โI think just getting good shots. I just try to find opportunities to score in the flow of the offense. I was getting some really good looks playing off of these guys. I think, especially in a game like this where they got a quick lead on us, even when itโs like that and weโre not making shots, our defense needs to just pick up and start playing better to get back into a game like this. We had spurts like that, where we were getting stops and cutting their lead down, but we just didnโt possess the same all night.โ
on lack of consistency from Utah game to tonight
โItโs not what you want to see, of course. As a team, you want to come out and just be ready to fight and give everything you got every night and you have to try to be as consistent as you can every night. We had a lot of really good looks. I thought we missed some shots, but thatโs the way basketball goes and why we play the game. When nights like those come, you just have to lock in on defense, get stops, and get easy ones in transitions and easy ones around the basket. Itโs definitely a tough one, and I think weโre going to learn from it.โ
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle
opening statement
โUCLA has been averaging 94 points in the last five games.ย UCLA really has been shooting the ball very well.ย I think we just caught them on an off night.ย They have been making 64% of their threes and I felt like they just couldnโt do that.ย UCLA was really not at their best tonight.ย We have a lot of respect for their program and Steve Alford, but itโs fortunate for us tonight that they had an off night.โ
on Aaron Holiday
โHe is the head of the snake, so we tried to make him play โcrowdedโ.ย We knew that we had to collapse on him, especially when he came off screens.ย We know for this conference, UCLA is a very good shooting team and we knew that we had to increase the defense in order for us to have it happen tonight.โ
on playing in Pauley Pavilion
โWe didnโt tell the kids that we hadnโt won here before, but as a staff, we knew that we have never won here in Pauley.ย When our seniors play well and our leaders play well, it makes our freshmen play well.ย We have to go home to the Washington schools and hold serve.ย In this league, itโs tough.ย We are a young team and weโre growing.ย Growth is what we really have to have.ย We just have to be more consistent.โ
on where they go from here
โWe just have to build on this by not having a let-down.ย We have to be ready for Washington State who won tonight by 25 (points).ย The key is not to step back in our intensity.โ
Colorado freshman guard McKinley Wright IV
overall statement
โThey really are a great team and average about 90 points a game.ย It was key for us to take away the threes and have good transition defense.ย We really didnโt turn over the ball. We had twelve turnovers.ย Our transition defense was huge and we also did a great job in taking away the three.โ
on Aaron Holiday
โWe knew we had to keep the ball out of his hands.ย My job was to deny him the ball when he came off screens.ย Also, I really took what the defense gave me.ย The coaches told me that they were going to focus on me since Iโm the leading scorer, so I focused on really getting my teammates involved.โ
on where they go from here
โWe keep with the same mindset.ย We focus on defense and on rebounding.โ
on pace of the game
โWe were trying to press a little bit. They pressed us most of the pressing though was because both teams were going to play a lot of zone so theyโre just not going to be a lot of possessions. I donโt think that game was any slower than the Utah game. Against Utah we made shots and won by 20. Regardless of the pace of the game, theyโre not super fast, but we would like to play a little bit faster. In the first half they took advantage of some transition play and that hurt us as well.โ