University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. Presbyterian
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 80, Presbyterian 65
November 19, 2018
Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โWell, weโre really pleased with the start. Really disappointed with the first 15 minutes of the second half. I thought we were really making growth in the first half and then we took about two steps back in the second half. Lot of new things going on. Cody (Riley) now getting some minutes and weโve got to get some guys adjusted to some things. I thought it was as careless as weโve been since we started the season. Our turnovers were extremely careless and that hurt our defense and they were able to do the things that they do really well and thatโs shoot the 3. I think our guys have got to look at just the carelessness with the basketball. Weโve been doing a good job of taking care of itโtonight we didnโt do that. Proud of J. Hill (Jalen Hill). I thought he had a tremendous night. Not only did he get 20 rebounds, but three assists, no turnovers, got a blocked shot, got a steal, made all of his free throws. Or almost, five out of six. I just thought he was really good. Loved his activity. Thought thatโs the motor that weโve got to have out of J. I thought he was a huge bright spot tonight.โ
on if carelessness came from big lead
โYeah, and just being inexperienced. This is an inexperienced team. Weโve talked about it. This was Codyโs first minutes. This is J. Hillโs fourth game. This is (Jaylen) Hands and (Kris) Wilkes and (Chris) Smith, the fourth game of their second year. Jules (Bernard) and David (Singleton) havenโt played. Kenny (Nwuba) hadnโt played. Itโs just so much inexperience. I think, 41-19 and we were so dominant in the first half, defensively, but we tried telling them at halftime: some of that was fool's gold because they missed a lot of open looks off of our turnovers. I think we had maybe 10 turnovers at halftime and that was a concern and we talked about that at half. Then it got worse in the second half with handling the ball and they made those threes. Itโs a good lesson. We want to learn lessons, obviously, as we build here. And thatโs what I told them in the locker room, but it is, to their credit, itโs good to learn lessons and still get wins.โ
on Cody Rileyโs debut
โWell, I thought he did some good things. Obviously, the other guys have had a good month of games when you look at the scrimmage that we had. I think he might have played in the exhibition game, did not play in the scrimmageโฆ and then hadnโt played. This is all new for him and I did like his activity. We werenโt going to play him any more than 20 minutes and he got 16. I like what he did. Like a lot of the guys, too many turnovers. Heโs a very good ball handler and very good passer. No assists, three turnovers is not what we want. But he had five rebounds and I liked his activity in and around the rim. I think heโll continue to get better as he gets more minutes and gets more games under his belt.โ
on if he wants more paint touches for Moses Brown
โWell, we are getting paint touches. I thought he did a good job of kicking things out until the second half and then he tried shooting out of the doubles team. Those are things heโs going to learn and this ended up being a tough game for him once they start making those 3s because heโs a legit center and theyโre not really playing with a center. A lot of times, theyโre playing five guards, so it becomes a pretty difficult game for him. He didnโt quite get the minutes that heโs usually going to get because we decided to go smaller and switch everything.โ
on his teamโs interior defense
โAgain, itโs good, but thereโs some foolโs gold. Theyโre not a team that scores in the paint. They came in making 12 3sโIโm not sure how many they were shooting. Shot 45 3s. Forty-five of their 63 shots were 3s. When we defend it well, it helps us because weโre able to get out and go in transition and I thought we were able to do that. The Flagler kid (Adam Flagler) got hot. He got really hot in the second half. I thought, in the first half, nobody was really bothering us at all, then he did all of his damage in the second half and we just couldnโt control him.โ
UCLA sophomore Jaylen Hands
on allowing Presbyterian to cut into the lead in the second half
โI think we gave up a lot of threes. [Presbyterian] took, I think, 22 threes at half, if I remember. They didnโt go in a lot in the first half. In the second half, they started making them. Itโs something we have to go back and correct. I know down the stretch, for me, I was disappointed in the way I turned it over. For me, this game will be really helpful to go back and watch and look at the turnovers I had and see how I can get better from that.โ
on what caused increased turnovers on offense
โI know, for me. Itโs probably a lack of focus. You know, Iโm big on film, so just being able to have this game on film to watch it and get better from it. Itโs better that it happens in a game that we win, instead of a game that we lose, so I really want to focus on that. That was my biggest takeaway from this game, so weโll get better at it.โ
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on Presbyterian freshman Adam Flaglerโs performance
โThe whole second half overall we had a lot of defensive breakdowns and he just got hot. We should have been able to stop him, but he just had a good night.โ
on how team responded when lead was cut to three
โI think it was a little bit of Coach [Alford] getting on us, and a little bit of our pride. I feel like our pride got taken away a little bit by them coming in and making that run, period. We were up by what, like 20? The first group didnโt do too great. The second group, they followed right behind us, so we just have to learn to play through the whole 40 minutes. I think weโve been playing a lot of great 20-minute ball, but just playing a whole game throughout needs to go up more.โ
on if tonightโs game is a good test before playing Michigan State this week
โYeah, yeah, no doubt. Since Iโve been here, I think thatโs been our big faultโplaying the whole 40 minutes. Tonight was a great test. Hopefully, weโll come in and weโll play them on Thursday and weโll be ready to play the whole 40 minutes and it will be a good game.โ
UCLA redshirt freshman Jalen Hill
on if he knew how many rebounds he was getting and what it took to be so effective on the glass
โOf course, I knew. I mean, I was going to go get them. I just had high activity and I just did what I did for my team. I stayed in my role and thatโs what I did.โ
on upcoming opponent Michigan State
โMichigan State is a really good team, but itโs just basketball. Weโre just going to go in there and play a game, so Iโm as excited as I am for any game, really.โ
Presbyterian Head Coach Dustin Kerns
opening remarks
โTo play against basketball royalty in UCLA and in a historic venue like Pauley Pavilion was special for our program. UCLA is the biggest team in America and makes scoring and defending difficult. I was proud of our fight and made it a one-possession game late in the game. We showed a lot toughness and this made us better."