Postgame Quotes – UCLA at California
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 75, California 67 – OT
Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
February 13, 2019
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
“Road wins are hard, hard to get. We told our team before we came in here, if you don’t look at their total body of work and their overall record, but if you just study their last three games against Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State, they have been playing their tail off. For us to come in here and be down nine at half, and it wasn’t the prettiest of games that we had played, but to be down nine at half and to compete that way that we did, I thought that our bench was incredible. You know, Chris Smith was great. Jules was great. David Singleton was great. And then Kris Wilkes, he played the way that he’s supposed to play. He is our best player and that is how he’s supposed to play.”
on benching all five starters early in the first half, and what his frustration level was at that point
“It wasn’t good. But you know, I don’t know, I really don’t know [how they responded to that move]. We’d only scored 25 points at half. So, I don’t know how good of a move that was or not. We’ve got 10 guys that, like in practice, if you saw us practice, we’ve got 10 guys that we are kind of rotating in and out. So we have a lot of confidence in all 10. We’ll tell them that, ‘Hey, whoever is playing good is going to play. And if you aren’t playing good, we’ll just have to sit you.’ Maybe it’s nothing that you have done horribly wrong, but we’ve just got to get other guys in. And when other guys are playing well, I like to stick with them. David Singleton was great and Jules was great. The thing that you are always going to get out of those two guys – Jules and David – they are really going to compete to win. They’re going to give you a great competitive effort. And they’ve got great spirit. So I think that they give you that. Again, Kris Wilkes stepped up for us, monumentally, with 27 and 10. We played a pretty good second half to get the thing to overtime, and then I thought we played pretty well in overtime.”
on how important this win was after having blown a 22-point lead against Utah last Saturday
"It was a big win. It was a big win. I mean, if you had put an overtime loss on that back of that Utah finish, it would have been tough. Here is what I’ve been saying about our guys, and I would’ve said this even if we had lost. People keep trying to read things into our team, and I just see them every day. We make a lot of mistakes, but that is not because of a lack of spirit or attitude or energy. These guys are phenomenal in terms of the way they practice, their spirit, their energy, their enthusiasm is great. Sometimes we just lose games because we make too many mistakes.”
on how effective UCLA’s 2-3 zone was against California
“I thought our two zone was really good, especially in the second half. Better in the second half than in the first half. But that is what we have pretty much been playing exclusively, and we’ve sprinkled in a little man and we did tonight sprinkle in a little 3-2 zone that we probably sprinkled in for may eight or nine or 10 possessions. And I thought that helped us too. But yeah, our zone was pretty good.”
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on what helped key UCLA’s comeback at Haas Pavilion
“Really, I think that it started with David Singleton. You know, I think that I did a little bit in the first half and some in the second, but I try and be a leader and I think that the energy sparked for us once David was hitting threes, and we were able to all follow from that.”
on a mass substitution of the team’s starting lineup early in the first half
“I mean, definitely. You never want to get taken out that early, especially when you are a starter. But, you know, that caused us to play harder and it might have worked. I think that it worked a little bit. I mean, we were able to come back and win.”
on the difference for UCLA in overtime, only giving up one 3-pointer in overtime
“Yeah, have been running that [2-3] zone a lot. But statistically, I had told them that in the past, the first team that scores the first couple of buckets in overtime is usually the team that will win. So, I tried to tell them that, that we needed to get stops. Moses was able to hit a free throw, and we were able to get a layup. I think that really helped.”
on the team hitting nine free throws in overtime after having struggled earlier in the game
“The coaching staff has always told us that free throws win games, you know, down the stretch. That can win or lose games. I know that we had missed a lot of free throws, but in the end, Jaylen Hands was able to get to the line and hit four or five free throws. That was big. That really helped us out a lot. We knocked some shots down and I’m glad we got it.”
on the importance of Wednesday’s win after having lost a double-digit lead last Saturday against Utah
“We needed this a lot. We have been losing a little bit. I think that we played a really good first half against Utah. And even in the second half a little bit, we’d showed what we can do as a team. And then we fell off a little bit and they came back and they were able to hit that game-winning shot. Even here, they started off good. But toward the end, we stayed together. At halftime we did not give up on each other, and we kept everything positive. When everybody is positive and when everybody is with one another, that helps out a lot.”
on if he had been aware that California entered the game 0-11 in Pac-12 play this season
“I mean, most definitely. That had been a big emphasis. We had talked about how in their last three games, they’d been playing very hard. It wasn’t an easy game, coming in here and winning. We knew that coming in here was going to be a dog fight, and we were able to fight hard and get a win.”
UCLA freshman David Singleton
on finding a lineup that showed success for UCLA in the second half
“It’s important to us, to get this road win, because this is basketball and this is what we do. We needed this road win to help end the drought that we’d been doing through.”
on what he thought UCLA did to overcome an 11-point deficit in the second half
“We were just trusting each other. We were moving the ball and passing the ball well. We got back to what we can do. We stopped caring about who gets the credit and stuff like that. We played more like a team, like a family, to be honest.”
on if it was on the team’s mind that Cal had yet to win a Pac-12 game
“We were aware. You can’t really think about that. You have to come in, thinking that it’s a basketball game, you know, zero to zero, and you can’t take it for granted because you can fall to them.”
on what it means to snap the three-game losing streak
“It means a lot to us, because we still have a chance and we’re still in this year. We still have heart. We still can do something in the Pac-12.”
on seeing Kris Wilkes excel and get into the flow of the team’s offense
“Yeah, it was great for Kris. He is our primary scorer, so that’s able to help open up the offense for everybody else.”
UCLA 75, California 67 – OT
Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
February 13, 2019
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
“Road wins are hard, hard to get. We told our team before we came in here, if you don’t look at their total body of work and their overall record, but if you just study their last three games against Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State, they have been playing their tail off. For us to come in here and be down nine at half, and it wasn’t the prettiest of games that we had played, but to be down nine at half and to compete that way that we did, I thought that our bench was incredible. You know, Chris Smith was great. Jules was great. David Singleton was great. And then Kris Wilkes, he played the way that he’s supposed to play. He is our best player and that is how he’s supposed to play.”
on benching all five starters early in the first half, and what his frustration level was at that point
“It wasn’t good. But you know, I don’t know, I really don’t know [how they responded to that move]. We’d only scored 25 points at half. So, I don’t know how good of a move that was or not. We’ve got 10 guys that, like in practice, if you saw us practice, we’ve got 10 guys that we are kind of rotating in and out. So we have a lot of confidence in all 10. We’ll tell them that, ‘Hey, whoever is playing good is going to play. And if you aren’t playing good, we’ll just have to sit you.’ Maybe it’s nothing that you have done horribly wrong, but we’ve just got to get other guys in. And when other guys are playing well, I like to stick with them. David Singleton was great and Jules was great. The thing that you are always going to get out of those two guys – Jules and David – they are really going to compete to win. They’re going to give you a great competitive effort. And they’ve got great spirit. So I think that they give you that. Again, Kris Wilkes stepped up for us, monumentally, with 27 and 10. We played a pretty good second half to get the thing to overtime, and then I thought we played pretty well in overtime.”
on how important this win was after having blown a 22-point lead against Utah last Saturday
"It was a big win. It was a big win. I mean, if you had put an overtime loss on that back of that Utah finish, it would have been tough. Here is what I’ve been saying about our guys, and I would’ve said this even if we had lost. People keep trying to read things into our team, and I just see them every day. We make a lot of mistakes, but that is not because of a lack of spirit or attitude or energy. These guys are phenomenal in terms of the way they practice, their spirit, their energy, their enthusiasm is great. Sometimes we just lose games because we make too many mistakes.”
on how effective UCLA’s 2-3 zone was against California
“I thought our two zone was really good, especially in the second half. Better in the second half than in the first half. But that is what we have pretty much been playing exclusively, and we’ve sprinkled in a little man and we did tonight sprinkle in a little 3-2 zone that we probably sprinkled in for may eight or nine or 10 possessions. And I thought that helped us too. But yeah, our zone was pretty good.”
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on what helped key UCLA’s comeback at Haas Pavilion
“Really, I think that it started with David Singleton. You know, I think that I did a little bit in the first half and some in the second, but I try and be a leader and I think that the energy sparked for us once David was hitting threes, and we were able to all follow from that.”
on a mass substitution of the team’s starting lineup early in the first half
“I mean, definitely. You never want to get taken out that early, especially when you are a starter. But, you know, that caused us to play harder and it might have worked. I think that it worked a little bit. I mean, we were able to come back and win.”
on the difference for UCLA in overtime, only giving up one 3-pointer in overtime
“Yeah, have been running that [2-3] zone a lot. But statistically, I had told them that in the past, the first team that scores the first couple of buckets in overtime is usually the team that will win. So, I tried to tell them that, that we needed to get stops. Moses was able to hit a free throw, and we were able to get a layup. I think that really helped.”
on the team hitting nine free throws in overtime after having struggled earlier in the game
“The coaching staff has always told us that free throws win games, you know, down the stretch. That can win or lose games. I know that we had missed a lot of free throws, but in the end, Jaylen Hands was able to get to the line and hit four or five free throws. That was big. That really helped us out a lot. We knocked some shots down and I’m glad we got it.”
on the importance of Wednesday’s win after having lost a double-digit lead last Saturday against Utah
“We needed this a lot. We have been losing a little bit. I think that we played a really good first half against Utah. And even in the second half a little bit, we’d showed what we can do as a team. And then we fell off a little bit and they came back and they were able to hit that game-winning shot. Even here, they started off good. But toward the end, we stayed together. At halftime we did not give up on each other, and we kept everything positive. When everybody is positive and when everybody is with one another, that helps out a lot.”
on if he had been aware that California entered the game 0-11 in Pac-12 play this season
“I mean, most definitely. That had been a big emphasis. We had talked about how in their last three games, they’d been playing very hard. It wasn’t an easy game, coming in here and winning. We knew that coming in here was going to be a dog fight, and we were able to fight hard and get a win.”
UCLA freshman David Singleton
on finding a lineup that showed success for UCLA in the second half
“It’s important to us, to get this road win, because this is basketball and this is what we do. We needed this road win to help end the drought that we’d been doing through.”
on what he thought UCLA did to overcome an 11-point deficit in the second half
“We were just trusting each other. We were moving the ball and passing the ball well. We got back to what we can do. We stopped caring about who gets the credit and stuff like that. We played more like a team, like a family, to be honest.”
on if it was on the team’s mind that Cal had yet to win a Pac-12 game
“We were aware. You can’t really think about that. You have to come in, thinking that it’s a basketball game, you know, zero to zero, and you can’t take it for granted because you can fall to them.”
on what it means to snap the three-game losing streak
“It means a lot to us, because we still have a chance and we’re still in this year. We still have heart. We still can do something in the Pac-12.”
on seeing Kris Wilkes excel and get into the flow of the team’s offense
“Yeah, it was great for Kris. He is our primary scorer, so that’s able to help open up the offense for everybody else.”