Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. USC
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 93, USC 88 (OT)
Feb. 28, 2019
Murry Bartow, UCLA interim head coach
opening remarks
“It was a great win, obviously. We just had a lot of players step up. I’m just looking at the stats right now. Five guys in double figures, so we spread the ball around. We moved it, we had 22 assists, which is a great number. We had 14 offensive rebounds, which is a great number. USC is a really talented team, very well-coached team. I’ve just got great respect for their talent on their team and Boatwright was phenomenal again and Jonah Mathews, I love him. He’s a heck of a player. So it was a good win for us. Obviously, a game like that can flip either way. There’s been a lot of questions about leadership, there’s been a lot of questions about resilience, there’s been a lot of questions about toughness, there’s been a lot of questions about a lot of different areas. I don’t know what more these guys can do to respond to all that. We go to Cal and we win in overtime. We’re down 19 the other night (against Oregon), we come back and win. Down tonight, kind of looks cloudy there and we win in overtime. There is a connection with this team. We don’t have maybe that one true guy, but there is a real—I see it at timeouts, I see it in the locker room—they’re pretty connected right now. Right now, we’ve won three in a row, dour of our last five. They’re having fun right now, so that was a big win for us. We were obviously, again, in a game like that, it can swing either way and fortunately, it swung our way.”
on play call with five seconds left on shot clock in overtime
“Well, it wasn’t that. It looked good, though, going in. It was something I drew up at the timeout. First look was going to be Moses (Brown) around the rim and then we had Kris Wilkes coming to the ball, side wing. And then the third option out of that was Hands popping to the top. Again, ball went to Kris Wilkes, fortunately went to Jaylen Hands and that spot right there’s been pretty darn good to him the last two games. He made seven 3s the other night, five 3s tonight. Before I forget it, I want to say I thought Moses Brown was tremendous. Another double-double with Jaylen was great. I thought Chris Smith—we got on Chris hard at halftime, I didn’t think he was very good in the first half—I thought he was phenomenal in the second half. So Chris Smith was big. Jules Bernard is Jules Bernard. He’s going to do what he does. It was a great win. It was a key stop there, the last possession in regulation. We had what we feel is our best defensive five in there and fortunately we got a big stop to get the game to overtime.”
on Jaylen Hands not starting overtime
“We got the stop of the prior possession and we just kind of wanted to hang with that group. I think we subbed one guy out. We just wanted to hang with that group another possession. Look, Jaylen’s standing over here now, and I love him as a player and I think his growth has been incredible. Here’s a guy who was in and out last year, of the lineup, he was kind of up and down. Tonight, he had 21 points and 10 assists and no turnovers. Twenty-one points, 10 assists and no turnovers. He’s catching the eyes of the NBA because he’s got speed, he can pass, he can distribute, he can make clutch shots, but defensively, we need him to be better. He knows that. Sometimes, we do play offense/defense and we get David (Singleton) in there more on the defensive end. Obviously, he played 37 minutes tonight, but that’s where he’s got to grow a little bit more on the defensive end. But offensively, he’s really dynamic right now.”
on what has transpired over the season and what he felt after win
“Everything revolves around the players and, when Steve (Alford) was let go—Steve’s a great coach. Great coach. And when he was let go in early January, the players just continued to battle and fight and Duane (Broussard) and the two Korys (Barnett and Alford) and Tyus (Edney) and I, we’ve worked, I think, pretty darn hard. And the players—I just can’t remember many days where they’ve taken the day off and relaxed or not practiced hard. Maybe a little bit here or there, but for the most part, their spirit has been great, they’re enthusiasm’s been great. We’ve had some up and down patches during the last 16 games, but we’ve kind of got a few things a little more figured out now and I think they’re enjoying playing, enjoying what we’re trying to do. Again, tonight could’ve gone either way. I just as easily could’ve been sitting up here after a loss, but these guys are making a lot of plays. I’m just really proud of them, I’m proud to be their coach right now. It may not last too much longer, but it’s fun working with them and being their coach. I think, as a staff, we’ve given them a lot of love, and I think Jaylen would tell you we’ve coached them hard. We’ve gotten on them and coached them hard, but they’ve just responded. They’ve responded. It’s a neat bunch of guys and I love them and I love coaching them. And I just hope we can keep playing for a while. We’ll see. But tonight was a big step in the right direction.”
on where he saw growth in leadership
“Well, I think it’s a team thing. I told Ben (Bolch) yesterday, Ben and I talked about it for a little while. Or two days ago. I think it’s a team thing with us. We don’t really have that one guy, although Jaylen has become a much more vocal leader in the course of the last two or three months. But Jules Bernard has [been] playing a lot more minutes and he’s a vocal guy, so you hear a lot from him. Jalen Hill’s vocal at times. Kris Wilkes in vocal at times. David Singleton doesn’t say a lot—at least I don’t hear him say a lot. Moses Brown, he doesn’t say a lot. So I think it’s as a team, it’s as a group. I don’t think it’s just that one guy. And I’ve said it a hundred times and nobody wants to hear it, but we’re incredibly young. We’re just incredibly young and our guys like Jaylen Hands played great tonight and Kris Wilkes had another… Kris hadn’t practiced for… he was sick all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday. We weren’t even sure if he was going to play tonight and he gets 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. I think collectively, we’re doing a lot of great things and I think from a leadership standpoint, they’re kind of counting on each other and kind of helping each other.”
UCLA sophomore Jaylen Hands
on Kris Wilkes’ touch pass to set up his three-pointer at the end of overtime “You know, Kris [Wilkes] had five assists tonight, so it’s not like he wasn’t passing. There were two people on him, so it was a really good pass.”
on what he was thinking as the shot clock was winding down
“I think there were two seconds [on the shot clock], so I just tried to get it off quick. I just shot it.”
on what he felt when the shot went down
“To be honest, I still don’t know what it feels like. So yeah, that’s probably my answer to that.”
on if he thought the shot felt good when he released it
“I’m going to say yes, but it really didn’t.”
on if he’s currently breaking through as a player
“Yeah, I think I’ve been playing really well lately. A lot of that goes to my teammates and our coaches. Coach Bartow just said [the coaches] work really hard to know everybody’s spots. [Assistant Coach] Tyus [Edney] works really hard with me—just taking the game better, making good decisions. Our teammates are making shots when they need to, so it’s a whole team thing. Our team has been playing really well lately."
on if it’s an added bonus to beat the crosstown rivals
“For sure, it means a lot. The place was packed. Shout-out to everyone that came. It’s not easy to make it at 6:00 on a Thursday, but it was packed. It felt great. Beating the crosstown rival is what you always aspire to do, so it felt good.”
on not starting the overtime period
“At the end of the day, I’m trying to win, so if [Coach Bartow] felt like those five out there were going to give us the best opportunity to win, then that’s what we have to do. That five got the stop going into overtime, so we figured we would just run with momentum and leave the best defensive team that knows what we have to do. We have to get better on that end, so that’s what I’ll say about that.”
on weathering USC runs and ultimately surging to the win
“I think that speaks a lot to our growth. Early on in the year, the first time we played them, they went on runs and we just couldn’t stop it. Today, we never really blew them out and they were always there. We’re going to make a run; we’ll come back. We just weathered the storm. I think that really speaks to our growth and how much we’ve grown over the season.”
on if team can make a postseason push
“For sure. Like Coach Bartow said, we haven’t had any letdowns … We just have to get a couple things right and I think we’re doing a really good of fixing the stuff we’re not good at it. We’re doing really well right now. We go on the road and get two more and head into the [Pac-12] tournament on fire.”
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on touch pass to Jaylen Hands to set up three-pointer at the end of overtime
“Honestly, I was about to shoot it. I came off of it and it was just a read. I wasn’t able to get it up and I tried to dribble a little bit, but [USC] collapsed us. I saw him and I gave it to him—heck of a shot.”
on how it felt to see Hands’ three-pointer go down
“Amazing. It’s definitely amazing.”
on message to the team going into overtime
“Like I said the last time we went to overtime, it’s really, statistically, the first team that gets the first couple buckets is usually the team that wins. When Jules [Bernard] hit that first shot, he put us in a good position. Ultimately, we kept playing hard and knocked down a couple more shots and were able to get some stops. That helped out a lot.”
on how pulling out recent wins has propelled team’s growth
“It’s definitely helped us out a lot to pull out close wins like that. I know, in the past, we would get down to wire-to-wire games and we weren’t able to get those stops, those loose balls, and come out with the win. These last few games where we did actually pull together as a team and make big plays has been phenomenal.”
on Jaylen Hands’ recent performances and 21-point, 10-assist game tonight
“That’s fantastic. For us to keep winning, we have to have a strong point guard like Jaylen and how he’s been playing. He’s just been doing phenomenally. He’s hitting shots when we need them and, ultimately, that’s what we need.”
UCLA freshman Jules Bernard
on how it feels to see the team winning when he gets more minutes
“I don’t know. I think just coming off the bench right away and trying to bring a spark to the game is something that I have to do. I’ve been doing it these past few games and I think it’s really helping us on the defensive end. I think I’m talking more on the defensive end, getting us riled up. I think just bringing energy and passing it on to my teammates, especially on the defensive end and then on offense just being aggressive. I think it’s a working formula right now.”
on if the team could make a postseason push
“We’re such a talented team and if we piece things together the way we have been lately, I think we can do some things in the Pac-12 Tournament and, hopefully, do some things in March. We just have to stay together and keep playing hard like we are, keep executing, and focus on certain details for each game. Hopefully, all of us as players and our support, [our] fans—hopefully, we push through and get the results we want.”
on how much fun the team is having and if enjoyment is pushing team forward
“I think we’re just playing a lot looser on the court. We’re playing with energy. We’re having fun. I think that’s a testament not only to our fans, but it’s a testament to our team as a whole. Our bench is riled up. We’re riled up on the court. Just talking—I think that’s one of the big things. We’re talking. When it’s quiet, we’re not having as much fun. When we’re talking on the court, getting our fans involved, hyping each other up, it’s a lot of fun to play with each other.”
USC head coach Andy Enfield
opening remarks
“It was a really great college game. It just came down to one shot. Jaylen (Hands) just threw that one in—that was the difference. Give those guys credit. We just came up short.”
on their last shot
“We wanted to get the best shot, so we had our best shooters on the same side. Elijah (Weaver) probably just waited one to two seconds late on the play.”
on the team’s overall performance
“Can’t really complain. We had 28 assists and three turnovers. We really shared the ball and we made 19 threes. We just didn’t get to the free throw line a lot. We knew they were going to play zone, so we put our best four shooters out there. We played well. We got out to a 11-4 start.”
on keeping up Elijah Weaver’s spirit
“Elijah’s a freshman and he made four consecutive mistakes on defense. We took him out and had a talk with him and he came back in and hit some big threes. He played well the rest of the time and he was big in overtime. It’s just a good game. Both teams really played well, we’ve just been unlucky in some games.”
on where they go from here
“We go to Utah. We are not really upset. We put the ball in our best player’s hands.”
on Bennie Boatwright’s game
“He played really great tonight. He had 25 points and 15 rebounds. We want our players to be successful. We also understand how badly he wants to win. We win or lose as a team. We regroup on Monday, go to Utah on Thursday and have a successful trip.”
USC junior Jonah Mathews
on their overall play “We played really well. We had 28 assists and 19 threes. Those are both team highs. On paper, you’re supposed to win those games, but yeah, that’s basketball. We have to move on and get two wins on the road.”
on Jaylen Hands’ 3-point shot
“I just said to myself, ‘Are you serious?’, but that happens.”
on the team huddle prior to the last shot
“We had 22 seconds, so our strategy was to get a quick bucket and foul, so we knew we had to get something up.”
on the overall atmosphere in Pauley Pavilion
“It’s always fun here and very crowded here. It was pretty fun because as the game went on it got louder and louder.”