Texas Tech University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
March 08, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2002
Texas Tech
Head Coach BOBBY KNIGHT
On the game:
"My first thought is that for winning two games and having to play Kansas is a hell of a prize."
"I thought we had a big advantage in this game. We played with a hell of a lot more intensity than yesterday."
On the atmosphere:
"We are playing in a crowd that is extremely passive. We have to generate our own electricity. It is an atmosphere of watchers not rooters. I thought the intensity level was infinitely better than it was yesterday and I think that is what got OSU today."
On the Tech defense:
"We had a better effort than we have had. Today we were much more intense to play. I think that we have lost some big leads and lost some games because of that. I was waiting for the bomb to drop but it never did. We played defensively throughout the entire ball game."
On Bob Hammel:
"He was in and out of stages last night. He said `The last I remember was that we were ahead 10 or 12 points. So did we win?' I think this was a very stressful and confusing thing to go through for Bob."
On playing Kansas:
"Kansas is as good as a team as it can get. If you were to go through a check list of all the traits that make a great team, Kansas would have them all checked. Roy has done a great thing with this team."
SENIOR CENTER ANDY ELLIS
On keeping up the intensity in the second half.
"That was the focus for us at halftime. We had a big lead at Oklahoma State and they came back and beat us this year. So we knew we had to keep the intensity up."
On playing KU:
"We're going to have to play as good as we can. They're number one in the nation and they have no flaws. So we're going to have to play as hard as we can."
JUNIOR FORWARD KASIB POWELL
On their dominance over Oklahoma State throughout the season:
"I'm not sure why. They're athletic, they play hard. If we match their intensity we have a good chance to win and that's what we did today."
On playing back to back days:
"Two games back to back is tough. It's mentally tough, but we just have to play as hard as we can to have a chance to win tomorrow."
Oklahoma State
Head Coach EDDIE SUTTON
On the loss to Texas Tech:
"I learned a long time ago, if the ball doesn't go in the hole, it magnifies other problems that you're having. It reminded me of how we played at Fresno State -- almost an identical type of game
On missing shots under the basket:
"You can't do that against a good ball club, and Texas Tech's a really nice ball club
On Texas Tech being underrated:
"They're one of the 25 best teams. They ought to be ranked. They're really good. Bob and his staff are doing a great job. They're running motion as well as I've ever seen any of his Indiana teams run their offense."
On not being "fired-up" for the game:
"(Sean Sutton) told our guys there was going to be a war out there and this is what you play the whole season for. We looked like we were tired after the first two or three minutes."
SENIOR FORWARD FREDRIK JONZEN
On confidence of the team:
"We have a lot of confidence. We feel that because we know we can play. We've had a lot of games like this this season where we totally turn it off. I feel personally that the next few games after those games, we've been playing a lot better. And that's something we need to carry into next week."
SOPHOMORE FORWARD IVAN McFARLIN
On his assessment of the game:
"This can't happen in the Big 12 Tournament. We've got to listen, focus and know where to run plays. And we didn't do that today."
On the Cowboys recent inconsistency:
"It seems like we win, then we lose, we're up and down. We have to win from here on out. We have to work harder and come out more aggressively."
JUNIOR GUARD VICTOR WILLIAMS
On today's outcome:
"If we play like this we can't beat anybody, so we've got to get ready to play. Wherever you look, we didn't do a good job."
On whether he was shocked by today's outcome:
"I felt we were going to compete better than we did. As hard as it will be to put this loss behind us, we know we're going somewhere (NCAA tournament) and we've got to be ready."
