Colorado 57, Utah 77 Post-game quotes

Colorado Head Coach Ricardo Patton

GENERAL: “Give credit to Utah; they came out in the second half with greater intensity than we did. I'm not sure why, but our defense was non-existent. In the first half they did not guard the 4-man ? they just focused on David (Harrison), and I thought Lamar (Harris) did a great job. I think we played 15 minutes and showed we were capable of winning the basketball game. “

ON BLAIR WILSON GETTING OPEN: “He's got to work harder to get open, and we as teammates have to work harder to get him open. That's what good teams do ? they expose your weaknesses. That puts a lot of pressure on Blair and Michel (Morandais0. You have to have other guys step up and make shots. “

ON POOR DEFENSE: “We really don't have enough fire-power not to guard people.

“I'm hoping that the players will believe us now (and our system). I know it's been difficult over the last couple weeks to convince our guys of what we need to do.”

ON SNAPPING THE HOME WIN STREAK: “It (the loss) should serve as an eye-opener, it should be a wake-up call and it should put things in perspective. We won 15 straight because we played solid defense. We did not do that tonight.”

ON SECOND HALF SHOOTING: “I did not think they (our players) panicked. I thought the last couple weeks that we thought we didn't need to play defense and that we could just outscore them.”

ON UTAH: “Their defense did not impress me as much as their patience on offense did. If you have enough patience to wait on the right shot and the shot clock to go down, then things will happen.”

Colorado Players

F Michel Morandais

GENERAL: “Utah gave the ball to their best players all the time, they had better defense than us tonight. We have to dins a way to be a threat on the court, and we have to work as a team to do that. We need to work as a team no matter how our defense is (playing). It doesn't matter about the team that we are playing; we all have to work against them as a team effort. We have to be ready on defense. This type of game lets us know we need to get open for each other, and we need to work on defense.”

ON UTAH: “They used our weakness to expose us on the court, they were stitching the ball on us, and our defense wasn't working tonight. They played better on defense and on offense, and we weren't ready for that. They had discipline on their defense and their offense, and that is what made them the better team tonight.”

Utah Head Coach Rick Majerus

GENERAL: “It was a really good outing, I'm really happy to see our efforts rewarded. It was a level of effort that wasn't there in prior losses. Our players hustled well, and played good defense.”

“We had a nice defense effort. We scratched and clawed and kept our hands up. It was a good game and I applaud the players for their effort and preparation. I'm going to eat, drink and celebrate. It will be a nice Christmas, but still a long year.”

ON UTAH TAKING A DAY OFF: “We are getting better. I feel so happy. A day off was so smart. More is more, but it was good to take a day off.”

ON SECOND HALF: “In the second half we came out and played better defense, hit more shots and were less tentative. We simplified our office. Frost emerged as a senior.”

ON COLORADO: “Colorado is a good team to beat. They had great wins over Oregon State and Cal. They are a good club and it is a good win for us. It is not a problem if we win or lose, if the effort is there.”

ON PLAYING A BIG 12 TEAM: “Our effort was outstanding, We did a hell of a job. This is a really good league. Colorado didn't lose to a Big 12 team at home last year and we just got our butts tattooed by Texas Tech. Tonight we committed to our rotations and put in the effort.”

ON DAVID HARRISON: “He is an excellent player. I have two words for him: Tim Duncan. Stay in school. It would be a shame to miss out on the education and he has the chance to be a good player (in the NBA).”

“We took our fouls. We did not commit them intentionally, but we took a load. We just stayed patient and covered him.”

“At the end of the game a fan made an extremely racial comment (towards Harrison) that enraged me. I could point him out, and if this was in Utah, I would have gotten the campus police. There is no need for comments like that. Harrison has every right to be extremely pissed.”

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