Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Kansas Quotes
February 04, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
On the last possession - "We kind of settled there on the last couple possessions. We wanted to drive the basketball, we had it set up so we were either going to win it or go to overtime and we just settled. We need to come off ball screens a lot harder because it's an easy switch if you don't. I can say this, our guys truly care. We are not into moral victories. We have to learn how to close out games. All these little things come into play, but it's all about winning. I want to win and we have such a great atmosphere here inside of Coors. The fans were great and I believe we are going to bust through. We have to put this game behind us and keep learning and getting better. We have to embrace the challenge we have on Saturday afternoon."
On learning from the loss - "I think our guys care so much. Gaining wisdom and experience come at a cost and this is the Big 12 which is a very high level. They're going through this process and getting better and they care so much, I think they're pressing a little bit. We had some nice open looks tonight. We just have to break through and believe in ourselves. I hurt for them and they hurt because they want to do well and win."
On Levi Knutson - "He banged some shots today and he did it with consistency. He made a great steal there at the end of the game because he has a nose for the ball."
On missed opportunities - "We had our chance to win. We missed seven free throws tonight and we had been the nation's leading free throw shooting team, but that's gone by the wayside. We had some open looks at threes that missed and we also missed a couple layups as well."
On Alec Burks - "He was cleared today by the doctors, but he wasn't 100 percent. He is a young, talented guy. That was my decision from the standpoint that you are not going to jeopardize anything. The risk so when the next time he steps on the court will be minimal. He wanted to play, but he understood why."
On the atmosphere - "Our student body is absolutely awesome. Our fans are awesome and I want so badly for this to happen here, and so do our players. I want to win so bad for me, the fans, the student body, the faculty, the school, the season ticket holders. I believe it's coming here."
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the game - "I am probably more relieved. We didn't play our best by any stretch. Not that Colorado didn't play great; I thought that they were the better team. They were the best team by far the first ten minutes. I thought without question the next 30, and then obviously they were pretty good in over time. They played predominantly man-to-man. But the biggest thing they did was play with great energy. (Marcus) Relphorde had a terrific game. He was probably the hardest guard for us tonight. We had numerous chances to put it away, from the free throw line obviously, but they just competed. They played hard. They rebounded the ball better than they have been rebounding it. I thought the crowd was really good. They played well. I am not going to say we played poorly because it doesn't give them the credit they deserve."
On Colorado's play - "As I told the players, 'When you talk to the team, when you talk to the media, or whoever, you have to respect their effort.' They respect Colorado's effort. After the game, the players went over and thanked the fans. We have never had it like this here before. It's good for our league for all of our teams to get better. Certainly Jeff Bzdelik has done a great job. We got a break with (Alec) Burks not playing. Any road win is a good win. We probably made it harder on ourselves, but still it was a good win."
On free throw shooting - "We shoot 78 (percent) in the league and we shot 48 (percent) or whatever. I don't know, I think it was contagious. We weren't even close. We almost got two airballs the first half. What, we made four threes, Tyshawn (Taylor) made a 15-footer and Brady (Morningstar) made a 15 footer, other than that I don't think we made a shot outside of 3 feet. I don't know how that happens. It's something that we will certainly address in a short workout tomorrow."
Colorado Players
Cory Higgins, Junior, Guard
ON CLOSE LOSS- "With a team like that you have to take the chances you have and take advantage of them, and we missed a big one at the end of regulation."
ON HIGGINS' FINAL SHOT OF REGULATION- "I think I waited too long and the clock got too close to zero and I ended up with that shot."
ON TAKING A MORAL VICTORY- "We have known that we can play with anybody, it's just a matter of beating those teams now that we have been in enough close games."
ON TEAM PLAY- "I think it has shown over the course of the year that we're a balanced team and we give a good team effort throughout. I think today was just evident of what we have been doing in the past."
ON BEING TIED TOWARDS THE END OF REGULATION- "Everybody believed; everybody just knew we were going to win that game, it just didn't go our way."
ON HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS- "We knew our shots would fall. We're a good shooting team so we weren't really worried about our offense, but we knew we just needed to keep defending them, and we did, and got back into the game."
ON GAME PLAN FOR COLE ALDRICH- "We played him like we play every other big man, always trying to keep a body on him and run him. There was no specific game plan for him."
Levi Knutson, Junior, Guard
ON ROLE DURING GAME- "I'm always ready to play. I just try to take advantage of the time I'm out there to help the team win, but we just didn't quite have enough today."
ON BEING TIED TOWARDS THE END OF REGULATION- "We feel like every night we come out that we are going to play to win. That's no different if you're playing the number one team in the country, or the three-hundredth ranked team. You play to win so we expect to win every single game we play, but we just couldn't pull it out in the end."
ON BOUNCING BACK AFTER LOSS- "A loss is a loss. Every game we played in we had stuff to learn from. A lot of our losses come down to one or two plays and tonight it was one play. It could have been in the first half, second half, who knows what play it was, but we needed one more."
ON FINISHING GAMES- "It's just a few possessions, there is no magic formula. It's just doing what we did all game, just doing it a few more times. They had a couple of offensive rebounds down the stretch so we were defending when they ran the shot clock down twice. You have got to come up with those defensive boards, and for the majority of the game we rebounded pretty well. It's nothing special, it's just a few more possessions and we know how to do it, it's just a matter of going out there and doing it."
Kansas Players
Cole Aldrich, Junior, Center
ON THE GAME - "They really played well out here. It's a tough place. We had quite a bit of fans out there but their fans were really good behind them. I don't know if it's altitude or really what it is, but if you look back over the last five to ten years, it's always a tough, close game. They are a good team; they are a really good team. They run an offense that is tough to guard. They have five guys who can shoot. That brings our big guys away from the hoop. But they can also drive so it creates lanes. It was really tough tonight. We felt good just because we were able to come out here and win. I can say it all day, it's tough, there is just something about it, but we really showed a lot of fight in us tonight."
ON FREE THROW SHOOTING - "We just couldn't buy one today. We were 18 for almost 40. We are going to shoot free throws tomorrow."
ON MARCUS MORRIS' FREE THROWS IN OT-"I think it was great. I think that probably the play where he got, I don't know, eight offensive boards was great, he just kept on fighting for it."
ON PLAYING IN COLORADO - "Coach (Self) jokes that the altitude doesn't matter once you go inside. All the freshmen believe it, but all the veterans just laugh at him. It's a little different up here. It's a fun place."
ON COMPETITIVENESS OF THE BIG 12 - "It is. The greatest thing we can see out of Colorado is that they are just competing with everybody. It's great because it really helps our conference out because a lot of people watch the games and say, 'I might not hear their name all the time, but they are still a good team."
ON THE NUMBER ONE JINX-"I am not really into the big jinx. It's just a number to us."
