Colorado, Missouri Quotes

HEAD COACH MIKE ANDERSON

On the Phil Pressey - Michael Dixon tandem...

"They were really active. Especially Phil tonight-- that's probably the most active I've seen him. They moved the ball and played up-tempo basketball. They were making a lot of shots coming off the dribble, and what I like to see is those guys surveying the court and seeing what's available, and the recipients they have. That's when you see Ricardo Ratliffe make the shots he does. We've still got to get Laurence Bowers more active, because he missed some time, but he played a good game. Again, we can play better, but I thought we played well.

On Ricardo Ratliffe...

"He makes good decisions and does not turn the ball over. He's not a selfish player. He really made some tough shots, and we took advantage of the size factor to get some good looks."

On the pressure Missouri brought tonight...

"I thought we were pretty active, rotating and doing some things, even when they broke our press. When we played [at Colorado] they were shooting mostly layups, but here they didn't have many points in the paint. I thought that was a big difference for us. We also said we wanted to get to the free throw line, and I thought we made a tremendous effort."

On facing Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse Monday...

"I like our basketball team, and I like our mindset. We're going to go out there and leave everything on the court."

Mizzou Players

Junior Guard Marcus Denmon

On forcing a number of Colorado turnovers...

"I think we came out with more energy. Everyone was moving around and flying out there on the defensive end. We went out there and locked up on some people."

Senior Kim English

On home court advantage...

"It's kind of easy to have energy at home. You know, one big play will get the crowd roaring. We have to take that same mentality on the road; we can do it, we just have to do it consistently."

On playing in Lawrence, Kansas

"Every game's a big game. It's huge because the next game on our schedule is bigger because it's an obvious rival. They're a good team, we're a good team. We've seen almost every kind of team in the country. They're a really good team, we're excited to play them. Streaks don't matter too much, we don't go into any game expecting to lose. They put their shoes on just like us."

On not starting...

"I've started a lot of games in my career. I've come off the bench. My preparation before the game is a little different. I just go hard in warm-ups, like that's starting off the game. So then my time coming off the bench is like my first sub. That's my little thing from freshman year. It's not about starting it's about finishing the minutes and the quality of your playing time."

Freshman Guard Phil Pressey

On playing at Kansas for the first time...

"I'm going to take it just like I take every other game. It's really not that big of a deal to me because I'm playing basketball and that's what I love to do. So I'm pretty sure my teammates are going to play hard, and I'll play hard, and hopefully we'll come out with the 'W'."

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

On the cause of turnovers...

"Well we didn't handle their pressure as well. They're awful good at home. TheIr record shows it. So we knew we were going to have to try to take care of the ball and keep the crowd out of the game as best we could, and we didn't do a very good job of that. Part of that's us, and part of that is Missouri obviously. I tip my caps to them. But again, it was the same press, I don't think they changed their presses tonight than what they had in Boulder. We just didn't handle it as well. That was the name of the game, without a doubt."

On playing on the road vs playing at home...

"They sped us up more. Playing on the road versus playing at home sometimes makes a big difference when you're in this kind of a game. When we played in Boulder, we were able to get our crowd in the game, and I think it affected that -- and tonight they got their crowd in the game, and I think it affected us. As a coach on the road you feel like you need to handle that better. They're a good team, they're a good program, and I've got nothing but respect for Missouri. My hat goes off to them."

On Higgins stepping in as point guard...

"Nate, our starting point guard, went down a minute or two into the game with a sprained ankle, so we moved Cory over to the point. He's got the ball in his hands so much bringing it up that it takes away from his scoring a little bit, so that wasn't a positive for our team. Phil Pressey was very good, and Cory never got on track offensively tonight like he did in Boulder."

On the game slipping away...

"They did a good job keeping Alec (Burks) in check. We did some positive things -- we got 19 offensive rebounds. Of course we weren't able to convert a lot of them. I think Phil Pressey is a heck of a defender. He's got great quickness and he was a big difference tonight for them. Kim English had some big shots. They had some big shots in the second half. We cut it to ten and thought we could get back in the game, but we couldn't get the stop when we needed to get the stop."

Colorado University Athletics

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