CU-UCSB Postgame Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General
“There are times after games where you just have to tip your hat to your opponent and I thought Santa Barbara was great tonight. I have a lot of respect for [UCSB head coach] Bob Williams, their staff, and the job they do. Their kids were ready to play. I'm not saying ours weren't, but we took a pretty good shot from them tonight and I told our team that we should be thankful that their best player [C Alan Williams] didn't play because with him in the game, it maybe would have been a different outcome. We did what we had to do to win the game, and that's a good sign, but we have a lot of things that we can do better. We knew coming in it wasn't going to be easy. This team went to UNLV and beat them by 20 on their home floor. They're a different team without their big guy in there; but they battled and they played hard and I want to make sure that I compliment them.”

On Deciding To Practice Early Tomorrow Morning
“We're going to practice tomorrow. We're going to hook it up. I don't want our players to have a sense of entitlement. I don't want our players to feel like they can just show up, play like this, and be okay about it. We have to get better and the way that we get better is practice. We weren't dialed in mentally tonight; defensively, we let another team come into our building and shoot 53 percent in the second half. We didn't pay attention to the scouting report; we have to get better. And it's not about Harvard on Sunday, it's about Colorado getting better tomorrow morning. And that's what we're going to do.”

On Struggles Defending The 3-Point Shot
“It's officially a deficiency of our team now. I told Mark Johnson on the radio, maybe I've been in denial by thinking 'this team was hot, that team was hot;' but when it happens six games in a row, I think maybe that's a trend. We have to get better. Part of it is just scouting report; understanding personnel. The other part is just playing shots high and shaking hands with the guy. It's a combination of things. It's not just one thing; it's not just one player. It's a team thing.”

On Team Mentality And Preparation
“What 'The Program' taught me is, and I think those Navy Seals hit it right on the head, you do not rise to the occasion; you fall back to your level of preparation. And our guys think that they can rise to the occasion and what happens is that they fall back to their level of preparation. I don't care if it's as a shooter, or as a scorer, as a defensive player, or as a basketball program; we fall back to how we prepare in practice and if that's not good enough, that's on me.”

On Getting The Ball Inside
“We had to go inside. When we went inside and we finished, it was good. Sometimes we went inside and got fouled; that's why we went to the line 38 times. But we have to do a better job of finishing inside. Josh [Scott] didn't finish tonight; Wesley [Gordon] finished when he got it in there; 'X' [Xavier] Johnson finished; our perimeter guys didn't finish, we had a lot of times at the rim and we didn't finish.

On G Spencer Dinwiddie's Performance
“We don't win that game without Spencer Dinwiddie tonight; he was terrific. He was aggressive, he was dialed in, and he did what he had to do to get our team the victory. I thought he did a great job on [UCSB G Kyle] Boswell.”

University of Colorado Student-Athletes

Askia Booker, So., PG

On When UCSB Took The Lead In The Second Half
“I don't think anybody panicked on our team. We kept running our motion. Coach told us to play with poise and still be aggressive. When I got an open shot, I took it, went in and played hard. Our team rebounded, we got some stops in that little stretch, which is always good, and you know, that's credit to our defense.”

On UCSB's G Taran Brown
“Without a doubt [he caught us off guard]. On the scouter report, it says he's a shooter, he comes in and he shoots the ball, but we didn't know he shot it like that. Maybe this is a great night for him, maybe he shoots like this for the rest of the year, we don't know, but that's credit to him.”

On The Effect Of UCSB's Alan Williams Not Being In The Game
“I'm assuming (it was an easier game without him). The guy's average is 24 (points) and 13 (rebounds). Missing a player like that, anybody would miss him. It's like our Josh Scott, you know. Anybody would miss him, being a scorer down low. I guarantee they missed him but at the same time, we don't have any control over that and we're happy he didn't play.”

Spencer Dinwiddie, Jr., PG

On The Lack Of Success From Defending The Three Point Line
“We didn't get to the three point line. There's not much else to say. They shot some, credit to them. Most of them open, but that's our fault.”

On Coach Boyle's Halftime Message
“Coach wants to pressure the ball. Sometimes we just fail to do it. I think it can't be an excuse anymore. It's time to start guarding the three point line.”

On Having F Xavier Johnson Back In The Game
“It was great. He is a guy that plays with a ton of energy, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. When it's positive and pointed in a good direction, it's an unstoppable force and I think you saw that a couple of plays in a row in the second half. When he's really locked in, he's a great player for us.”

On Making 14-of-15 Free Throws
“I live at the line, that's what I've been doing the past two years. That's just how I'm supposed to shoot, really. I'm mad I missed the one.”

On His Assertive Offensive Game
“In that match up zone, I knew it was a funky defense. I told the team before, I didn't like UC's energy coming out, so when I thought that, I decided I wanted to be a little bit more aggressive this game. That's what happened.”

On What Caused The High Number Of Steals and Turnovers
“In our sky report it said that they don't handle pressure well, so that was the emphasis of our defense. I think it proved to be correct.”

On Their Low Team Shooting Percentage
“I don't think it's inherent. I think we're going to make shots. That's pretty much the least of my worries, as long as they're good, open shots. It's just when we take bad and questionable shots, the quick three's. I had one of those this game. We can't take those type of shots.

On Their General Overall Performance
“We have practice at 8 AM. Whether we like it or not, it doesn't matter. As long as Coach doesn't like it, and we have practice, I don't think anybody is happy.”

UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Bob Williams

On UCSB Not Caving In To Colorado
“The number one thing we talked about was that the effort was good. There's no such thing as a moral victory with this group, so we're not pleased with the outcome. Our physical effort was good but what we didn't like was our discipline. I thought that carelessness, turnovers, and the discrepancy at the foul line were indicative of their mindsets and drive with how relentless they were with attacking us at the rim, and our mindset of jump shooting it because we don't have a driving type team necessarily. And the fact that when we start trying to create shots for ourselves we start turning the ball over and our turnovers led to fourteen transition points for them, versus the six transition points we were able to get.”

On The Difference In Foul Numbers In The Second Half
“No, I have no complaint on the officiating whatsoever. That's a really good high-level crew, they did a nice job, and they're very good officials. It's tough to win a game when you get outscored by 23 at the foul line and that's on us that's not on the officials.”

On G Taran Brown's Performance
“Taran shot the ball sensationally. He rose up and shot and made five of them in the first half and two in the second. So he ends up 7 of 10 from the three-point line, and that's tremendous numbers. But we have to get more balance out of him and out of others guys. The fact that he scores 21 of his 23 points all from the three-point line was pretty indicative of how we play. We don't feel really comfortable attacking the rim, and it's not a great asset for us. Without [Alan Williams] we don't have a guy that continuously puts pressure near the basket on opposing teams. We have to get better at driving the ball to the rim and creating for teammates.”

On C Alan Williams' Absence Confirmed Prior To The Game
“I think it helped the team. Nobody was anticipating [Alan Williams] playing in this game, so the guys were very well prepared. [Sam Beeler] was prepared. [Mitch Brewe] was prepared, and I thought Sam and Mitch played admirably well. I thought Mitch actually played very well. I was really pleased with Mitch. It's a tough duty when you get in that kind of foul trouble and we don't have a third big guy. That's why in this game you really need three [big guys] and three points. I think we can survive pretty well with no injuries with two points, but ideally you need to have three point guards on your team and you have to have three big guys.”

On What Impressed Him About Colorado's Performance
“Well, what stood out is that they got to the foul like 38 times. They're really good in transition, they're really good at driving the ball, and they have great length. I thought they made great adjustments down the stretch to put an entire midsized team on the floor so we couldn't pick a guy out and try to post a little guy while they were switching. [Tad Boyle] is a really good coach. He made nice adjustments at the end. They obviously are going to have to shoot the ball better to finish in the upper echelon of the Pac-12, and get more solutions against the zone because they're pretty tentative against that zone, and they were pretty hesitant from the three. They ended up 4 of 18 from the three, and I think a couple of those came late. They need to be better in that, and that is kind of what kept us in the game a little bit was their hesitancy to shoot the ball and they didn't shoot it particularly well from the three.”

-COLORADO-