CU-Utah Post Game Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General

“Holy cow we needed that one, we needed that one bad. I think our guys really responded tonight, especially how we fell down by 12 in the second half and we fought back, I just loved the way our guys competed tonight. Toughness shows up in rebounding stats, we didn't hit our field goal percentage number on defense but we hit our rebounding number in a big way, plus 18, that was the difference in the game.”

On This Being a Must Win Game

“No, I didn't. That was a critical point in the game, but as for our season on the brink, I'm not going to go that far. Our defense kept us in the game, I thought Eli's [Stalzer] steal and transition basket was big, Xavier Talton hit a big three in the corner and then another pull up at the end of the shot clock. Those were some big time shots from guys who normally don't play as much, we've been talking about guys filling in and I thought those two guys were terrific tonight.”

On The Magnitude Of The Win

“Because of what we've been through, it doesn't matter who you are, you need to win your games at home and hold serve, we dropped one already, we'd love to have back, but it doesn't work that way so this was a big game for us. Again, I'm not saying it was a season on the brink game, but it was a big game. I want to talk about the must possessions, because if you take care of the must possessions the wins take care of themselves, and so do the losses when you don't. That's what I want our guys to understand; it's about the process of what you do in practice every day and how you play every possession of the game. We beat a good basketball team, I talked a lot about Delon Wright before the game and holy cow, 7 steals, 17 points and 11 assists, the guys a really good player.”

On What This Game Does For Xavier Talton's Confidence

“Huge, absolutely huge, and I think Eli's [Stalzer] confidence too. Jaron [Hopkins] really never got in the flow, I felt bad for him but he's a freshman and there's going to be days like this. We've got capable players on this team, our margin for error is slighter now and we need better production and execution from our guys that have been here. We're relying on guys like Askia [Booker], Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson, those are the guys with the most experience on our team.”

On Xavier Johnson's Play

“He's the guy that I'm the most proud of tonight, because he's a guy I challenged. He doesn't like sitting on the bench, but when he gives you the kind of effort he did today on both ends of the floor and rebounding the basketball, holy cow is he good. It's just got to be there consistently at home, on the road, and in practice. His maturity tonight, in terms of the physical nature of that game, he got tied up with a couple guys and picked up that third foul, in the past that might have thrown him into a mental frenzy, but he kept his composure, he kept his poise and that's a great sign of maturity for him.”

On Having A Young Team

“We're extremely young, and it's important for me to talk about that after a win, I'm not going to talk about it after a loss, but we are extremely young.”

On Askia Booker

“I'm really proud of Askia and how he has handled these past two weeks. He's grown up off the court, he's grown up on the court, and in practice. He's grown up with his composure, poise, and leadership and I think he demonstrated all those things tonight, and it was just what we needed. Him and Josh [Scott] have been thrown into that leadership fire with Spencer [Dinwiddie] being gone, and they both have responded in a big way. I believe in this team, I love our guys and we are going to continue to get better. The future of Colorado basketball is bright and I love it when people count us out. We need to play with a chip on our shoulder, we need to do it at home and we have to do it on the road, there's a lot of basketball to be played.”

On Playing Time Going Forward

“Who starts and who plays well that night is going to dictate the minutes and that's where consistently from a player standpoint really helps me as a coach.”

On People Counting Colorado Out

“People are discounting what this team has done because of Spencer [Dinwiddie] and Tre'Shaun's [Fletcher] injuries and I don't buy into that. It's going to be hard from here on in.”

University of Colorado Student-Athletes

Xavier Talton So., G

On Offensive And Defensive Performance

“[I've] never [had a game like that], not on both ends. I think everybody just found me tonight and I was feeling more confident. Just being in the gym this last week, we talked about competing and we've been in the gym shooting a lot, so I think that's something that's helped out.”

On This Win Being Crucial

“I think it's a really big thing. We went 1-4 the past five games. Coming off of this win is going to give us a confidence boost. I think that from here forward we can only get better.”

On The Whole Team Stepping Up Today

“You always want people to step up when their number is called. I think Eli [Stalzer] did a good job of that tonight when he came in, Wesley [Gordon] definitely on the boards getting the put backs and everything, and Xavier Johnson as well. I think that if we continue to share the ball the sky is the limit for our team.”

On Performance Earning Him A Starting Line-up Spot

“I'll let Coach [Tad Boyle] decide that. I'm just going to keep coming in and working hard, and that's all I can do.”

On Finding A Shooting Rhythm

“It's good. The guys were finding me, they were setting screens for me, and I just had to knock down the shot.”

On Personal Improvements In Second Half

“Just playing smarter. When you come into the game with two fouls you have to realize that you can't be as aggressive, but you still have to be somewhat aggressive on the defensive end. You just have to play with your principals.”

On Coach Tad Boyle's Overtime Message

“We had to play the same way we've been playing. We had to keep getting stops and play aggressive offensively as well. You can't change the mentality.”

On Back-To-Back Three Pointers To Tie The Game

“Anytime you hit a couple shots in a row it gives you a lot of confidence. I think you have to stay composed, even though you hit the couple shots you can't just go down the floor again and jack it up. I think you still have to play within the offense. I started to feel a little bit of a rhythm. Like I said, the guys were finding me in open spots, setting screens for me, and it allowed me to have an open look. I just had to knock down the shot.”

Josh Scott So., F

On What Turned Around The Second Half

“First, we didn't turn the ball over. That was big and I think that was a major part of our problems in the first half. Second, we were getting big rebounds and we were getting stops. I think that's why you saw us come back and win.”

On Defensive Approach In Final Possession of Second Half

“We were switching one through five. I was up there but he was quick, so kudos to him for getting that shot off. He got me and I was a little bit upset about that, not going to lie.”

On Importance Of Week Off

“Yeah. We were shooting a lot this week. I know for some of us this week was good in terms of some of us needed rest and some of us needed to get shots up. We put in a hard week of practice. We were getting after it in practice. It was good for us and it was good for our program. We just need to keep improving and not let this confidence go to far to our heads because we still have a long way to go.”

On Mindset Change For Today's Game

“I think that we knew coming in, especially after our last road trip, that our identity was lost a little bit. We weren't rebounding and we weren't playing defense. In all reality I think we're just back to where we were and that's a really good thing. Now we have to try to just step up and our little brother [Xavier Talton] helped that out tonight. I'm proud of him my little guy.”

On Quickness Against Big Players

“I've had that in my game. It's something I'm trying to get better and work at. I think I was able to use that effectively tonight. I wasn't too happy with how I shot the ball against Arizona State. I think I settled a little bit too much so I figured I was going to come out aggressive and drive to the lane. It worked out for me tonight.”

On Wesley Gordon's Performance Helping Him

“It's not just Wesley [Gordon] is Xavier Johnson as well. When they're aggressive on offensive rebounding, engaged, and trying to get the ball it takes a whole lot of pressure off of me. I was big timing, and I can't really say how much it helps me out because it's a lot. It's big.”

On Coach Tad Boyle's Message At Half Time

“We always talk about the boards. At half time we didn't really talk about the boards as much as we talked about turning the ball over. I think we had ten [turnovers] at half, and that's on track to get twenty. You're not going to win any game turning the ball over twenty times. I don't know what the final turnovers were but I know that it must have been at least a little better because it didn't seem like we were throwing away possessions. That's pretty much what we were talking about; making good passes and watching out for Delon Wright because I think he has five steals in the first half. That was the big message that we were talking about at half time.”

On Feelings About This Game Being A Season Changer

“I'll say that it didn't feel like our season was in jeopardy even before this game. To me, we're a good team and we lost some big people. That takes time to adjust to. I think everyone outside of here was probably freaking out but I don't think we were. We have confidence and belief in each other. This game was a big game no matter how many we won or lost before it. It's a home game and you need to win at home. So, to me it was a next step for this team. It was a big step forward and hopefully it can keep going forward from here.”

Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak

On Giving Up The Lead
“Well, we couldn't rebound. We got out-rebounded by 18. That's the difference in the ball game. We shot 11 free throws, so we need to toughen up a little bit apparently. Getting exposed in our last two games by that number of offensive rebounds by the other team we don't have a chance to compete against anybody. We have been making a few changes to our lineup and we're getting bigger and tougher.”

On Emphasizing Closing Out
“I have no idea about the closing stuff, it's a matter of making plays and everybody is different. But what do you close out? You don't get out-rebounded by 18. That's 18 times you need to close out. We talk about losing close ball games and it's disheartening, but the reason why we were losing wasn't because we couldn't close out. We were losing because we were getting pounded.”

On Forcing 15 CU Turnovers
“Having those turnovers helped. We got out and ran a little bit, but for the rebounds, we were still down by eight on the last rebound in the first half. They just doubled it in the second half. We got them to miss a number of shots and it's just Russian roulette at that point. You can't keep letting teams rebound. That's our biggest deficiency right now and we are going to have to solve it this week.”

On Utah Making 11 3-Pointers
“We have got some guys that can shoot the three, but we didn't come here talking about it at all. We had a number of things on the list, but we didn't really talk about that. The key is making them when you are presented with them. I thought our guys made a few of them, but we still could have made some more. There were some looks in each half where we missed the open looks missed some easy buckets around the hoop, which cost us a little bit, but I have a lot of faith in our guys to shoot. That's not my concern.”

On Losing Close Games
“We've had the lead in a lot of games, and each one was tough. It's not because we had the lead, it's just because we can't win a game. It's solvable. It's not because we don't have players, the issue is what we are not doing which is what I just talked about. We will get over it.”

-COLORADO-