Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
CU-Stanford Quotes
March 06, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“It wasn't easy. When you win, and you win on the road against an NCAA tournament team – which I think Stanford is – and you don't play your best…it shouldn't have been as close as it was. We can learn a lot, especially offensively. We went on a drought, holy cow we can go on droughts, but the difference between this and the Utah game is that when the drought happened instead of them scoring 20-something points they only scored 10 points. Our defense was playing good enough to keep us in the game, until our offense got back going. We took some ill-advised shots and made some bad decisions. The good thing about our team is there are some guys in that locker room that don't feel real good about themselves, but that's a good sign, I want that. I want them to also understand the importance of getting a victory like this on the road against a team like this, this time of year is huge for our team.”
On Team's Youth
“We're young, I'm not going to talk about how young we are after we lose, but we're young. We've got two seniors in Ben [Mills] and Beau [Gamble]. Speaking of Ben, and speaking of our bench, in the first half I thought they were the difference. Eli Stalzer gave us great minutes, Ben did, and I thought Jaron [Hopkins] was terrific in the first half. I did a bad job in the second half not getting Jaron in earlier.”
On Stanford's Chasson Randle
“Chasson Randle is as good as guard as there is in this game, he can really play. I saw him at the World University Games this summer that Spencer [Dinwiddie] was in, and he is as good as any guard in this league and or the country. He's a pretty good player, and Dwight Powell is a pretty good player, and Anthony Brown is a very good player, Josh Huestis is a player, he had nine offensive rebounds including seven of them in the first half. We talked about that and challenged our guys. The one thing we did at halftime is said, 'OK guys, it's March 5, 2014 are we ready to pass this test. We're going to be tested in the second half, we know Stanford is going to go on a run, we know it's not going to be easy, are we going to pass the test?' Our guys didn't pass the test with flying colors, we didn't get an A+ on this deal but we played good enough to win on the road against a quality team and to sneak out of here. As long as our guys compete and they play as hard as they can, I can accept it. I don't like the bad shots or the quick shots, or the turnovers, we can hopefully work on those things and get better. But, you can't get better if you don't play hard and play with intensity and a will to win, which our guys did tonight.”
On Winning 21 Regular Season Games
“This team on Saturday has an opportunity to set itself apart from any other team in the University of Colorado basketball history. Where we are, having lost the player that we lost early in this conference season, and to be in this position is a testament to our young men and their resolve and what they are all about. We're going to do our darnest to ruin California's senior day like our senior night has been ruined the last two years, but it's not going to be easy.”
University of Colorado Student Athletes
So., F, Xavier Johnson
General
“That was a good road win for us, we've beaten a lot of teams on the road but this one meant the most to us. This was a big win for us, getting 21 wins in the regular season and now going to Cal in two days and ready to play them.”
On Offensive Slump
“I didn't even not that, coach [Tad Boyle] pointed it out to us after the game, so that means he's not even focused on the offense, we're always focused on the defense. For us to go nine minutes without scoring and still come out with the victory means that we've made great progress as a team.”
On Changing His Role
“When Spencer [Dinwiddie] went down we needed new leaders to step up and control the game and keep everyone focused and I'm trying to be a part of that. “For us to come out and get this victory without our key players it says a lot about our principles that we believe in.”
On Defensive Stops
“It's a credit to our defense just staying humble and staying focused, that's every day in practice guarding the ball, staying in front of our man, and just getting stops when we need to.”
On Winning 21 Regular Season Games
“We have a chance to play Cal on Saturday and if we win that game we will be the winningest team in Colorado history in 113 years – most regular season wins. So, we want to go in there and win the game and get us good seeding for the NCAA tournament and Pac-12 tournament.”
-COLORADO-