Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General“Obviously it was a disappointing night for Buffalo basketball, we let an opportunity slip away that we’ll never have back. Congratulate Colorado State and coach Larry Eustachy, they came in here and were tougher then us and out played us. They deserved the win and we didn’t. It’s very disappointing for what we’ve done up to this point. I mentioned to Mark Johnson on the radio that I knew coming into this game that the next two weeks will tell us a lot about our team and where we are. Because this is kind of the meat of our non-conference schedule. It started tonight, we’re at Portland on Saturday, we’ve got Xavier next Wednesday then we’re at BYU. I still feel that way, probably even more so. We’ll find out where this team is toughness wise, mental toughness and physical toughness next Saturday night in Provo when that game is over with. We’ve got three strong tests, two of them are on the road and one of them is against one of the best teams in the country coming in here next Wednesday. Life’s about how you respond to adversity and tonight we faced a lot of self-induced adversity. I didn’t do a very good job as a coach and I’ll take the blame for this. Our guys obviously weren’t ready to play.”
On Team’s Energy Level
“Up to five minutes in the first half I thought our energy level was pretty good. It was a very frustrating night for us offensively. We couldn’t make free throws, the three ball wasn’t going in and we were turning the ball over. A very frustrating night offensively for our team. There’s going to be nights like that, and that’s when you have to rely on your defense, our rebounding was good enough tonight but our defense was not. It started with five minutes to go in the first half and it continued into the second half. You’ve got to find a way to win this game ugly. Colorado State makes the game ugly they’re a very physical team, I’ve got a lot of respect for them, but you’ve got to in ugly sometimes and we weren’t mentally tough enough to win ugly tonight. We got our heads down, and they stayed down. We didn’t have anyone who could pick us up and make a big play. I thought that a big play in the game, was when it was a four-point game and we were making a comeback. We get a steal on our press then we turn it right back over to them, and they get a layup. It was a four-point game that could have gone to two, the crowd was into it, and it’s just really disappointing. We just couldn’t get over that hump.”
On Adjustments Going into Saturday’s Game
“I know that Portland has one of the best point guards on the west coast that no one’s heard about, he’s a very good player. The message to our team is that we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Portland isn’t going to feel sorry for us, they’re licking their chops with a Pac-12 team coming into their gym. We’ve got to regroup and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves because nobody else is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve just got to bounce back because we’re tested right now.”
On Free Throws
“It was a big factor tonight. It started in the first half and it bled over to the second half. That could have gotten us back into the game, maybe tied the score or got us a lead. They were much better at the free throw line then we were. And we’re a good three point shooting team, but we weren’t tonight when it counted. And that’s all that matters.”
On CU Losing to a Team They Should Have Beaten
“I absolutely believe we should have won; I think we should’ve beaten Notre Dame. I believe in this team and I believe in our players, and I think that we have good players. I expect to win every time we step on the floor. I think that’s were our program is now, and our players have to understand that we have that expectation internally. Its absolutely a team we should have beaten, but it didn’t happen. And that’s what our players have to understand, that nobody’s going to give you anything in Division I basketball, you have to earn everything that you get. We didn’t earn anything tonight, in fact we earned what we got, we earned the loss and Colorado State earned the win.”
On the team's defensive struggles tonight
"It all came down to guarding. In the second half they put their heads down and just drove it. We worked in practice on guarding the ball from every position, every spot on the floor. Again, you can practice it until you're blue in the face but until you do it when the lights are on, it doesn't matter. We were not good enough defensively in the second half guarding them off the bounce. We got into foul trouble. Again, we just got the deer in the headlights look like, 'oh that's not supposed to be a foul on us,' instead of saying, 'I'm going to move my feet, get my hands off and do a better job.'
On the team's three-point shooting
"I looked at the stats and its very limited sample size but we were second behind UCLA in three point shooting in the Pac-12 in non-conference games going into tonight's game. We were shooting it 38% from three as a team which is pretty darn good. We've had nights where we were really really hot and nights when we were really really cold. We have to understand that if the three is not going that we have to get the ball inside. Tonight we had 19 offensive rebounds and couldn't finish when we got that rebound. When we did foul and get to the line, we couldn't make a free throw. The three ball is a part of our offense, a big part. But we didn't shoot it very well tonight. We had 19 looks. I didn't think we took a lot of bad shots. They were good looks but we just didn't make it. That's why we have to rely on the other end of the floor. When that's not happening, you've got no chance."
On what the team can take out of this loss
"There are zero positives we can take from this loss. I expect a lot out of this team because I believe in our players, I believe in our system, I believe in everything that we've accomplished here. Past performance has zero to do with future success or failure. It's what we're doing now, today, this year, 2016, 2017 season to get it done. This loss stings."
On George King's current state
"He's mentally really struggling. Physically he's really struggling. His game is struggling. We have to get him out of that."
On the role that the freshmen play
"Deleon was great. Good minutes. The freshmen are up and down. This isn't on Deleon Brown, it's not on Bryce Peters, it's not on Lucas Siewert. Those guys need to give us good minutes when they can give us good minutes. They have to try to not hurt our team when they come into the game. They need to worry about rebounding and defending and making an open shot, making their free throws. If we're have to rely on those three guys, then it's going to be a really long year for Colorado basketball. Nothing against them but they're just not ready yet. We have other guys that are 'proven' veteran guys. That's where it falls. And it falls on me as head coach at the end of the day."
Colorado Players
Derrick White, Sr., G
On the effect of missing free throws tonight“It’s not the reason we lost. We have to step up and make free throws though. That’s it.”
On if a lack of energy played a part in the loss
“They out toughed us today. We made it close but we never really got over the edge. We’re not taking it as a moral victory.”
On if this game will be a wakeup call
“The game should have been a wakeup call.”
On the team’s difficulty at getting the ball in the hoop
“It was just one of those nights I guess.”
On passing the 2,000 career point mark
“I don’t really care about individual stuff.”
Wesley Gordon, Sr., F
On what the team needs to do to improve“We just have to come back to work.”
On the loss
“I think we underestimated guys and they came out and handed it to us. It’s just another loss under our belt. I don’t like to lose period. No matter who it is, it’s a loss. We lost to a team that we should have beat. If we don’t come out to play, that’s what’s going to happen every game.”
Colorado State Head Coach Larry Eustachy
On winning back-to-back in Boulder for the first time 1950“We thought we could win this game. I was shocked that we were fifteen point underdogs, I really was, because our team is built to go on the road. I mean against Stanford if we would’ve turned it over twice less and made two more shots we would’ve beaten Stanford. We base it off our defending and we held them to 23% [shooting] in the second half. It’s the best young defensive team I’ve ever had. We’re built to not shoot it well and still win and we obviously didn’t shoot it well and still won. I told Tad before the game that I think he’s a hell of a coach and I have a lot of respect for his program. I think that plays into it, the respect for the coaching staff and their players.
On being fifteen point under-dogs and using that to motivate his players
“I mentioned it. I’ve talked about the future of this program and where this program is set. You saw today with Nico [Carvacho] and Anthony [Bonner], both freshman, incredible performances by two guys in a tough environment. “
On their 78% free throw shooting
“I was as impressed as I’ve been since I can’t remember. To make those free throws-- I don’t know how many we made in a row, 18? —18 is staggering. And to do it here, I mean they have four fifth year seniors and we have one senior on this team. It’s one of the better feats I’ve experienced in all my years as head coach.
On what he believed was the turning point of the game
“I think every time everybody thought they were going to go by us, we knew that they weren’t. We knew we had a base to stop them and we were disappointed with the way we rebounded to be honest with you and we have a lot of room for improvement individually and as a team. Jeremiah’s three was a huge basket obviously, that was kind of the nail where our guys were really feeling good. Every time they came at us we got stops or made plays. There was a lot of trying to find a chink in our armor, but I don’t think they ever tied or got a lead [in the second half] We came out at the beginning and we knew it was going to take ten four minute games and I think we won most of them.
Colorado State Players
Emmanual Omogbo
On their defense“Same thing every game, if we limit them on the 30 we’re going to get it. I’m so proud of Nico and all of the young guys that stepped up. My point guard JD was out there playing and I’m just thankful to be here.”
On being underdogs
“It’s just another game for us, just like Saturday is going to be another game for us. It’s on to the next one.”
On playing ‘Larry Eustachy Basketball’
“We played his ball tonight. Anytime we play Larry Eustachy ball we have a chance to win”
Nico Carvacho
On his career game“It was a big game, we were underdogs by fifteen points and I knew I had to go out there and play my game for us to be in the game.”
On focusing on defense in practice
“As you see we’re winning games because of our defense. We’re holding teams to 60 points and we get in the gym ourselves anyways to work on offense.”
On the importance of this win
“We needed this win to show everyone we weren’t just the little bros of Colorado.”
Anthony Bonner
On the final two minutes and seeing the crowd walk out“That’s the best feeling, especially here you know at CU. We were the fifteen point under-dogs and we won by fifteen so you know that’s a good feeling.”
On whether or not his team believed they could win
“We believed we could win before the game started honestly. We went into the game believing that we could beat anybody as long as our defense is good and we make our free throws, we can win any game.”