Colorado-UCLA Quotes
Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
“Today is a special day. Not only because we beat UCLA, who is a really good team, but because we have four very special seniors that we wanted to send out on the right note. We played with great passion, toughness, pride, and energy and we did that for Tory Miller-Stewart, Josh Repine, Dominque Collier, and George King. We couldn’t have asked for more solid students, athletes, and representatives for our program. They are all terrific kids. It is a great day for the Buffs.”
On The Play Of The Seniors
“They all played like seniors. Dom (Collier) was ready to go from the start, and so was George. George’s block on Kris Wilkes at the end was a big-time defensive play. The rest of the team played for them. They wanted to send them out right. As George (King) said, this was the closest of a team he’s been on since being here. We have been up and down this year, but when your team is connected and believes in each, it is a pretty cool thing. A coach can’t make that happen, it just has to happen amongst them. If we play for each other, like we did today, good things can happen for us down the stretch.”
On Dom Collier’s Performance:
“It was heartwarming. As a coach, you want it so bad for him because he is such a good teammate and player. He has given his heart and soul to this program. Seeing him breakout today was a heartwarming thing. His parents did a great job with Dom. He is a high character kid.”
On Pulling Away Down The Stretch
“That was very encouraging. During the eight minute media timeout, Coach English said that that was where we were in the USC game. In that game we were tied at the eight minute mark and today we were up one. Today, we made plays offensively and defensively down the stretch. Players make plays, and our guys made the plays tonight.”
On Lazar Nikolic’s Late Three Pointer
“It was big. Laz has a nice stroke. He rose up with confidence, and knocked down the shot. I would have loved to play with Laz. Our guys like playing with him because he is unselfish, and will only shoot it when he has to. That shot was a game-changer.”
On The Overall Team Effort
“At halftime, we had ten assists with 14 buckets. When we struggled offensively, we were getting stops. Our zone was really good down the stretch. Thomas Welsh, Aaron Holiday, and Kris Wilkes are really good players and our zone got them off-balanced.”
On The Recent FBI Probe In College Basketball
“It is sad. Obviously, the game needs some fixing. Each school has to deal with it and the NCAA needs to address it as a whole. These are some difficult times.”
Colorado Players
George King, Sr., G
On what’s special playing UCLA“I wouldn’t say its UCLA, I just think they got the wrong end of the stick. We just came out with a lot of energy for some reason. Going back to the last time we played UCLA, we had just come off a loss. It was a good victory on the road, we came out with a lot of energy then too. But I don’t know, when we do that we’re a tough team to play against.”
On emotion of game
“I got extremely emotional when we came out and did the senior ceremony. To see my mom up on the big screen and she was crying. I got a little emotional too, which is rare. It was an emotional game, especially in that beginning. But when tipoff started, all that was behind me and it was about winning the game. Leaving Coors in your last game with a loss when you’re a senior would have been really tough to swallow.”
On what he looks forward to watch next year with this team
“Just the team itself. Evan who sat out this year but really just the team itself. With the young core guys that we have, Lucas included, I think Colorado Basketball is in good hands.”
On what this means moving forward
“It’s huge, we can build some momentum and then we got a road game against a good team in Utah and then we go into Vegas where we all know anything can happen. If we can get some momentum going into Vegas since we got this game and if we can beat Utah and then go to Vegas, anything can happen.”
On playing off of Dom during huge run
“I guess you could say that. Senior night, I’m a senior, he’s a senior. I was trying to let it go. He was letting it go. So we were just feeding off of each other for sure.”
Lucas Siewert, So., F
On importance of this game for the seniors“I mean definitely, that’s something we’ve been talking about since after the USC game. To send these guys out on a high note. We just wanted to play for them tonight and I’m happy we go the dub.”
Dominique Collier, Sr., G
On emotion of game“It was really emotional. Coming in this morning for pregame, before we warmed up, and throughout warmups I didn’t think I’d get really emotional but when my family stood around me and I walked out there, I got real emotional actually. That’s when it really hit me that it’s the last time playing in this building. I just wanted to come out here and play well and come out with a victory.”
On his success today
“I just wanted to come out here and win. We were on a three game losing streak and we wanted to have momentum going into Utah because we haven’t beat them at Utah in a while. For the most part I just wanted to come out here and win. My shot felt good and Kin and all the other guys found me and I was just ready to shoot it.”
On what playing in Coors means
“Oh of course. Like you said I’ve been playing in this building since high school. We’ve had a lot of big wins in this building. Some this year. It just means a lot to come out here with the guys every day and just compete.”
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
On energy trying to come back from deficit
“That’s not easy. We over helped a lot in the first half giving up uncontested three’s. In the second half, I thought we settled down, really defended well. We did a lot of good things in the second half, but when you’re down 12 and battle back takes a lot of you. I thought that’s what happened, we subbed to get rest and they went on a 14-1 run. We had some guys play not particular well. We Missed some shots we normally make. We got beat bad at the foul line. That’s always tough on the road. I was happy with our effort.”
On where this puts UCLA in Pac 12
“We just got one more opportunity. We’re 10-7 in conference, so we have those double digits. We got one more game left, so we have to keep battling. Obviously, USC is hot right now, another senior night with them. Doesn’t get any easier. Down to one opportunity before post season.”
On what CU did well
“First half, they did a good job mixing their defense from man to zone. For some reason, that bothered us, and we began to force things. Second half, we did a much better job at attacking what they were doing.”
On how players are handling these losses
“It’s hard. Nobody is thrilled with it, I hope it hurts. I have a good group of guys who have been fighting all year. I’m sure it hurts the coaches and players. We fought hard but didn’t make enough plays down the stretch. We weren’t able to overcome thought, but we gave a great effort.”
On George King
“Every team prepares for George, he’s that good. George and I go way back, I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s a terrific young man and has had a terrific career here. To do the things he’s doing this year is special. I’m happy for him, not happy he beat us twice, but he’s a good person who works hard and who can do it all.”
On Lonzo Ball quote (referencing “everybody is getting paid anyway.”)
“That’s ludicrous, that’s all I’ve got to say on that. That’s crazy. Not everyone is getting paid.”
On scandals
“I’m trying to figure out our team and make us better. I’ll be able to look at it after the season. We don’t have enough knowledge on it right now. I know how we do things and how my staff does things. That’s never an issue when I go to bed.”