Colorado-UCLA Quotes
vs
Grace College (Ind.)
Oct 19 (Sun)
12 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. We beat a UCLA team that has been playing well. They’ve won four out of 5 coming in here. Jalen Hands has really improved, that's a better team than we saw in LA about a month ago. But we guarded, held them to 35 percent, we rebounded, which was a big key of the game for us was going into it. I thought our defense was great for the most part. It was a great win for Colorado.”
On the Buffs defensive effort tonight
“Our interior defense was really good. D’Shawn Schwartz did a pretty darn good job on Kris Wilkes all night, McKinley did a terrific job on Jalen Hands. I think we had some really good individual performances, but our team defense was really good.”
On dominant performance before PAC-12 Tournament
“I think it gives us some momentum. We've been playing well as of late and I don’t think we played poorly in Washington, we just didn't play well enough to win either of those games. The mindset of this team has been really good ever since we lost to Oregon State at home. I think that's been the turning point of our season.”
On second-half adjustments
“I think our guys made some good adjustments in the second half. We talked at halftime about the ball movement not being there in the first half. We were moving the ball around the perimeter of the zone but we weren’t penetrating the zone. In the second half, we penetrated the zone, got to the free throw line, and got some plays at the rim. And that's what you have to do against a zone, you have to play inside-out. You can’t settle for threes.”
On Shane Gatling getting more involved
“The one thing about him when we recruited him was that he’s got the ability to do more than be just a three-point shooter. He’s a good shooter and people know that, so they’re going to run him off the line and make him put it on the floor.”
On Tyler Bey’s inside scoring
“The one thing that Tyler has done well is catching the ball in the short corner because when he catches it there he can get it to the rim so quick because he’s an explosive jumper. But when he catches the ball in the corner he can’t get it to the rim because the zone adjusts.”
“The coach ability factor that Tyler’s playing with I really appreciate. He’s becoming comfortable with who he is and playing within himself and not trying to be someone he’s not.”
On the team’s progress
“Our team’s consistency has gotten so much better since this seasons moved on. To think back to where we were as a team in Hawaii, to think about where we are today, we’ve come a long way. There’s no fast forward button for experience but I think anybody who has watched this team all season long has seen growth.”
On having something to play for in the final season game
“That's all you can ask for is for games to mean something this time of year. Tonight’s game meant something, Saturday's game will mean something. We just want to continue to get better, and Saturday at three o’clock we have to be ready to tear the nails off the floor because it's going to be a hard-fought game.”
Colorado Players
McKinley Wright, So., G
On What This Win Says about the Team’s Mentality“Earlier in the season we were struggling to be a two half team, we were only playing good in one half. Now I think we’ve figured it out and have become a team that plays hard for two halves.”
On What Led to the Strong Defensive Effort
“I think we took these matchups personally, we got tired of hearing certain guys’ names over and over. Before the tip I told my guys to take their matchup personally and everybody did. When we come together, and take our matchups personally we’re a really good defensive team.”
On the Team’s Approach to a Zone Defense
“Early in the year we struggled with against a zone defense, but coach has been working with us in practice. He stressed moving without the ball, and cutting like you want the ball. Now that we look at it, there’s a lot of teams playing zone. We’ve been doing a very good job of carving them up, and that’s credit to all my teammates being in the right spot and sharing the ball.”
On the Difference of Points in the Paint Tonight
“Coach was just talking about that in the locker room. That’s huge for us, especially with a player like Tyler who can score at will. When we get him touches good things happen.”
On his Thoughts about Their Next Matchup against USC
“We’re ready to go. We’re looking forward to it, because it’s a huge game for us. We’ve got to send Namon out the right way on senior night. We’re just ready to play.”
Tyler Bey, So., G/F
On His Rebounding Against UCLA“I feel like my teammates have my back with boxing out, especially Evan. There were plays where he would box out and not even go for the rebound. That’s the type of stuff that shows how we play for each other.”
On If this is The Best Basketball He’s Ever Played
“Yes. I feel really good going into every game. My teammates are always finding me with the ball, and I appreciate them for that. I’ve been watching film after every game just to learn about myself, and fix my mistakes.
Shane Gatling, Jr., G
On two of his Three 20 point games being against UCLA“I don’t know what it is, but my teammates just kept finding me. I wasn’t shooting well from three tonight, but I tried to make plays for others, and do other things that would impact the game.
On Coach’s Reaction to Him Shooting 10 for 10 from the Line
“I’m sure he was happy, because he emphasizes making free throws every day. Like McKinley said we were tired of the negative voices, so we did everything in our power to play well tonight.
On Playing In A Meaningful Final Game
“It means a lot. We’re trying to get a top 4 seed, in order to make a run in Vegas, and that bye is very important. I think that’s what the other teams are playing for as well. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and take care of business.”
UCLA Interim Head Coach Murry Bartow
On What Was Expected From Colorado
“Well they are good, they are a good team that is well coached. We knew it was going to be a hard game, they were 11-2 coming into this game at home. They are hard to beat here and they beat us in the first game so we knew it was going to be a hard game. We just didn’t play good enough, when you are on the road you have to play really well. I give Colorado a lot of credit, they defended better than we did, they rebounded better than we did and offensively they scored the ball better than we did. So really in all phases of the game they just outplayed us.”
On How They Were Adjusting To Colorado throughout the Game
“We tried different line ups, we tried different rotations, we tried to play different defenses. We were in about four different types of defense so we tried a lot of things. It is such a game of inches, Jaylen Hands had a pretty good look with about six or seven minutes to go in order to cut it to nine at the top of the key. If he makes that it is a nine-point game but this has happened to us several times this year when we have a ten-point deficit and then before you can blink goes to twenty. It isn’t the first time that has happened to us but that is what happened tonight.”
On What He Told the Team at Half, Trailing By Ten
“Well I thought that the last thirty seconds of the first half was big because it could have been a five or six point game but instead it was a ten point game. We didn’t handle the last thirty seconds very well and that was big. We have been down a lot and we have came back a lot so a ten point deficit at half for us is really not that big of a deal. We were down nineteen the other night and in the second half we came back and won. We were down seventeen in Oregon and came back and won, so we felt like we could have come back and won so there wasn’t a lot of panic but we just knew that we needed to play better.”
On Tyler Bey
“He is good, he is well coached, he is bouncy, he has a high motor and he is athletic. They play him with heels on the baseline behind you, so defensively the way we play our zone it does put some pressure on you. It wasn’t just for our game, that is the way that they play him against the zone. Again, Tad is a good coach and Bey is a really good player and he just got behind us.”