USC-Oregon Post-game Quotes
01/28/06 | Men's Basketball
Coach Kent:
On the free throw problems:
"We spent a lot of time this week in practice working on free throws. It's disappointing when you out shoot an opponent and then lose the game at the line."
"Aaron [Brooks] played really well tonight, not just with the nine points, but also with the nine assists."
"I've never had a situation where both of my point guards fouled out, but Malik and Bryce stepped in and did a great job down the stretch."
"The game just got away from us defensively. We played well enough offensively to get the win."
"[Gabe] Pruitt, Nick Young, and Lodrick Stewart are outstanding players. They had five guys in double figures and that shows the kind of balance that they have."
"We had a great effort defensively against UCLA and I was disappointed that we didn't do that tonight."
"Chamberlain Oguchi and Ray Schafer played well also. It's hard for them to sit on the bench and have to come in and play at a high level. They certainly showed their ability to do that tonight."
Bryce Taylor, G
"They run a lot of motion and a lot of screens, and Gabe (Pruitt) was getting space and knocking it down."
On his and Oguchi's performances:
"We had a talk before the game and we just wanted to come in and stay relaxed and help the team any way we could. Once we started hitting a couple of shots we were just able to feed off of each other's energy."
"We didn't expect Gabe (Pruitt) to get off the way he did, but we didn't defend like we knew we had to and we just gave them too many open looks."
"We just have to look ahead to the second half of the Pac-10 season, and now that we know we can play with everyone in the Pac-10, we think we can beat every team in the Pac-10."
Chamberlain Oguchi, G
"They have some really good players on their team that are known for knocking down big shots and we just gave them too many open opportunities."
"It was tough getting behind early, and when you're playing catch-up it takes a lot out of you."
"We are a little bit behind where we wanted to be after the first half, but the Pac-10 race is still wide open and we can still make a run in the second half."
USC Head Coach Tim Floyd
"Our guys really played unselfishly tonight. A lot of our baskets came from the extra pass. We took the ball to the rim hard."
"Gabe [Pruitt] has been getting better at taking the ball to the basket. He's always been able to shoot it."
"I thought all three of our freshman played with poise. We only had nine turnovers and that was a key to the game."
"We've been a very poor rebounding team this year, but we held our own tonight. Early in the year when we were really struggling, we would make one pass and crank it. Now we're making the extra pass and we're getting better shots."
"You have to learn how to win on the road. You need to take the crowd out of it, run transition, and take good shots."
"We're pleased with our record thus far. They had a pretty good crowd. Our ability to play within ourselves was a key to the game."
F Gabe Pruitt
“I thought we were a little more patient tonight. Our shot selection was good. We were able to get open for good shots.”
“We talked about what it's like to play here. It's a tough place to play. The crowd is going to be loud and vocal. You just have to stay focused.”
“Our game plan has always been there. It was just on us to perform. We've been slacking a little bit. We need to stay focused.”
“We stayed cool. We felt we could bear down and focus on our guys. We played harder and longer.”
“It's always good to get one on the road. It feels good. I had a good game. It was one of those nights. I was feeling it.”
