Missouri 68, Valpo 47
12/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2002
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Missouri 65, Valparaiso 47 30 December 2002 Columbia, Mo.
Missouri head coach Quin Snyder On the game: "I think it's always a challenge when you come back from Christmas. I remember our first game last year against DePaul in Chicago. It's not one I want to remember. I expected us to misfire in the first half, and I thought we did an excellent job of turning the defense up. I thought we defended well in the first half. The rebounded is something we've been talking about and talking about. It has to start to sink in, or it's going to cost us ballgames."
On junior center Arthur Johnson becoming MU's career blocked-shots leader: "I'm happy for AJ. I love coaching AJ. That says a lot about what he's done. A lot of those blocks were the result of him putting himself in position. He's pretty good at defense and blocking shots now instead of just blocking shots, and that's a credit to his hard work."
On the play of junior point guard Ricky Clemons: "I thought he really picked his spots well, and some of that for him could have been because they played zone. I want Ricky to be aggressive. I want him always ready to shoot. It might not always be his shot. It might be him being aggressive and then pitching the ball. He took a couple of good, wide-open 3's and missed them and he came right back and took another and knocked 'em down. During that entire stretch, he was creating for other people too. (Clemons had) seven assists and two turnovers. To do that and defend the ball for 36 minutes, that's not easy. That takes a lot of energy and a lot of self-discipline."
On the play of junior forward Travon Bryant: "He got it done tonight. ... Travon played really hard tonight defensively. At the beginning of the second half, he was all over his guy. He was getting loose balls. I was surprised to see his line because he had to play out on the floor tonight away from the basket. Travon can do it. ... He hasn't played 27 minutes because he's been in foul trouble. It was a situation where he was playing so well and so hard, you didn't want to take him out."
Valpo head coach Scott Drew On the game: "We thought coming in after playing Purdue where we really struggled trying to run with them. We thought the only chance we had to beat Missouri was to slow the game down."
On slowing down the game: "I feel bad for (Missouri head coach) Quin (Snyder) because I hate playing teams that do that."
On the play of Missouri: "I think you have to hand it to their team. Instead of getting frustrated in the second half, they came out and picked it up a notch."
On recruiting international players: "Since Missouri gets the best players in Missouri, Illinois gets the best players in Illinois, and Indiana and Purdue get the best ones there, we've got to go somewhere else."
"We've attacked some of the best players internationally." Missouri Player Quotes
Missouri junior center Arthur Johnson On blocking shots: "Yeah [I've always been able to do that], I guess because I have long arms and I like to block shots."
Missouri junior forward Rickey Paulding On Jimmy McKinney's first start: "I think he played good. He was really ready to play, and he's glad to get a game under his belt. He just had a good game for us."
On Missouri's Arthur Johnson's block record: "It means a lot to just see his name in the record books, and he may not say it but he's kind of happy. I'm just proud of him."
On second-half scorin`g by Johnson, Clemons, and himself: "We stepped our defense up, and we made an effort to try to get some easy transition baskets. Guy were more ready to shot, and guys knocked shots down."
Missouri junior guard Ricky Clemons On playing together: "As long as we all believe in it [defense] and stay together, it'll work. We've been working on since we all got here as a team, and we're all just trying to learn each other and stay connected."
