Missouri 77, Baylor 69
1/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Missouri 77, Baylor 69 11 January 2003 Columbia, Mo.
Missouri head coach Quin Snyder
On the game
"We played so well at the beginning of the game. Baylor got hot late when they were down, and they were playing with a lot of confidence. I was pleased to see our guys make some great plays down the stretch. Guarding that flex and playing against that 1-3-1 are two very unique schemes. We really prepared for both of them. I thought especially in the second half when they were down they were shooting with nothing to lose. These guys are really good players. We knew they were great shooters, and that was part of our game plan-to take away the 3's. They got them in late, and that obviously brought them back."
On the play of junior center Arthur Johnson
"This is his first season being a primary guy. He's trying to become a great player. He wants to be a great player. His mental toughness is really where all of that comes from, his tough-mindedness. When he's tough-minded, he has the physical ability to do a lot of things on the offensive end and on the defensive end."
On the first Big 12 game:
"Ricky Clemons started with the game with a bang, and he had a few dropped passes, he had a few forced, that I thought threw him off his game. I got on him. I thought he didn't play through some of those things. Jimmy was knocked back the first half. He had three turnovers right off the bat, and he knew it. ... In the second half, it seemed like everything was clicking, and we just kind of relaxed a little bit with our precision offensively. Sometimes when you lose something like that, it's tough to get it back."
Missouri freshman guard Jimmy McKinney
On Baylor's play:
"We knew Baylor could come out and play hard and come out and compete. They had some shooters on their team. As you could see down the stretch, they knocked down some shots."
Missouri junior forward Rickey Paulding
On looking to upcoming Syracuse game:
"It's a big game coming up for us. We've have to leave all the baggage of this game behind and focus on Syracuse."
Missouri junior forward Arthur Johnson
On taking it to foul-troubled Baylor:
"I wanted to take it to those guys anyway, whether they [Roberts, Thomas]were in there or not. They beat us last year. That was still in the back of my head, and I wanted to take it to them."
On Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony:
"Carmelo he's real good. He's a real player. I knew he was going to do good. He's in a good program and a good system. He can't do anything but blossom there."
Baylor Quotes Baylor sophomore guard Kenny Taylor
On the play of Missouri's Arthur Johnson:
"We had to grab the first rebound. A lot of times we tipped it around, and he just got the boards. He's a good player."
Baylor head coach Dave Bliss
On Missouri's Arthur Johnson:
"A.J. takes advantage of everything. He played a terrific game. We had no answer for him, especially when we lost R.T. [Guinn], and Lawrence [Roberts] got in foul trouble."
"He [A.J.] has an amazing soft touch, and he's going to be a terrific player as long as he wants to play."
On game plan for Missouri: "We play a different game against some people because R.T. [Guinn] can shoot three's. we tried to bring Arthur away form the basket, but when Guinn goes out, we don't have that same presence."
