Missouri beats Texas A&M 82-77
1/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2004
Missouri senior center Arthur Johnson On playing more aggressively today: "Yeah, I haven't been playing that aggressive, and that just stems from over thinking. I just played."
On playing vocal defense: "I was talking a lot on defensive today. I was trying to take over that role. Somebody's got to do, and I figured I could."
Missouri junior guard Randy Pulley On earning playing the point: "I did it because I'm an on-the-ball defender and a true point guard, a leader on the floor. I make sure every body gets the ball where they need it."
Missouri senior forward Rickey Paulding On taking it to the rim: "Yeah, I'm just trying to out pressure on the defense and get to the free-throw line and get some easier things. I thought I had my drive tonight, and I just wanted to go to the basket."
Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder On the game: "There are some really good stretches that we played well defensively, and that aided the streak we went on. It was great to see AJ playing with a lot of passion; the passion he has for the game is infectious, and our team really picked up on it. It was disappointing down the stretch, in how our help defense performed. We were really caught in between.
On Randy Pulley: "Randy, the last two games, has nine assists and one turnover. He was not perfect tonight, but he is our most confident player with the ball. He gets the ball up the court quicker, and gets us into our transition offense. He's also been solid on the ball defensively. I'd like him to be more solid on the ball defensively, but he is a settling influence for our team.
On facing different defenses: "I think we've seen a whole lot of changing defense to prevent us from getting the ball inside. We've seen three-quarter court, 2-2-1, doubling the first pass, 1-3-1, 1-2-2, 2-3s, and as much as you work against them, those are the things they need to be able to make reads on. They also need to be able to find guys when they're open. We're not doing a good enough job finding people right away. The better our reads get, the better we'll be able to get the ball inside, and we're tough to guard in there. If they double-team it when they go in there, they can kick it back out for a kick-out shot."
On facing the Syracuse defense: "There are a lot of thoughts on how to attack the Syracuse zone, but their zone is different than most peoples, because it is more aggressive. We cannot be afraid, and that's the biggest thing for us. When you've seen other zones it has made us tentative, and we can't do that against Syracuse.
Texas A&M Head Coach Melvin Watkins On letting the game get away: "It never got away from us, we knew they would make their run in the first half and we fought back and in the second half and we got back in the game, I didn't think it got away, they just made some plays and some critical baskets, particularly at home and they've got some pretty good players. When you've got that combination you're going to put together some good runs."
On the match-up at center: "It was a big battle in their and Arthur had a good day, we know he's capable of that and he's always going to score a little bit more than Slocum but Slocum bothered him on the board and put a big body on him we surely needed that."
Texas A&M senior center Andy Slocum On matching up with Arthur Johnson: "I've been looking forward to playing against him for three years, I've been hurt or something every time we play him. It was a big game for me and I know he was looking forward to it too because he and Jesse [King] are friends"
"I think I played well against him. When I got to guard him in the post he missed most of his shots and he scored on put backs. He played well he had 19 and 11."
