Post Game Quotes
12/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
Opening Statement....
"That was probably the best first half that we have played all year. I felt really good about what we were doing on both ends of the floor, both defensively and offensively. Watching them {Elon} play, I knew they would make a run in the second half. Certainly, they made a big run. I think we had some careless turnovers. I didn't think our shot selection was terrible. Probably the biggest disappointment in the whole game is you look at the rebounding statistics and they have 19 offensive rebounds, so that shouldn't really happen, and it did. They scored some points off of it, but we scored more points than they did on second chance. We won the game. The guys made free throws at the end of the game. We made plays at the end. We executed pretty well with the pressure at the end and just made a couple mistakes. I am happy to win. This will help our confidence."
On learning about team under pressure tonight...
"The bad news is we let them come back, but the good news is we handled the pressure at the end. I would have been surprised, kind of echoing these guys, if we didn't play well. I do agree with what Keith said, I think it was one of the best, or more focused, two or three days of practice that we have had. I am pleased that we did, once we messed it up, we fixed it at the end. We made some free throws. I thought we handled their pressure pretty well. We made a not very over the back play, but this is a team that needed something good to happen. Winning a game is good. I think we can build on the first half and hopefully learn some things and play better on Saturday."
On Xavier coming to town on Saturday...
"I will know a whole lot about them in about an hour. I know they are good. I know they are well coached and I know they have good players. I don't normally go a game ahead. I stay with this game. My staff has it and it is all laid out. It is ready to go. It is just a matter of going up and watching it and putting it on the floor for the guys tomorrow."
Mizzou Player Quotes
Keith Shamburger, Senior Guard
On intensity at the end of the game...
"I didn't really feel too much intensity. We just had to go out there and win the game. I knew we had to win the game because it was a big game for us, but it wasn't too tense."
On first-half plays...
"We switched up our early break offense and that opened up a lot of opportunities for us early in the game. It made the game a little faster. It was a much faster pace than we usually have."
On being a go-to guy on the court...
"I feel like I'm just a player that wants to put my team in good spots. If they need me to score, I'll score. If they need me to pass, I'll pass. We're just trying to win the game and I want to make plays for my teammates."
On the team improving its free-throw percentage...
"Everyday we do free-throw shooting. We shoot as a team before every game. This week in practice is probably the most supportive we have ever been for each other. We all had each other's backs and it showed that we had been practicing hard and taking our time shooting free throws at practice. It carried over into the game."
On the team's morale...
"Like I said, this week has been one of our best weeks at practice and we've been going hard. It's no shock to us because we felt this coming and we've got to keep it going. Like Coach said, we have to be consistent and keep going hard every day."
D'Angelo Allen, Freshman Forward
On the first-half lead...
"I think we didn't execute as well in the second half. We weren't doing what we had to do, like Coach said, with rebounding. We gave them chance after chance, but we still came out with a W."
n gaining confidence through wins...
"Coming in as a freshman, there can sometimes be a lot of pressure so a W is a W. It doesn't matter. You're supposed to play your role and do what you have to do to win and that's what we did."
On his game tonight...
"I felt like I had a good game, but not my best game. I can do much better and be at better at things I'm capable of like running, getting in shape and other things like that. If I can lose some weight and get in shape, I think I can be a good player for this team."
Elon Head Coach Matt Matheny
Opening statement...
"I feel a lot better after the second half than after the first half. I thought Missouri really knocked us on our heels to start the game and we played the better part of the first half on our heels, tentative. I really am happy with the way our team responded coming out of half time. It wasn't like we were gangbusters but we played on our toes in the second half. I thought we had some gutsy individual performances and I thought we really hung together as a team and put ourselves in a position to be successful and we came up short."
On Elon's end-of-game looks...
"I thought Luke Eddy was sensational. I said to Luke on the way in here, I said, `I thought it was a good look.' I have a lot of confidence in him. We've been in a lot of close games already this year and we love to put the ball in his hands. I thought some of the other looks we got were good looks too. Credit goes to our guys. I thought we executed some sophisticated plays we hadn't practiced a lot to get good looks."
On Missouri's early shooting accuracy...
"Their numbers this year already are staggering. Some of the 3-point percentages, and I know you're talking about all their field goals, but they had a second half in here eight for nine. They had another game they played where they shot the ball really well. I think that's one of the strengths of their team. They have several guys that can shoot it. And I think that stretched us and stretches defenses. I think what they did different tonight was they really pushed the ball and I thought they got some stuff in transition that they had not been getting and we would need to do a better job getting back."
