Dec. 2, 2002

Missouri 89, Sacramento St. 60 2 December 2002 Columbia, Mo.

Missouri head coach Quin Snyder On the game:

"We defended again tonight. We played a good team. They made a lot of plays in the first half, and I was proud of our guys for not getting frustrated. You play hard and a team's making plays, you can get out of character. ... We were a little bit more poised offensively in the second half."

On the competition:

"We're just anxious to play. We're excited to play, and certainly the competition is good, and regardless of what the result is, I think you find out about yourself when you play good teams and when you go on the road, too."

On the play of Missouri's younger players:

"I'm pleased right now with the development of our younger kids-Kevin, Jeffrey, Najeeb in particular. Jimmy is our sixth starter. He ignites the game when he comes in the game."

On the play of Sacramento St.:

"I think Sacramento State's a pretty good team. I thought we played really good in the second half, and they had some interior strength."

On Missouri's 18-of-27 free throw shooting: "That was a nice thing tonight. We've been working on our free throws. ... Some of our guys are making some changes and shooting 100 a day. We're going to try to make it even more competitive in practice. It's a good thing to see."

Missouri junior center Arthur Johnson

On the play of Sacramento State and Missouri's defense: "They were playing real hard; they were hitting some big shots. ... We came in at halftime, and the players talked amongst ourselves and said, 'We're going to try to keep them under 60' because they shot 50-some percent (51.6 percent) in the first half."

Missouri freshman guard Jimmy McKinney

On Missouri's defense: "Our defense set the tone. They were hitting shots in the first half, but they started missing, and that's part of the game."

Missouri junior guard Ricky Clemons

On Missouri's defense: "They started missing shots, and that played into what we wanted to do. We wanted to push the ball down low. Our big man produced tonight. We just concentrated on playing good defense."

On his relationship with Coach Snyder: "He's one of the most important people in my life. Me and Coach have a close relationship because he was a point guard, and he knows some of the things I'm going through now. It's easier for him to translate to me because he's been through it before, and that's what I like about him."

Sacramento State head coach Jerome Jenkins

On the play of Missouri: "They're a very good basketball team. They really turned it up on us in the second half. ... I don't want to take anything away from what Missouri did. They shot very well in the second half."

On the game:

"This is going to help my team grow up. I left five of my studs at home due to academics and discipline problems. This is going to help this team grow up and prepare for the Big Sky Conference."

Sacramento State junior center Tony Champion

On Missouri: "They're beatable. I really think if we had more opportunities to get to the free throw line-I think we only shot 5-of-12, they went to the line 30 times; I think with more opportunities at the line, I think we could have been right there."