Missouri-Texas A&M Quotes
2/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2010
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Texas A&M vs. Missouri
Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Mo.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Postgame Quotes
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson
On Missouri's first loss at home in 33 games...
"I apologize to our team, our fans and our school. That's one for old coach there. We had a great crowd, we had great energy. We had the game going the direction we wanted to. Let's give Texas A&M credit now, I knew it was going to be a tough, tough ball game."
On the Tigers' second half performance...
"We always talk about that last 10 minutes. There was a period there where we just got away from doing the things that got us a lead and you could just see A&M's hands go up. I'll tell you what that is toughness in the paint. They got all the rebounds and all the loose balls and we didn't have an answer for Loubeau. He made some big plays for them."
On Texas A&M taking the game over down the stretch...
"You talk about a team, they have got some veterans. You need guys like Donald Sloan; he made some big plays and hit some big 3s. We made him work tonight but, again, he is a very good basketball player. If he can get through there and make those kinds of plays, it tells you what kind of player he is. Bryan Davis had some big, big rebounds for them and big stick-backs down the stretch."
On the ball not bouncing Missouri's way tonight...
"It seemed like there were some loose balls there that we normally come up with, but we just could not pull them in. Our guys almost found a way to win there at the end. We had a set up for Kimmie coming off of Steve. They played that so it left J.T. open and his shot was on line. We had a period there, same thing happened against Kansas, where we kind of lost our composure."
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
On Texas A&M being the only Big 12 team Mike Anderson has never beat at Mizzou...
"Let's hope it continues a couple more years. I really thought we beat a great team tonight. They're extremely well-coached. We had 17 missed free throws and 21 turnovers. It seemed like they (Missouri) were on 56 (points) forever. We talked about making them try to shoot jump shots from the outside and they started to get a little tight. Mike's beat a lot of people, he'll probably beat (Texas) A&M soon."
On how A&M dominated on the boards...
"We played a bigger line-up. They (Missouri) scramble, they trap, they double, they do a bunch of different things. Our post guys are playing really well right now. We made some jumpers tonight, that helps. When you're scrambling around and switching screens it opens up the rebounding. The ball bounced our way tonight. Some nights it doesn't bounce your way. The basketball gods were on our side tonight."
On responding to Missouri opening up big at the beginning of the second half...
"We weren't happy with the way we were playing to start the second half. Our decision making was bad. We just kept telling the guys the way the Missouri plays, you can get back in the game. We hustled. We played hard."
On Mizzou's 11-minute scoreless stretch...
"We weren't getting shots. We weren't getting floor movement. Guys started going 1 on 1. Sometimes you play to play as coach would say, instead of playing to win. I think we were doing a little bit of that today.
On A&M's performance in the paint...
"Rebounding. They killed us on the boards. You can't get out rebounded the way we did. With those figures we were fortunate to be in a game like that. We had a lot of turnovers and did a lot of other good things that kept us in the game. That's a recipe for disaster if you let a team out rebound you like that. I think me and J.T. need to step up and hold ourselves more accountable, and Kimmie and Marcus as well. I feel like we have some of the bigger guards in the conference, athletic guys that can jump and get the rebound. Our bigs are fighting but we have to take accountability ourselves."
On final 3 point shot...
"The plan was to get it to Kimmie because he just hit a 3 but you have to be able to have a contingency plan. It was a good look, it just didn't fall."
On relaxing after 11 point lead...
"I think that's when we really started going 1 on 1. We weren't bringing it back and continuing to play together. So we might have relaxed a little bit but not too much.
On lessons from last 2 minutes...
"We haven't lost here in a long time so that's a pretty new feeling for a lot of the guys on the team. You have to grind night in and night out in the Big 12. Whether you're at your house or on the road you're in for a dog fight. We have to come in with the mentality of killer instinct from here on out so we don't have upsets like this."
