Mizzou Head Coach Kim Anderson
Opening Statement…
“Certainly a disappointing loss. I think we started off slow again, but I thought we did a great job in coming back. I was really proud of our guys, the way they competed. Early in the second half, we had some chances, and then they just went on a great run, and for all practical purposes, put the game out of reach. They shot the ball better than we thought they would. We came into the game wanting to do a good job on Markkanen and Ristic and their other bigs, and for the most part we did. Hats off to them. Their guards shot the ball really well, and we didn’t. There are some things that we have to correct from an offensive standpoint. We can’t continue to shoot 4-of-18 from three. We need to get back to the gym and work on it. I thought all of our guys really competed well. We got into a little rut there in the second half when they went on that big run, and we got a little bit deflated. They got all the loose balls, but again, I thought we competed. We did miss a lot of foul shots, though. It seemed like when we had chances to make a run, we would miss a foul shot, or miss an easy shot.”
On the team’s three-point shooting…
“I do not mind shooting threes, but we need better shots. We can’t continue to go 4-of-18. We are better shooters than that. Sometimes we take good shots and miss them, but like I told you guys, I have been real politically correct these first nine games. We have taken some bad shots, and we are going to stop taking bad shots.”
On carrying momentum from the first half over to the second half…
“I thought the momentum was really good going into halftime. I thought our guys were really feeling good about what they had done, because we got down early and came back. We had chances in the first five minutes of the second half to cut the lead even more, and we just couldn’t get it done. I thought we had all the momentum going into the second half, but we couldn’t carry it over. We have to understand that once you catch up, the other team keeps playing. They don’t take time off and give you easy chances to catch up. Especially against a good team like Arizona. You can’t get back within five and just take a deep breath and think you’re going to cruise for the next five minutes.”
On the return of Jordan Barnett…
“I just told him yesterday was your graduation from scout team. I am looking forward to having him come back and play next week. I do think there has to be an understanding that he has not played in a year. My expectations for him are for him to come back and fit in and get comfortable. I am sure it will take him a few games. But it is really nice to be able to have him. He has worked really hard, and he really is a great kid. He is a phenomenal young man and a good basketball player. I think he gives us another perimeter option and option around the basket. He has got that good mix. I just told him this is the last one you will have to watch with that gold shirt on.”
Mizzou sophomore forward Kevin Puryear
On the defensive strategy guarding down low…
“I thought we did a good job of getting them in foul trouble early. Later in the half I feel like that contributed to our run and shrinking that lead into a five-point game. So, I thought everyone did a good job of attacking them early and getting them into foul trouble.”
On the team’s feelings during the second half run by Arizona…
“I think there was a little bit of frustration but, we just tried to stay as level headed as possible. The coaches talked to us to keep us level headed, but they pulled away from us. They made shots. The basket grew for them and it shrank for us. That’s really it.”
Mizzou sophomore guard Cullen VanLeer
On Arizona’s three-point shooting…
“They came out and got a couple of open ones. That got them in a rhythm. They just continued to make them. We tried to stick with it but they just had a good day shooting. Hats off to them.”
On the defensive strategy…
“We were trying to make the game ugly. We did a good job of that in the first half of doing that but, in the second half they just got on a run and we didn’t respond on the other end with buckets. The lead grew quickly and we were not able to get back into the game.”
On the crowd presence…
“I thought it was great. To have the crowd when we made that run, the magnitude of the crowd was really nice to have. We appreciate everyone that came out. We’re upset we couldn’t get the win today but, hopefully we can continue to get bigger crowds. It will help us get better rhythm and flow for the game. They were a big part of that comeback in the first half.
Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller
Opening statement:
“I was really proud of our team’s efforts here today. I think anytime you leave the west coast, it’s a different feeling for an early game. It’s a 10 a.m. start for us. And you always worry about that. You do the math, you wake up for pregame meal at 7:30, 6:30, whatever time it is. I think it takes a maturity and a concentration from a group. Tonight, our leading scorer, Lauri Markkanen, you guys didn’t have a chance to see him at his best. He’s a heck of a player. He played through foul trouble. With that, we had two other freshmen really step up. If you look at what Rawle Alkins and Kobi Simmons did tonight. 15 of 28 from the field, 7 of 13 from three, 11 rebounds, 38 points, both of them played 37 minutes. That’s why we were able to win the basketball game. We’re going through a lot right now. Arguably our best, or second-best, player hasn’t played and our point guard has been out. I think it’s been well documented; we have a couple other guys who have season-ending injuries. We have seven scholarship players right now. So, how we practice and every game, it’s really crucial for us. I think in a short time, I’m hopeful we can get some guys back. But in the meantime, this was a meaningful game. Our first true road game of the year. I’m proud of our guys’ effort and approach tonight, because it wasn’t a smooth start to finish game for us.”
On guards, Alkins and Allen, pulling in a combined 16 boards:
“That was the biggest emphasis for our team. The last three or four years, we’ve been one of the nation’s best rebounding teams. Especially defensive rebounding. A couple years ago, we were number one. This year, we aren’t off to as good of a start, and there’s reasons for that. We’re playing shorthanded, our bigs right now maybe aren’t as gifted rebounding. We have to do a better job, we have to block out and our guards have to rebound. So, with Rawle especially, if you look at him physically, he’s a very good rebounder. It’s just he has to learn to do it in college. But he did a really good job, as did Keanu Pinder. Both of those guys combined for 14 defensive rebounds tonight. And the rebounding margin was something that really helped us.”
On adjusting to road games:
“We have a lot of guys that are new, but we have a few like Kadeem Allen who has been in big games and have been on the road before. And obviously like all teams at this time of year, we’re relying on those players that have been there before. We’ve been, although not on the road, true road games, we’ve been in Hawaii playing Michigan State, we’ve played in LA in the Staples Center against Gonzaga, and we have been in Las Vegas playing Santa Clara and Butler. I think all those travel experiences prepared us for today. We have one more, we’re at Houston where we play A&M next weekend, but we scheduled like that to make sure that we are getting ready for our conference and that nobody can shoot holes in us in March for not trying to leave home and playing a competitive schedule. That’s how you grow and that’s how you learn about your young players, and hopefully that’s the case with us are we are moving in the right direction.”
On how Mizzou defended the three:
“I followed them closely and they were the number one team in the nation defending the three, relative to the competition. However, I will tell you this. They really mixed their defense for tonight, they did a lot of 1-3-1 zone, and we saw that against Miami (OH). They played a 3-2 zone, I wasn’t familiar with that, obviously a 2-3 zone, man to man, a press dropping zone. It’s difficult to do that many things within a game. I think what they wanted us to do was to dare us to take some 3s, to test us. We passed the test, because our three guards had great nights from three tonight. If that wasn’t the case, that strategy would have been much more effective.”
On early foul trouble:
“Lauri (Markkanen) played 21 minutes, but I would say those 21 minutes were in and out, trying to steal him on offensive and bring him out so he didn’t pick up his 3rd and 4th foul on defense. He never really got into the flow, and foul trouble was big. That’s part of what a young group has to learn, is how not to foul. We had some really undisciplined plays where I thought we played really good defense – they were hard drives and just tried to shoot over us – and we reached out. We have to correct that moving forward, but Missouri really attacks you in that transition and they really attack you off of the drive so you have to use your length and size to your advantage not your disadvantage.”
