Mizzou 59, Western Kentucky 56 - Postgame Quotes
Head coach Kim Anderson
Opening statement...
“Not a pretty game by any means. Coming off Monday night’s game, I think our confidence was shook a little bit. I am extremely impressed with the way we hung in there and kind of picked each other up. I thought the difference of the game was obviously rebounding and defense. We got the stops when we needed to at the end. We had a little run there in the second half and then we couldn’t make a basket and we threw the ball away. I think there were 14 straight possessions and we didn’t score. But fortunately, our defense was strong enough to make plays. And I think when you’re struggling, you've got to reach for something and I thought our defense was good and our rebounding was good. I think it says 14 second-chance points, when you’re having trouble shooting and having trouble scoring, it is critical.”
On Mizzou’s offense…
“You know I think we're getting some good shots. Not always, but you go back and you watch every possession that you have. We had some good shots, again tonight we had some shots around the basket that we missed. This was a tough game for these guys. Monday was a huge disappointment and I think that lingers. The great thing is, it may have lingered offensively a little bit especially earlier I thought it did. But defensively, we continued to play well and of course the rebounding, the rebounding was something that we always talk about when you’re struggling offensively you can always play good defense. So we did that at least. It is unacceptable to have 14 possessions without scoring. And we drew up plays and we called plays and we made up plays and we got some decent shots, they just didn’t go in. Or we turned them over. We turned it over way too much. Especially late in the game we had some key turnovers.“
On how Mizzou was able to finish off the game…
“I think our guys are maturing in certain aspects of the game. There are other aspects, we obviously have got to do a better job on the offensive end, but we needed to stop Pancake Thomas and Que Johnson at the end. And then we needed to do a good job on the inside on Justin Johnson. Those were the three things we wanted to do. We stayed in the zone, which may have shocked a lot of people. I just felt like we matched up against them and what they were doing and the zone gave us the best chance. The other guys were playing on another level at the end defensively."
Sophomore forward Kevin Puryear
On early struggles and finding openings to land shots…
“I think we just weren’t knocking down shots. I felt we had good looks at the rim. We did a good job of creating second opportunities for ourselves. When stuff happens like that, you just have to make it up on the defensive end, which I felt that we did a pretty good job of, getting stops and getting rebounds. I think by doing that, we gave ourselves the best chance to win, even though we weren’t knocking down shots.”
On how nerve-racking the final few minutes were…
“You know, of course that’s tough, but we’ve been in situations like that before, against Xavier. Personally I wanted to come out and do everything I could to change the outcome. We all wanted to go out and be all-in on defense. We just wanted the game more.”
Freshman guard Frankie Hughes
On winning a close game…
“It’s definitely a confidence booster. Coming off of a disappointing game last time, we were locked in today. We were focused on what they do well and on how we could go out and get stops and let our defense feed our offense. This game helped us build some more confidence.”
On seeing any difference with how he is being defended…
“Yes, I have. Teams are beginning to key in on me. Which I feel is a good thing, because it allows for my teammates to get going early. If I’m open, I’ll have no problem taking advantage of it and knocking down the shot.”
Western Kentucky Head Coach Rick Stansbury
On Mizzou’s play in the game…
“There is no question that this is Kim’s best team he’s had, and he’s doing a really good job with them. When you win some close games like that, it gives your kids a lot of confidence too.”
On Mizzou’s talent…
“I feel like he [Kim Anderson] has got some steadiness in his program. Phillips is a good point guard, Frankie Hughes no question is a terrific young freshman and VanLeer can make shots.”
On what the win means for Mizzou…
“They [Mizzou] are better. These kinds of games will help them. They are a young team, a new team, and they won a close game. That will help them with confidence throughout the stretch. There is no question when SEC teams come here this year; it’s not going to be as easy as it has been at all. They’re going to beat some people this year.”
