Mizzou Men’s Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Mizzou 89, Mississippi State 85 (OT)
Mizzou Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening statement…
“Good win. We made it a lot tougher down the stretch than we would have liked, but it’s all about growth. Our guys maintained composure, focus and fight. Great team effort, I’m happy for our guys.”
On calming his players for overtime…
“I’m not worried about panic mode; it’s basketball. Do the things necessary to win the game.”
On if Mizzou is an NCAA tourney team…
“I’ve never debated on us being an NCAA tournament team. If you say there’s 64 teams, we’re one of the 64 without question. That’s not a debate. Are we one of the better teams in the country? That’s not a debate. We are one of those teams. The focus is not to win a game so we can make the tournament. I’m not talking about that. We’re already that.”
On the money raised…
“I just think that’s what you’re supposed to do for your community. Ultimately, that’s the fight at the end of the day. It’s our youth. I could easily say only $60,000? We have to keep fighting.”
Mizzou junior forward Kevin Puryear
On his three-pointer at the end…
“We were jammed up a little on the offensive end at that point, and you know Kassius is one of our better scorers. We want the ball in his hands, but he very unselfishly gave me the ball there in the corner. From that point on, I knocked down the shot, which ended up being pretty big for us.”
On #RallyforRhyan…
“Coach Loos was the one who really recruited me here, called me frequently. I really got to build a close relationship with him, and when all this happened my freshman year, it was heartbreaking. Anytime I can give him support, it’s really big. This is an emotional game for the returning guys and an emotional game, in general. It’s a good cause and raised a lot of money. It was a great turnout.”
On Rhyan’s name on his t-shirt…
“I’m not really sure. I came into the locker room and it was there. If you ask me, I think it was done on purpose. That little girl is a fighter. She’s been through so much, and to see her still smiling makes me really happy.”
On the 12-point lead going away…
“It was tough. They had lots of momentum. For us to come out and be so gritty and resilient, it says a lot about the group of guys we have. It was what Coach said, just a growth moment for us. Guys made plays down the stretch. It wasn’t the prettiest, but at the end of the day we got it done and it was a win for Mizzou.”
Mizzou junior guard Jordan Geist
On the overtime period…
“We just had to go back out there on our toes and give them the first punch.”
Mississippi State Head Coach Ben Howland
Opening statement…
“I can’t say enough about our guys’ heart, their toughness, their competitiveness. Just all the work they’re putting in, the preparation to get ready for each and every game. I’m just so happy and you can see we feel like we’re going to have a chance here in these last six games. If we’re going to keep playing like this, we will.”
On getting back into the game…
“We made a lot of plays to get back in this game. I love it. You never quit. You never give up. It’s never over until it’s zero. It’s a great lesson that we almost took advantage out here. Just really disappointed that we didn’t close the opportunity off of them, but I have to give Missouri credit. They’re really good. Very, very good team.”
