Postgame Quotes

March 15, 2002

NCAA First/Second Rounds
Dallas, Texas (American Airlines Center)
March 15 & 17, 2002

Oklahoma Quotes

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson
"We are thrilled to win. That is the most important thing. Seeding means nothing. We are just thrilled to be here. This team is a champion. Illinois-Chicago is a championship team. We had a chance to put the game away, but couldn't. I was proud of our defense, proud of our rebounding and especially our seniors."

(on the scoring depth in the game)
"That is the beauty of our team. (Daryan) Selvy came off the bench and scored 13 points. We don't have a blueprint. We just try to win the game no matter what."

(on Aaron McGhee playing well today against UIC)
"The opponent had nothing to do with it. He played that way versus Texas and Oklahoma State. I wanted him to be a great player and a great rebounder. Great players get rebounds and play good defense."

(on pressure of being a top seed)
"I was sweating it for those teams (yesterday). A lower seeded team can play with less pressure. Sometimes the higher seeded teams play with more pressure. You have to practice like you play (in order to win). Tonight we had great shots. We won our game by playing our identity, our style that got us here."

Junior Guard Hollis Price
(on team shooting) "There are times when we aren't going to get the shots. The thing we have to rely on is our defense."

Senior Forward Aaron McGhee
(on playing UIC) "I know a lot of their guys, but it was fun playing them in the tournament."

Senior Forward Daryan Selvy
(on the game plan) "We want to go out there and play hard and when you play hard good things happen."

Junior Guard Ebi Ere
(on the close score) "Doesn't matter how well you play, as long as you win. We did miss a lot of shots, but we still won. They say the first win in the tournament is always the hardest and it was."

Sophomore Center Jabahri Brown
(on his first trip to the tournament) "It has been a really good experience, especially since it is my first tournament."

(on OU's defense)
"Our design is to come out and play Sooner defense. Even though the game was close we knew we would pull it off."

Illinois-Chicago Quotes

Head Coach Jimmy Collins

(on the game)
"I'm extremely proud of my kids. I'm extremely proud of their hustle and the way they played and the way they hung in there. We were down by eight at halftime and played them even in the second. I don't think they quit one iota. They worked hard, but we had some bad breaks, and we missed easy shots. When you lose to a team the caliber of Oklahoma, you can't do anything but be proud of the way you played."

(on the physicality of the game)
"We play in a physical conference. You don't hear a lot about it, but the conference is very physical. The difference at times was that we didn't hold our block outs like we should, and it looked like it was physical because our guys were getting knocked around. I think the refs did a good job of not making those calls. It was physical and we knew it would be. Unfortunately, their athletes were bigger and faster than what we put out there. But again, I'm proud of my players."

(on Oklahoma's Aaron McGhee)
"Aaron wasn't highly recruited in high school, he was a little overweight. He didn't put forth the effort that it requires to be an outstanding player. Since that time, he's gotten into Oklahoma's program and decided that he wanted to be a pro. Make no mistake about it - he is that, he is a pro. He's not just an inside player. He plays outside. He makes passes, plays sound defense. He is a professional basketball player, and that's come through hard work."

Senior Center Thor Solverson

(on Oklahoma's defense)
"We've played physical teams all year, and I thought we were just as physical today by hanging in the game with them. We played tough defense against them today."

(on the close margin of the game)
"I thought we stayed in the whole game, and we never fell out of it. It's tough to lose by a closer margin than a bigger one because you worry about all the 'what ifs.' We did not play scared today, but it will not be the last time the Flames will be here."

Sophomore Guard Martell Bailey
(on his NCAA Tournament experience) "It's definitely hard work because you play better teams. The refs let you play the game. We just have to go back and work harder to return to the tourney next year."

Senior Guard/Forward Cory Little

(on the game)
"The difference was they fought harder and hit the boards and we didn't. As a group we fought hard, but they wanted it more."

Senior Guard Jordan Kardos

(on the game)
"We were expecting a tough game, but we just couldn't get over the hump. We just couldn't knock down the shots we normally do. Our defense kept us in the game. We played hard, but their defense was just a little better."

(on Oklahoma's defense)
"They played like they were all over the court on defense. They were the quickest and toughest defense we've seen all year long."

Sophomore Forward Cedrick Banks

(on his performance)
"I wasn't working hard enough, and they played great defense on me, but down the stretch, we just didn't execute. They are a nice team, and (Oklahoma guard Hollis) Price is tough to guard. They stayed in there, hit the boards, and they came out with the win."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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