Postgame Quotes

March 17, 2002

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

Oklahoma

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson

(on Big 12 success)
"I think it was important for the league this year, it was time because you have to win in March."

(on Xavier's toughness)
"They were as tough and as physical as we've seen this year. (David) West is a load on the block. He's a really good player."

(on Aaron McGhee)
"Aaron has played well for a long time. His team gives him a lot of confidence. They go to him, and that has given him a lot of confidence."

(on playing in Dallas)
"Playing in Dallas was an advantage. Anybody that advances to the Sweet 16 is good, but our fans helped us."

(on Xavier's rally)
"I wasn't surprised Xavier came back. They are persistent. Hawai'i is really good, and they held Hawai'i to 18 second-half points. It was important that I didn't panic."

(on Hollis Price)
"Hollis is a great person. I don't know if I've ever had a kid that the team loves so much. Leadership should come from your guards. Hollis is the epitome of a leader. He deserves a lot of the credit for the team's personality."

Junior Guard Hollis Price

(on the turnovers)
"That's what we stress. We only averaged 12 turnovers in the Big 12, and we wanted to carry that into the NCAAs."

(on what inspired him this game)
"Probably Coach Sampson. He pulled me over and said, 'Take it home.'"

Senior Forward Aaron McGhee

(on playing for OU)
"When you come to the program, you have to learn things. Coach Sampson makes boys into men."

(on the match up with Xavier's David West)
"I take every game as a personal challenge. I guess since our team won the game, I was the better player in the game."

Senior Forward Daryan Selvy

(on making it to the Sweet 16)
"We dreamed about getting this far, now we just have three more games to win. We played a pretty good team out there today, but when things got tough, we stuck together."

Sophomore Center Jabahri Brown

(on making it to the Sweet 16)
"Growing up I used to watch teams celebrating going to the Sweet 16 and now we are going. We've accomplished half our goal. Our focus in each game is to go out, have fun and play good defense."

(on Aaron McGhee)
"For the last couple months, he has been unstoppable. I'm glad he's on my team"

Junior Guard Jason Detrick

(on the team)
"People are starting to notice how good we are, but we go into every game thinking like we are underdogs."

Xavier Quotes

Head Coach Thad Matta
"We didn't get beat by a good team. We got beat by a great team. They were clicking on all cylinders at all the right times, right out of the gate and right at the end. We couldn't get over the hump. All the things I feared that OU would do happened, (Aaron) McGhee getting going early and (Ebi) Ere making shots. They are a good team and we didn't want it to end, but I guess all things come to an end."

(on the end of the season)
"Losing is always difficult. The saddest part is I thoroughly enjoyed coaching this team whether it was in practice, in the locker room or getting on the bus. The fact that it has been stripped has been hard. I guess the hard part is just knowing it is over."

(on OU's run)
"At 49-49 I liked where we were. We were able to rest some guys, but they were able to make big plays that took the wind out of us. With five minutes to go, the one thing they didn't do was stop defending. I thought we were where we wanted to be, but the run just took it out of us."

(on the crowd)
"The crowd helped them, to what extent I don't know. As hard as those kids play, they could go across the street, play in a playground and it would be the same. They are unique in that way. It got loud in there. I tried to do the Texas sign so the fans would get on our side. It was really loud."

Sophomore Guard Romain Sato
"We did a good job putting pressure on the ball and we challenged all the shots, but Oklahoma is a good basketball team. When we tried to force them to shoot the ball, they answered by making the shots."

(on OU's defense)
"I think their defense is good. We play the same way they do. We were able to make some shots, but in the end we couldn't make the key shots."

Junior Center David West

(on Aaron McGhee)
"I think that he is a good player and OU executed their game. I felt like I defended him well, but it is hard to defend a guy who starts off the game making five or six field goals in the first three minutes of the game. I let him get going too early in the game."

(on the game)
"I think that we played well. The problem was in the defensive end. There were big shots down the stretch, but we ran into a great basketball team and came up short. Dealing with a team like Oklahoma we beat them in offense and rebounding points, but they have guys who were able to make key shots."

Senior Guard Alvin Brown

(on ball control)
"They did a great job controlling the ball. We tried to attack them with pressure, but they didn't crack. You have to give them a lot of credit."

Freshman Guard Keith Jackson
"In the first half the bench brought a lot of energy to the team. In the second half it wasn't there and that was a big factor in the game. They continued to hit their shots."

(on second half)
"We didn't hit our shots the first few minutes. We missed some good looks and they came down and converted. We gave them too many opportunities and didn't capitalize on our own."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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