Quotes

Head Coach Jeff Capel

Opening Statement:
"First of all, I want to congratulate North Carolina. They're a terrific basketball team, terrific program. They made plays today, and they beat us. I'm really, really proud of my team and for all that we've accomplished this year.

I hate that we didn't shoot the ball well tonight or this afternoon. I thought the game would have been a lot more interesting if we could have made some shots, and I thought we had some really good looks. But that's the way basketball goes sometimes. Unfortunately, it happened today.

Again, I can't say enough about the effort that our guys gave today and throughout the season. How hard they played. And just how together we were. And I think it especially showed in this tournament.
We have a locker room full of guys that are hurt. And we fully believed that we were going to win this basketball game today. But this is how life is sometimes. It doesn't happen the way you want it, and every opportunity is a chance to learn.

So that's the way it goes. I hate that our season had to end this way, especially for our seniors, especially for Taylor and Austin. I mean, those two kids, you know, they've endured so much during their time here at the University of Oklahoma.

And for them to stick with us, stick with the program, and to stick with me, and for them to have the kind of success they had in their last year really means a lot to me. I know it means a lot to them. And hopefully it means a lot to the people at the University of Oklahoma, fans, everyone involved.

I do ask one favor of all of you. I know it's probably a topic that you want to ask, but please do not ask Blake anything about the NBA. We'll get to that when we - at the appropriate time. You know, he's hurting right now. I'm sure that's the furthest thing from his mind. So thanks."

Full Quotes Transcript from NCAA (PDF)

Sophomore Guard Cade Davis

Can you tell us about how frustrating it was after the season you all played?
"You can tell by the expression on our faces. It is never easy having a successful season like we did and getting as far as we have. It is a blessing to get this far. You don't want to stop. You get that feeling of winning and the emotions are high. The farther you go in the tournament the more respect you gain. It is real hard. We had our goals set high and this wasn't where we were supposed to go out."

What did North Carolina do to take you out of your offense?
"I don't think it was as much them as it was us. We didn't cut hard. We weren't running our plays to our full potential. We were real lax. We started doing that more in the second half. We started scoring the ball more. They are a great team. Our defense let us down at times. "

Did you expect that kind of defense?
"No, we let them get that lead at first and then it was just a battle to get the lead at half. We talked at half time on how we just needed to start chipping away. We made our run and they countered it and started hitting shots. (Ty) Lawson is a tremendous player and he knocked down some big shots for them."

On trading baskets with North Carolina at the start of the second half:
"We kept telling our guys we can't keep trading baskets. What you get offensively is what you get offensively. You have to go down on the other end at get stops and that just never happened."

Junior Guard Tony Crocker

On North Carolina's defense:
"We just made it easy for them to get into their transition. We had a lot of turnovers and missed shots."

On Oklahoma's season:
"We came along ways from our first year not even making it into the tournament to the second round (last year) to where we are now. We had a great season and I'm just sad it had to end."

Senior Guard Omar Leary

On Oklahoma's perimeter shooting:
We really couldn't hit shots from the perimeter tonight. As you saw in the Syracuse game, our shots were falling from the perimeter. If you look at the game, we were in it within a 10-13 range the whole game. If we would have been able to knock down those three-point baskets, and get some of those to fall that would have given us some confidence going. It would have opened the game up a little bit more. But that's basketball for you. One night you'll be hitting it and the other night they just won't fall for you. That was the case tonight.

On the success of the Oklahoma program this year:
It's a tremendous feeling. This will go down as memories for all of us to tell our kids and new players that come through the Oklahoma program. Coach (Jeff Capel) was just telling us to seize the moment. It's a national powerhouse that we went out to in North Carolina, but we were just as good. It was just a matter of who was going to be the aggressor tonight. Unfortunately, they were. All the best wishes to them in the Final Four.

On Blake Griffin possibly playing his last game with Oklahoma:
He's a tremendous friend first and foremost, and a tremendous athlete as well. I think he's going to excel at the next level. He left everyone that was in the stands and on the team with the utmost respect in him. His brother (Taylor Griffin) as well and his family. That's all you can ask for. He's a better person than he is an athlete.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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