Postgame Quotes

Feb. 11, 2012

Oklahoma Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening comment:
"Congratulations to Billy (Gillispie) and his club. I thought they worked hard and competed and beat us to loose balls and dictated all night long. We got pretty good energy to start the ball game and then when they evened it up there in the first half, it seemed like from that point on they were the ones dictating, getting to loose balls and doing what they wanted to do. We didn't have a lot going on on either side of the ball."

On OU's overall energy:
"That's one thing we've had pretty consistently throughout. I thought, again, when they took the lead at halftime, we came out in the second half and, just playing with a three- to seven-point deficit there for a while, couldn't get anything going. I thought right there at that point we were playing to not lose as opposed to being aggressive and our defense didn't have much going on all night."

On Tech's defense against Steven Pledger:
"They did a good job of getting up into his body, taking away the catch and shoot. Something that we will continue to work on is that people are going to play him that way and he's got to be able to work off the dribble a little bit and create some looks."

On the frustration of the game:
"From an energy standpoint and a competitive standpoint, I didn't feel like we brought it like we have. Even in ball games that we haven't won, we battled pretty good. I thought when they took the lead tonight we just didn't quite have the enthusiasm and energy that you have to have to come back on the road."

On if his team was looking past Texas Tech:
"Didn't see any of that out of our guys. We had a couple good days of practice and preparation. Their enthusiasm was really good and they knew Tech was continuing to play really hard and had a lot of respect for that."

On Tech's Robert Lewandowski:
"They did a good job of giving him the ball. He had some open looks, got a couple jumpers and that got him going. Then when we started trapping a little bit, they started to give it to him down low. He did a good job finishing opportunities and making shots."

Texas Tech Head Coach Billy Gillispie
Opening comment:
"Obviously a great win for us, and I think our guys deserved to win. They battled. They've been battling the whole time; haven't always executed very well but they battled hard in practice and played good enough defense the other night at Kansas State to win on the road against a very good team. Just turned the ball over too much. They built on that game the next day at practice, and had the right approach. You think about things not going your way for a while, it's been a while since we won a game. You hang in there like you do, and you keep fighting like they have. No matter how many mistakes, they keep on fighting. And it says a lot about the character of our players. So I'm very proud of them."

On Texas Tech's season-low seven turnovers:
"I think that we passed and caught it better. We turned it over a world-record amount yesterday in practice, which for us, the world-record amounts are pretty hard to obtain for this year. But they made their minds up they weren't going to turn it over and I told them I didn't care if they turn it over, just defend and rebound. If they turn it over, just play and get another stop. So, it just turned out tonight that we didn't turn it over. That's a real good formula for winning. Not fouling too much and defending and rebounding."

On Robert Lewandowski:
"I didn't realize he was 1-for-11 or I probably would have taken him out. When you talk about 'Lew,' he's one of the best young people I've ever been around. He's the lone senior on our team and for him to try to change to the way I want him to play -- that's best for our team -- it's got to be hard for a senior, the way it's gone so far. He keeps on battling and battling and battling. It's always great to see good things happen to young people who do continue to battle."

On the family bond of his team:
"Their chemistry has never been questioned. The only thing you could question about our guys -- on the court, in the community, in the classroom -- is just we haven't won enough. A lot of teams could sit up here and make excuses because we're young and we're new and all that kind of stuff, but we haven't and we won't. It's a very close group that really does care about one another. The three guys that normally play, that didn't play tonight, they're as happy as anyone in that locker room and that says a lot about them. I always say I'm very proud of them and I'm just as proud of them as ever, but it's a lot better to be proud when we win and that's what we always want to try to do."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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