Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Lon Kruger

Opening Statement:
"A lot of guys made good plays and we knew coming in that Tech was going to be a tough challenge. We opened the ball game well, and then Tech makes a nice run. I thought our guys responded to that run well. Then in the second half it was just a battle. We couldn't quite get the margin we needed, and Tech hung in there and played awfully hard. I thought a lot of our guys made good plays and shot the ball well and kept just enough of a lead to keep Tech from making that big time push."

On this being the best offensive game they have had in a while:
"The guys really moved the ball well. I thought they made the extra pass and shot with confidence. They made a lot of good plays for one another. Anytime you put up 17 assists that's a big number. You like to see that, but you have to get good ball movement. And when you make the extra pass, a lot of times the shooter has real good rhythm and shoots it better. I think that happened a few times tonight."

On his impression of Josh Gray:
"He is a terrific player, not just a terrific young player but, just a terrific player. He is the kind of guy that keeps pressure on you all the time and he's very quick with the ball. He has a good ability to get in the paint and finish plays and is very tough to stay in front of. He is a terrific young player"

Senior Forward Romero Osby

On adjusting to playing in the paint tonight with all the fouls called:
"It was just something that you have to adjust to. It was a lot of whistles and you have to credit the referees tonight because, there were only 2 of them and they had to work hard to see everything. I think they did a good job officiating the game and I just think it is something you have to get adjusted to. We got into a little foul trouble but, you know we played through it and it ended up working out for us and we got the win so I don't have any complaints."

On Amath M'Baye's play tonight:
"He played great. Sometimes he gets down on himself but, we try to stay in his ear about keep playing because, he is talented enough to do that on a nightly basis and tonight he played really really well and he looked like the old Amath. So we were excited to see that for him and happy for him. And especially going down the stretch he is going to be big for us."

Senior Guard Steven Pledger

On having Sam Grooms step up in tonight's game:
"It was huge. He is one of those guys who continue to work and we have been on him about keeping his head up because, in his mind he hasn't been playing well and sometimes he just lets things elevate in his mind. So we have just been telling him to keep playing with confidence and keep running the team. And when he gets the chance to shoot open shots for him to knock them down, and he has been doing it and it has been huge for us the last couple games."

On what's working offensively for him:
"I am getting my feet right and my mindset right going into every shot. I have been doing a lot of thinking and so I just have to calm myself down and just let it go."

Senior Guard Sam Grooms

On what he said to Josh Gray after the game and what he thinks of him:
"I think he is good. Obviously his play is tremendous for his team and he leads his team. He makes them go. When we hugged I told him to keep his head up and that just because it doesn't look right, right now, it doesn't mean it won't look good in the future and upcoming years. And I told him to keep playing as hard as he can because, people see that and perception is reality for him right now."

On what he said to Isaiah Cousins to pick him up:
"Being a point guard is tough. If he is out there making plays and everything is going right then everyone would have praised him but, I had to explain to him that even though it is tough right now, it is not as bad as it looks. You made a couple mistakes and did a couple things, but now you have to regroup from it and understand that you have tomorrow and you have to get better. I tried to pick him up as much as I can because I have been there before."

On what he saw from Amath M'Baye tonight and him getting his first double-double:
"I am excited for him, that's big. He has been down on himself lately and he hasn't been doing what he thinks he should do and as well as he thinks he should. These three seniors right here have been on him too, to play like that. I am really happy for him. He went out there and played hard and he dominated. Although he didn't do it before, tonight he did it. I am looking forward to having him the rest of the year."

Texas Tech Head Coach Chris Walker

Opening Statement:
"Credit to Oklahoma, they're an NCAA Tournament team and the reason why I love coaching in the Big 12 and my players love playing in the Big 12 is they get to play against teams of this magnitude and I get to coach against coaches like Lon Kruger, they were just extremely efficient tonight. They made every shot, every time we thought we could make them do something different they made the shot and conversely we came down and made a couple of crucial turnovers and a couple of layups here and there and the number one crux was the foul line. We just have team that it's not the talent level it's the toughness level for us. I thought we could have taken some charges and sometimes you just have to will the other team to miss and we couldn't will them to miss and when they did miss a couple offensive rebounds here and there and because our margin of error is so small that we need everything to go right for us to get a win. I thought we were competitive tonight but like I told the guys tonight they are playing hard but it's the smart factor that we are missing and you can't rush experience and I'm looking at Oklahoma and thinking a couple of more pieces and a more couple of players here and there and we can be just where Oklahoma is next year, and that's what I feel, but right now in the present I think my job is to motivate these guys and to come out and play hard every single game and give it their all and if we can make a couple of shots and a couple of things can go our way and make shots at the foul line it'd be different but every time we miss a two or missing a three it's like missing a 10 and it's a big deal for us when we miss and we just have to keep plugging. I believe in my guys, they're going to come out and practice their tails off and we have a tough couple of road games coming up. We are playing two tournament teams coming up, it's what the Big 12 is and I'm confident that our guys are going to go out and play hard and represent us the right way and we'll see what happens when we get there this weekend."

On how difficult it is for Texas Tech to bounce back after a couple of missed shots:
"When we miss layups, it's hard for us to get them and manufacture them because we have so many new players out there that really can't create their own shot. Josh Gray might be the only guy that can create his own shot but sometimes he shoots it too much and sometimes he gets to the rim and he misses people sometimes and it's just inexperience and we just have to continue to work on finishing and then we did a great job of getting to the foul line, 28 times, but missed our foul shots. We are not a team that makes three's but we made six of them tonight and then we are not a team that gets to the foul line and we had 28 shots, so there's the formula right there, you make six three's and you shoot 28 free throws, the question is why do you lose. It's just toughness on defense, you have to will them to miss, that's the bottom line and then they beat us on the glass but it wasn't tremendous where they were killing us on second-chance points, it was just bottom line they shot around 53 percent from the field and we have to get them around 40."

On Josh Gray taking over the offense the second half:
"It was good. I know he can do that and it was good to see him do it. What he have to work on and it's not being critical but because he demands so much attention we have to get him to make plays for other people and it seems, I don't know this, but if I were in the Oklahoma locker room I believe they probably said stay with the shooters and make Gray make every shot and finish. He's a small guard and he'll make some but over time, he was 10-for-22 and for a freshman for him to do what he did, 26, five, one, and four steals that's an unbelievable game for a freshman and I'd like to see any other freshman in the country who's had that game other than Demarcus Smart. I'm not criticizing Josh Gray, I'm saying that for us to win I'd rather him score 15 points and have 12 assists, for us to win, that's the formula for Texas Tech to win, but in this particular game I definitely want to give him credit for the way he played."

Players Mentioned

Isaiah Cousins

Sam Grooms

Amath M'Baye

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics