OU-Northwestern State Postgame Quotes

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Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening comment:
“It was a good opportunity to play a club that has a little bit of a different style than we have played to this point in terms of more full court pressing a little bit. I thought our guys, after a little bit of a slow start, finished the first half really well. They were really moving the ball well and making a lot of good plays for each other. Defensively, we had good activity in the latter half of the first half, especially. We made some steps there. It was good to get in the right column and we will get ready for UCLA on Wednesday.”

On the balanced scoring of the team:
“This group is going to be a case where a lot of different guys can score, obviously. Different guys are going to lead us in scoring on different nights. Isaiah (Cousins) got us off to a good start tonight and did a good job. Dinjyl (Walker), it was good to see him come in and make some shots. I thought Jordan's (Woodard) aggressiveness tonight was the best to this point. It really made a difference and kept pressure on the defense the whole time. A lot of different guys made good plays.”

On if having two big guys who can score changes the offense:
“It's not much different at this point. I think as we go along we will definitely go inside a little more to Ryan (Spangler) and TaShawn (Thomas), especially. Today's game was such that there wasn't much of that happening in terms of the pace and the flow. I think when we get into situations, especially in conference play, we will throw it inside a lot more than we have because of their development and they are able to finish plays.”

On having a better offensive game with a faster pace:
“It was definitely more of an open-court, transition-based game. But again, just like you said, we haven't really had one like that, an opponent like that, so it was good to see it. We just have to continue to work and keep things better. We had two or three good days of practice coming out of Omaha and we will get a couple more in here before Wednesday.”

On what Khadeem Lattin provides off the bench:
“He is very active, he's long, he's quick to the ball, and he will block shots and change shots. He had nine rebounds today in not too many minutes. He has a knack for rebounding the basketball and he has a good nose for it. He will keep getting better and better and more comfortable. We're excited to see where his game is going and where he continues to go.”

Junior Guard Isaiah Cousins
On starting hot:
“The offense was attacking and we took advantage of the mistakes the defense was making. My teammates passed the ball really well, and I was ready for it.”

On his shooting performance:
“I was just feeding off Ryan (Spangler) and Buddy (Hield). They would drive and kick and I felt really comfortable shooting it. I had a lot of confidence.”

Sophomore Guard Jordan Woodard
On being aggressive:
“I just wanted to stay aggressive and keep attacking the paint to find open shots for my teammates. It was just a focal point. Coach really wanted me to put the pressure on the defense.”

On how he can limit his turnovers next week in the Bahamas:
“Just stay aggressive. Take care of the ball.

Junior Guard Buddy Hield
On Cousins' performance:
“It was great for the team. I talked to him and told him that we can't go without him shooting. He is key to what we are doing. Isaiah and Jordan getting off to a good start gives the team a lot of confidence. When they make shots I feed off that. Seeing my teammates make shots and make plays feels good for the team.”

Northwestern State Head Coach Mike McConathy
On the game:
“I thought Oklahoma was extremely talented in transition. I felt like we did some things and were able to compete very well and hung with them a long time on the boards until the end of the game. We were seemingly able to get back into the game at 12 points – I don't remember what time frame that was – but then we took bad shots, they got the rebound and then boom, boom, boom – three, three. And then you're back out of the game. The game is a lot more physical than I remembered a year ago and we're going to have to adjust to the physical play because a year ago there wasn't physical play, especially in the front. We're going to have to make those adjustments. I see where I've made a mistake coaching because I'm not getting my guys to get up. In the second half, we got up in them a little better and we had a stretch there and we got a couple of steals for some easy buckets.”

On playing a team like Oklahoma:
“If you don't go into venues like this to play talented, well-coached, high-level teams, you don't have a barometer to gauge what you need to improve on to be able to play at a higher level.”