OU-Kansas Postgame Quotes

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Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening Statement:
“Really a hard fought game. I thought our guys battled like crazy and Kansas made big plays when they needed to make them. Certainly a great atmosphere. I thought we dug ourselves a bit of a hole there to start the ball game and ending the first half, but our guys were able to fight back and get back into it. We will learn. Every possession is just too significant. There were a few times that we didn't complete a play and they converted on the other end. We have to learn to be a little stronger in those moments, but I'm proud of the guy's effort. I thought we fought. We will grow from this, we will learn from it and I look forward to trying to get better for Texas on Saturday.”

On KU's big runs during the game:
“Kansas is so tough here for a lot of reasons, Bill (Self) does a great job, they are very talented, the atmosphere is great and the difference is in the runs they make. That's what you have to try to avoid. It's easier said than done. I thought for the most part, we handled the ball well and made tough plays, but again, those two or three stretches, is why KU is so tough. We just gave them those moments of run that you have to try and avoid. We have to try and do a better job.”

On their defensive strategy:
“You are playing against one of the best teams in the country and they have a lot of weapons. I thought our big guys battled like crazy and didn't win all the battles, but they were terrific on the inside. Tharpe is such a good player that if you get too spaced out, then he has the ability to hurt you. They are terrific, our guys have a great deal of respect for them and we will learn from this experience and try to get better.”

On Kansas winning its 10th-straight conference championship:
“It's just a phenomenal accomplishment. It's not like you are doing that in a bad league. They have done it in a very good league with a lot of good teams in the ten years. It is certainly a tribute to Bill and the job that he does and program in every way. There has only been a few longer streaks than that in the history, so that just shows how phenominal that streak is."

Sophomore Forward Ryan Spangler
On the challenge playing in the post against Kansas:
“Yeah it's fun, all their big guys that come in are great. They are athletic and you can't let them beat you and get easy shots. It's fun to battle with them. I lost some today but I will work on that and try not to let them get easy baskets like they did.”

Senior Guard Cameron Clark
On taking some big shots throughout the game:
“I made a couple shots; we (the team) made a couple shots. The main thing is that we didn't take care of the ball in critical times. We have to learn from that and we know we are still growing and it's just errors that we can get better on."

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On the team's performance:
“Naadir Tharpe was great. We're a lot better when he's not in foul trouble. They drove it hard and we fouled early in the first half. In the first half our defensive percentages were really good, but in the second half we didn't guard very well. We were stale tonight compared to the other night. That was a no-energy, tired team out there. We didn't shoot the ball well but we did shoot it great from the free throw line. We haven't shot it well from the free throw line in a while and that was important to us winning the game. It was a little anti-climactic because we still have three games left in the season. The players didn't stay out there to celebrate and I told our guys we will celebrate whenever we win it. Right now all we have done is tie. It's pretty good to be 13-2 in this league.”

On 10-straight Big 12 titles:
“We've had so many good players. It's been a great run. You don't win unless you have better guys than the other guys and we've had better guys. I'm thrilled to death and I'm happy a bunch of young kids are growing up. We are finding different ways to win and we are getting a little bit tougher, but we are not near as tough as we need to be – but we have become mentally tough down the stretch. It was great. It has been a good year, when you win the league it's a good year. Now we need to go make it a great or special year.”

On the rest of the season:
“We want to go in and win at Stillwater on Saturday. There would be nothing better for us than to go down there and do something special in a juiced building on someone else's court. Then we want to back it up and have a great senior night. Then we want to go and play well at West Virginia and have as much momentum as we can going into the Big 12 Tournament.”

Kansas Junior Guard Naadir Tharpe
On what it feels like to win 10-straight championships:
“That's what we say every time we bring it in from the start of the summer time, all throughout the conference, we say, 'Big 12 Champs.' It's something that we work for. The past season we were doing the same thing and we were just happy we were able to do it as well.”

On if there is pressure to win the Big 12 title:
“No, there shouldn't be any pressure because we're all just playing basketball at the end of the day. That's just how we have to look at it. We're just going out there and having fun and everything else will take care of itself.”

On if there was any familiarity from the previous meeting with Oklahoma:
“No, Coach (Self) said in the locker room that we can't think about the first time we played them since it was in the beginning of the season. But it definitely finished the same way, just having to make plays and we did that in the game.”

On the impact of the freshmen:
“I feel like every freshman helps us out in any type of way, if it's cheering for the team in practice or on the floor and these two guys (Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden, Jr.) have helped me a lot throughout this year. (I had) to show them that when you come in as a freshman, Coach is going to be hard on you a lot of the time in practice, even in a game. They turned it (the season) around and played like they did and I'm just proud of them.”

On hearing the students chant at the end of the game:
“It's just a great feeling. Usually we're on the road; (we were) my first two years we won the Big 12 Championship. To be at home, hear the crowd and all the fans, it's just a beautiful feeling. It shows the tradition of Kansas and obviously they care about us.”

Kansas Freshman Guard Andrew Wiggins
On his last three-point shot:
“In the second half I had to be aggressive; (I was) trying to get to the basket because my shot wasn't falling early, trying to get my other teammates involved. Wayne (Selden, Jr.) found me in a good drive, and I just knocked it down.”

On his emotions after the final three:
“Just to win this whole championship, it's a great feeling on the court from the start to the finish.”

Kansas Freshman Guard Wayne Selden, Jr.
On expectations of competing in the Big 12 Conference:
“I feel like it's something you know coming in. You come in here, that's the standard here. You have to come out and compete and we were able to do that tonight.”

On getting past the Monday night loss at K-State:
“It was tough for some people because that game means a lot to a lot of people around here and we know that. So practice has been hard; we knew we had to prepare ourselves and get back on our feet and ready for the next game. Good teams never let one game decide how they are going to play the rest of the season.”

On focusing on the team rather than himself:
“We knew that it wasn't going to be the freshmen that we going to win this; it was going to have to take everybody -- from the 18th player on the bench to the first player on our bench -- it has to take everybody to come together and do it.”