OU-West Virginia Postgame Quotes

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Head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening comment:
“Well, it was a Big 12 game against a top ranked team in the country. It was a good win. I thought our guys played well. I thought the focus and composure against a real good West Virginia press was a key. I thought defensively, early, we were really good at getting ball level and creating some turnovers in the offense. That kind of gave us that margin there in the first half. A lot of different guys stepped in and were playing well. Right there at that point where they were trying to cut it under 10, I thought our guys responded with some good stops and boards and pushed it back out there midway in the second half. It was a good win. Any Big 12 win is good and against a really good club like this it makes it even better.”

On what the difference was when handling the press this time:
“I thought our guys did a good job of trusting each other and moving to be available for each other. They were fighting the traps a little bit stronger. When you play against a really good press like that you really have to lean on each other. I thought our guys did a good job of being available as receivers at the right time. Even when you throw it out of the trap, Ryan (Spangler) and TaShawn (Thomas), several guys made good plays to make the next pass that led to a bucket. Handling the traps, we were really good.”

On how important their early defensive performance was:
“Most obvious, I think, when you play West Virginia, is that you either handle the pressure decently or not. We did that, but I think even more important maybe tonight was that stretch of defense there in the first half where we got stops, turnovers, and converted those to points to bump a little bit of a margin. That was a key stretch, I thought, in the game.”

On how important is to score when the other team presses:
“It's very important. If you allow them to press without paying for it when you break it, then they are going to keep pressing. It's only free money for them. If we make them pay a little bit, then we can at least even the scales a little bit. I thought we didn't give them many points off turnovers, we had a bunch off of turnovers, and had a bunch against their pressure.”

On the four-guard lineup he had on the floor in the second half:
“It gave us a little more mobility offensively. [The Mountaineers] weren't really big at that time either so it didn't hurt us on the other end as far as matchups go. It gave us an extra ball-handler out there that could match up with their quickness and not turn it over.”

On what they have done so well defensively in these last three games:
“I think just the awareness of the guys has been the significance of getting stops. Focus and preparation; the guys have been really sharp in practice. The guys had good awareness in the half court tonight. (Juwan) Staten is such a good player and I thought, even though he scored some on us, we gave him a lot of attention. I thought our big guys did a great job of helping on him. The focus as a group, we're growing and we're maturing with each week and with each experience. Most importantly, our guys understand that we have got to keep doing that. This league is such that it just makes you keep getting better if you're going to have a chance to compete in it.”

Sophomore Guard Jordan Woodard
On working against the press:
“We really wanted to focus on making sure guys were in the right spots. When you space out in full court it makes it easier to move the ball. Luckily we were making shots and they really couldn't press up on us.”

On TaShawn Thomas's play in beating the press:
“Like Coach said, we just had to trust our teammates to make plays. TaShawn and Ryan (Spangler), our bigs, did a great job getting open in the frontcourt. They just made plays out there.”

On playing fast against the press without rushing offensive possessions:
“That's what they like to do. They like to speed you up. That's the way their defense works. We just have to have a clock in our head to make sure we are staying calm and getting the shots we want.”

Junior Guard Buddy Hield
On getting open looks from 3-point range on the break:
“It was fun. Jordan and Tay (TaShawn Thomas) and all the guards were just making plays for me. They found me in good spots. Thank God we have a good team that likes to share the ball a lot. I was fortunate to find a rhythm with the jump shot.”

On if the inside-out flow of the offense helped him score tonight:
“Just making the extra pass. They trapped Jordan (Woodard) and he is creative enough to get it out to Ryan or TaShawn. They were passing and kicking it. It was a good team effort sharing the ball and they found me in open spots.”

Junior Forward Ryan Spangler
On getting easy layups and dunks against the press in the first half:
“I think that was big. We moved the ball around and found open guys. That is what we have been working on all week--not making it harder on ourselves. If they are going to press us like that for that long then we have to find the open guys and get open buckets.”

On getting out to an early lead:
“It didn't feel good on that plane ride home (after losing at West Virginia). We didn't want that to happen again. There have been a couple of games where we came out slow and had to pick ourselves back up. Tonight our motto was to come out and hit first and stay on them for 40 minutes. There were a couple slips, but I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins
On if he was impressed with OU's effort:
“They were very, very good. But as I've said a thousand times and continue to say, I can only coach. So it's not like I'm going to outsmart a lot of people. We have to execute and we didn't execute.”

On the team not making enough defensive rotations and if that is the first time it has happened this year:
“Well, you have some hard-fast rules and when you don't follow those hard-fast rules, you're going to be in trouble. The thing about playing the way we play is that everybody has to know what the other guy is doing and when the other guy makes a bonehead play – for instance if your back guy is supposed to guard the basket and he runs past the ball at half court, there's no chance to get it – that's a bad play. And we were back in the game at that time. We weren't as disciplined in doing the things that they are taught to do. There are absolutes that have to happen and we didn't do those.”

On Oklahoma getting points off of WVU turnovers:
“If I'm not mistaken, they had 22 points at halftime off of our turnovers. How are we going to win?”

On if the absence of Devin Williams on the back end:
“Obviously he's been back there more than everybody else. He's our most experienced guy. But the truth of the matter is, Brandon (Watkins) and Elijah (Macon) are both better shot blockers. Brandon and Elijah get the same amount of reps in practice as he gets.”