Feb. 17, 2011
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TEXAS A&M
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
I thought Iowa State was great, and we also allowed them to be great right before half. We made two really dumb defensive plays right before half. Then we decided we weren't going to guard or rebound right at the start of the second half.
On how the team is playing...We're not playing with the type of toughness we want to be successful, but it's a good win for us, especially this type of year.
On Nathan Walkup's play...He made some good plays for us. I thought the three in the corner was big. The dunk on the break, and then the offensive rebound for the basket was big.
On practicing hard...I've been getting after them pretty hard, just trying to make us tougher. I think we have a few guys that are having to play a lot of minutes, and were a little heavy-legged tonight.
On using different combinations of players and rotating players...They don't have a lot of players, so I was trying to use our depth. It was working in the first half, we just couldn't make a shot. Those poor guys, they don't have any subs. I thought Garrett was great, I thought B.J. did an unbelievable job on Christopherson.
On the team's standing...If you would've told me we'd be 20-5 and 7-4, I never would have believed it. This team, even though it's not pretty, continues to figure out a way to win games.
We had one awful stretch (against Texas), and this is a 5-and-a-half month season with a team that's not more talented than a lot of the teams we play. It's not easy this time of year to win.
SENIOR FORWARD Nathan Walkup
On his "sort-of" dunk...I thought he didn't see me at first, thought I'd have a wipe open one, I beat him to the spot and I knew I had the block. I was going to finger roll it, but I realized I was still up there, so I kind of just turned my hand over.
On the crowd being less energetic...You can't let that affect anything you do. This was a big game, they can shoot and they can play. We have to come out and play with the same energy every night, no matter if there's one fan or 14 thousand. We owe it to our fans to play well and hopefully they'll continue to come out and support us.
On Loubeau's play down low...We think we always have an advantage with Dave, we think he's a really good scorer. We kept feeding him down low and he did well, going 5-8.
Is February the toughest month...December is the biggest grind because you're still not in conference. But right now we're ending Big 12, you can see the end, you can see the Big 12 tournament, hopefully the NCAA tournament, but you can't let any game go by. Each game becomes your most important game.
On 20-win seasons in each of his 4 years...You always want to fill the shoes of people before you. Over the last 5 or 6 years we've had good senior classes and really good teams. You don't want to be the streak buster or the team that does this or does that.
On getting another conference win...We knew Iowa State was a good team, we knew this was a good win for us because it's another Big 12 game. We survived their 11 threes, but at the same time we did a lot of things, figured out a way to win.
JUNIOR GUARD Dash Harris
How much better does it feel to get 3-straight wins versus 3-straight losses...It's a huge difference after that third loss. You kind of start looking for answers, what's going wrong, you need to change things. I think things are getting straight, and after 3 wins, you start looking around like "who's next?"
On getting Big 12 wins...Records don't mean anything in conference, especially in conference. These three wins have been great for us, especially as a team.
On guarding Diante Garrett...Me and Darko were talking about that at halftime, every time you have to play games with him. He's a great guard, a great player for their team. To be that height and size and do all the things a guy my size can do makes you, it just makes you that much tougher.
On shooting well from the field...It felt pretty good, I was pretty much expecting it from the beginning of the game. I knew before the game I was going to have to score at some point, to shoot the ball on the kickout. I knew how they play as a team defensively, so I knew I had to have confidence.
IOWA STATE
HEAD COACH FRED HOIBERG
We really fought tonight, I was very proud of our guys' effort. We really battled on boards, this is the No. 1 team in rebounding in our conference and we beat them on rebounds.
On turnovers...Where this game was lost was turnovers. 15 turnovers, and they outscore us 20 to 7 off of turnovers. You have to protect the ball better on the road.
On being able to finish games...Late games has not been our strength that's for sure. Free throw rebounding, they got three of their offensive rebounds off of free throws. They got two critical ones late in the game that made a big difference.
On Jamie Vanderbeken's status...We'll see. He's been responding very well to treatment at this point, hopefully he'll be with us there on Saturday.
On Calvin Godfrey's play... Calvin worked his tail off when he was serving his suspension, we got back from our game against Kansas and Calvin was in the gym getting a workout. He is our best physical player, and you need him in there to match up against these athletes in the Big 12.