University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
12/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
“We had a nice game, it was a good test for us coming off of a big break. I thought our kids were hungry and eager and came out ready to play. I thought we were focused and ready. We didn’t shoot the ball very well again. Santa Clara is a pretty good team and they’re going to win a lot of games this year. Their coach does an excellent job. We tried to limit John Bryant’s touches and I think we did a good job at that. Spencer (Tollackson) and Jon (Williams) and whoever was around there did a good job to try to contain and control him. We forced 26 turnovers which is a pretty good defensive effort.”
“We had 22 deflections at halftime and I think that was the best we had one of our best nights in that sense but we weren’t very efficient at the offensive end. We had some good looks that didn’t go down but we didn’t let that bother us and we persevered. That’s the key to the game is be consistent and don’t let troubles in one phase of the game affect the others.”
“We weren’t shooting the ball well from the outside so we relied on the points in transition. Dan (Coleman) did a good job getting six steals and converting and aggressively attacking the basket. We’re getting out and running but I think we could even do a better job of that. There were some situations were we could have pushed the ball up the floor and maybe got some more points out of it. We seemed like we’d get a deflection or a steal, but we didn’t get that much out of it.”
Minnesota Senior Forward Dan Coleman
On Santa Clara...
"They are a good team but I think we really kept them out of their comfort zone. Kept them from doing what they wanted to do. Coach Smith stresses to us about making teams do what we want them to do and I think we did a good job of that."
On playing more aggressively...
"Just understanding what is expected of you and the system. I think everybody went through a learning process. We are understanding the defense a little more. Just settling into what coach Smith wants."
On playing, and winning, all non-conference home games...
"Taking care of our home court is huge. When it comes to the post-season I think that is looked upon as big for us. If we take care of our home court during the Big Ten season I think we will be in good shape."
Minnesota Senior Guard Lawrence McKenzie
On Steals...
"Guys were really getting up and pressing the ball and we start with the guy on the ball we got into the passing lanes and scored a lot of points off steals and gained energy from that."
On Dan Coleman’s play...
"He is playing well. He is a hard worker and has always been a hard worker and I am glad to see that it is paying off. He stuck with it through some bad games I am happy to see my teammate shine like that."
On layoff...
"I think that the layoff helped, that the extra practice time helped. We had a chance to go for 10 days and work on the things we have been working on and also concentrating on yourself and what you are to do so think having the layoff definitely helps."
Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating
On the number of Broncos turnovers...
"It really wasn’t pressure in the backcourt that bothered us; it was usually in the frontcourt. We knew that Minnesota plays 10 deep and are able to create offense off their defense, buts it’s hard to simulate in practice. They had 21 more shots and ended up with 29 points of those turnovers.
"We seemed to play soft and certainly weren’t aggressive enough. I’m really disappointed with the fact that we undid ourselves. Our three upper classman turned the ball over 16 times and that’s really hard to overcome."
On out-rebounding the Gophers...
"It’s a small bit of solace to have out-rebounded Minnesota. We’ve only been outrebounded once this season and that was at Stanford. We certainly have made that a big point of emphasis. But part of that tonight is also due to the number of shots that Minnesota attempted."
