University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Michigan State Quotes
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith:
Opening Statement...
"Well it was a pretty deflating loss. I thought that we were in control of the game for most of it. We did some good things, but to beat a team like Michigan State we have to finish. I thought that we were a little bit winded at the end and probably led to us losing some of the aggression that we had. We played guys for a lot more minutes than we normally play. We did some good things today, I thought our guys fought, clawed and battled. We did some good stuff."
On playing without Al Nolen...
"I thought we moved the ball extremely well, I was not surprised at all."
On guard Devoe Joseph...
"I thought that he was outstanding all day long. He is a tough, hard-nosed kid and very competitive. He loves competing, played a lot of minutes but he is probably in the best shape of anybody on the team. He has great stamina and endurance."
On the combination of guard Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph...
"They were a good combination. Westbrook did a good job in hitting clutch shots with the shot clock running down. Looking at the long end we did some good things in taking care of the ball. Westbrook is gusty and he is kid that probably gets more out of his body and his ability than anybody."
Minnesota Player Quotes
Sophomore Guard Devoe Joseph
On how Michigan State made a comeback...
"They started making shots. They were hitting a lot of threes in the second half that they were not hitting in the first half, a lot of them uncontested. They got a little hot and shots started falling."
On what the Gophers will take away from the game...
"We fought hard, and it is disappointing to lose like that. That is the second one in a row that we lost like that. We are looking forward to Northwestern. We have to end this losing streak. It is our time now."
Sophomore Forward/Center Ralph Sampson III
On the game...
"We tried to jump out on them early. We tried to pressure them out of their comfort zone, and I think we did that pretty well in the beginning. We made them adjust to the way we were playing. I think once we had done that, Kalin Lucas came out and made the adjustment, and he started picking up the game for his team. We were able to hold them off for the first half, but they came back in the second half, and we had a battle at the end."
On physical play in the game...
"I just wanted to bring the energy from last week's game to this game. I knew that Michigan State is a very physical team from the last time we played them. I had to come out and try to be a little overly aggressive this time. I tried to match them and even tried to push them a little further, if I could go further. This was a very physical game today."
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
opening statement...
"That was probably one of the more gritty, gutty performances by our team. I thought we were pronounced dead a few times. They really took it to us early in the game, in the middle, and at the end. ...I think for the first time in a long time, in our huddles, guys were believing in each other...I told Lucas with a minute and a half to go in the timeout that this is where great players are made. He did a heck of a job pushing the ball against a good team...I thought we missed some shots early and some lay-ups early, and I thought we took some bad shots. Those two things hurt us. Give Minnesota credit. They were making shots. They were making plays. It's not easy to come back the game after you lose a guy, especially one as important as (Al) Nolen to their team. I thought (Devoe) Joseph played well...Still you miss your floor general. You miss your best defensive player. So I'm tickled to death with the win, but we're very fortunate that we beat a good team."
On the Spartans' effort and 26% shooting in the first half...
I was pleased with the effort...I was pleased even with some of the rebounding. We were getting some tips; we just didn't tip them in. Some of it was their size. Some of it was our lack of getting it done."
