University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota 78, Winona State 72
November 8, 2010
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening statement…
“Winona is a team that has won championships and knows how to execute. They have a very well-coached team. They just really came ready to play. I thought their execution and making their shots. I thought really Jon Walburg and Anthony Tucker are legimate players and can really shoot the ball and know how to play. I thought they showed a lot of poise and a lot of toughness down the stretch there. I thought our kids did, too…In a game like this, we can go back and analyze and evaluate where we need to work on things…Free throw shooting is something we didn’t do well tonight, and we’ve got to work on that.”
On the Gophers’ defense on Ben Fischer…
“He was their go-to guy. I thought we did a good job on him, making him work and contesting shots and challenging shots. We got good balance once again. We hold them to 27 percent from three, and the only problem is we shoot 15. We hold them to 38 percent [overall] and we only shoot 45. We get 46 free throws and only make 28. It’s a different ball game if we finish those plays.”
Minnesota Senior Point Guard Al Nolen
On Winona State’s late push…
“I think we let up a little bit. Of course, Winona’s a really good team with great tradition. We knew that those guys weren’t going to give up. They found a way to start hitting a lot of threes, really spacing us out, taking advantage of their quickness. I think that’s how they got on a run, got the momentum.”
On the Gophers’ transition game…
“I think at times we played well, and at times we really struggled. In the second half, Blake [Hoffarber] kind of got the ball a lot, and he and Rodney [Williams] had a couple of breaks and we really turned the transition baskets into easy points, just getting out there and running. In the first half I think we were a little more stagnant. But I think overall, we had some bad and we had some good. Since this is exhibition, we can learn from it.”
Minnesota Sophomore Forward Rodney Williams
On his transformation into a more aggressive player this year…
“It’s changed a lot. I think last I was more just out there trying to play a role. This year I know I’ve got to be a little more aggressive. Even though I had 12 points, I still could’ve been a lot more aggressive out there. I think it’s just about me going out there and having fun and playing my game.”
Winona State Warriors
Winona State Head Coach Mike Leaf
On what the team’s comeback effort says about the group…
“You know, these guys aren’t going to give up. It’s only our second outing and we’re trying to accomplish some things. We’ve got some new faces and the biggest thing is figuring out our rotation and which players are playing the best together. So I was proud of the fact that, with the group not having been in this situation, we could have easily keeled over … I told them that we’re going to be in this situation again and that we need to battle and take care of the basketball. Minnesota is obviously a great team and one of the things coming in we knew was that it was going to be tough on the boards and the stats showed that. We wanted to come in and play aggressively and we had a lot of player fouls so we must have played aggressively."
Closing statement ...
“I will say that it is nice that Minnesota does this for the Division II schools across the state. It’s really a thrill for our players. We have some nice stadiums in our conference but to be able to come to The Barn and with the history and everything … I’ve been a Gopher fan all my life so we appreciate them here and the rest of our conference schools to be able to come here and have that experience. Just a first class venue. I’m a big Gopher fan so I hope they do great (this year).”
Winona State Junior Guard Anthony Tucker
On if he was surprised that the Warriors were in a potential position to win the game down the stretch …
“Not at all. We feel like we can play with anybody. You play to win the game so being there at the end of the game is something that we expected. We prepared and did what coach asked us to do so we found ourselves in that position."
On what he learned about the team …
“We have a lot of guts. We have a lot of guys that are going to play hard to the end. We were down 16 at one point and that could have easily turned into 30 point game. But we battled back and it was just a real gutsy performance ."
Winona State Junior Guard Jon Walburg
On hitting his three consecutive three pointers…
“I was fortune to be open … basketball is a game of streaks so that was my streak I guess."
