University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota-Eastern Kentucky Postgame Quotes
12/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Minnesota 71, Eastern Kentucky 58
December 11, 2010
Minneapolis, Minn.
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening statement:
First, I want to certainly wish Eastern Kentucky the best getting out of here… and commend them on the way they played… I’m very impressed, always been impressed with Jeff Neubauer and how hard his teams played and how well they’re coached... They’ll win their share of games this year. They’re one of the top teams in the [Ohio Valley Conference]...It was a good game for us to learn how to play against a 1-3-1, something you don’t see very often… I don’t think we did a very good job in the first half...The best way to get them out of the 1-3-1 is to not let them score and that was the difference in the second half…The beginning of the second half was probably one of the best stretches of defensive we’ve had... I thought it was a good all around game, if we can just eliminate the turnovers and make our free throws, then I think I’m in heaven.”
On separation in the second half:
“I was very happy that we were able to knuckle down and really commit to getting the stops.”
On Ralph Sampson III’s performance:
Ralph was outstanding... If we can get that out of him every day we’ll be a very good team… He was 6-for-6. You can’t say enough about his outstanding play, and that’s the kind of effort and intensity and I thought our kids fed off of him.”
Minnesota Player Quotes
Blake Hoffarber
On if it was refreshing to have a big lead in the second half:
“Yeah, I think it was. We didn’t have the best first half or second half, but I think we came out with intensity in the second half and shut them down. I don’t think they scored for awhile there. They were stuck on 25 there for a long time. Coach [Smith] was just emphasizing shutting them down. Offense wasn’t really clicking, so we’ve got to win the game playing defense. I think we emphasized that in the second half and stopped them and then our offense started to come to us at the end.”
On if facing the 1-3-1 zone will help in games against future opponents who use that defense:
“Yeah, it’s going to help. Michigan, Northwetern, all those teams play that 1-3-1, and the same offense kind of as well. Anytime you get some early competition in early games like this to kind of relate to those teams in the Big Ten definitely is going to help us improve to go against that 1-3-1 zone, and with our offensive sets.”
Ralph Sampson
On the importance of getting touches early in the game:
“I think it’s very important. It gets you involved in the game. It gets you a nice little flow with your game, also with the team. Also just getting to the line puts there team on the defensive side, more reserved. You can attack more and get to the free throw line and get points for your team.”
On carrying this performance into the rest of the season:
“Just forget about the past and keep pushing forward through strong for greater and better things. Today I had a good game, but tomorrow or the next day could be a different story, so you always have to come out with a new mindset and attack the basket next game with a fresh mind.”
Eastern Kentucky Quotes
Eastern Kentucky Head Coach Jeff Neubauer
On what happened during Minnesota’s 30-3 run during the game:
“Most importantly, Minnesota really defended us during that time. Their coaching staff made great adjustments within the game and at halftime. It was hard for our guys to find the right look. I thought we did a good job defensively in the first half, for us to hold them to 28 points here in their building. That is as well as we can do. I asked our team to be scrappy and we were very scrappy in the first half.”
On if Ahanmisi’s buzzer-beater from half-court deflated the team going into the second half:
“It may have, and quite honestly it should not. When you play your tail off for the first half and then all of a sudden you lose the lead on a shot like that, I am sure it did frustrate some of our guys. Great teams do not let something like that bother them.”
On what can be taken from playing a top-25 team on the road:
“We can show [the team] the first 15 minutes of the game, where we really executed offensively, but most importantly we scrapped and clawed and did all the things defensively. I think the defensive effort in the first 15 minutes is something we can build on.”
Justin Stommes
On playing in his home state:
“It was great to see a bunch of people come and support us. It is fun to have a lot of fans when we are on the road.”
On his game today:
“I did alright. I made some mistakes on defense and missed some easy shots. I can always do better, but I did alright.”
