University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: ULM
11/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement:
Good win for us, I was very concerned about that game because that's a team when I was in the league, in the Sun Belt, they were kind of near the bottom. He's done a great job of building that into something. Last year they played the CBI championship and they go to the finals, sold out the crowd at their place. Give coach credit for really building them into something good, they're going to be a good team in their league, if not at the top of the league so I was concerned about it. To hold them scoreless 9 of the last 11 possessions and scoreless from 8:14 mark to 2:00 to outscore them 17-5 is really good. We got stops, it wasn't pretty but we found a way to do it.
On the team's personnel and rotation:
We had two freshmen in at the end of the game, I thought Kevin made some big plays at the end, I thought Murph made some big plays. Joey getting 8 rebounds with a couple of offensive rebounds was really good. We don't know who is going to play with the lineups, guys have got to be ready to play but what I like is that we have some versatility on the bench for guarding and rebounding and we did that today. We found a way to get stops and rebounds. I really think that we are ahead of where I thought we would be in a half court defensive standpoint.
On how the young team responded to adversity at the end of the game:
You just want to see if you can tell if they're ready to go and I thought the young guys were ready to go. I mean it's funny with Nate Mason, you look at the guy and he's only a sophomore but I consider him like a junior or senior. He's a lot wiser than a normal sophomore. Kevin was very good and made some big shots, a big three, and didn't turn the ball over as much. I think Jordan Murphy is going to be good. I think Dupree is going to be good, he just had some foul trouble. I was excited we won a game with two freshmen in the lineup certainly, they showed me they aren't going to shy away from that.
On ULM's comeback in the second half:
I told our guys at halftime to battle human nature right now. Human nature is going to tell you to take your foot off the gas, don't do that. I think we did it a little bit defensively, got a little sloppy and gave up some easy buckets when we shouldn't of done it and turned the ball over but then again I think when it was time to respond we responded well. For 6 minutes we held them without a basket and we never would of done that last year. It's very very early but I like what I saw today.
ULM Head Coach Keith Richard
On the end of the second half...
Nate Mason, Sophomore Guard
On his mindset after a team comes back late in the game...
"Just stay composed. I feel like we tend to panic sometimes. I didn't want the team to panic. So I feel like we did a good job of staying composed."
On moving forward from thinking about loses from last year...
"Yeah, we kinda already put last year away. Said, 'forget about it'. We are so confident in this team right here and what we can do with this team."
On the help from the young guys to close out the game...
"It's a good experience for the young guys to play in front of a big crowd, and a big atmosphere. I feel like that helped them more than anything."
On what he learned about the freshmen players today...
"I learned that they'll step up. Kevin Dorsey (Jr.) will step up big time, hitting a big-time three and taking care of the ball. I feel like he (Dorsey) stepped up big time."
Kevin Dorsey Jr., Freshman Guard
On having to finish the game and Coach Pitino trusting him to play...
"Coach (Pitino) told us they were a really good team, you can't sleep on anybody. We stayed focused, we stayed in huddles, so we could be good. Rebounds really did it."
On if the team was shocked by Louisiana Monroe coming back late in the game...
"Not really shocked because you're going to get everybody's best when they come to play Big Ten teams. The focus that we had throughout the game was really good. Coach talked to us and said they would be a good team."
On the free-throw shooting...
"We shoot free-throws everyday. A lot of free-throws. Before games we shoot ten minute free-throws each. Them not being able to shoot free-throws last year, that's not going to happen this year. Free-throws are a big part of our game."
On the lesson from last game concerning risks that a player can take at this level...
"Yeah, I had a big lesson the first game. We were really excited. A lot of us were not used to the fans and pressure. So we came back today a lot more focused, calm, and collected."
Joey King, Senior Forward
"What's great about this team is that we've got players like Nate, Kevin, Los... those guards are just bouncing back. They're not worried when another team makes a run. They're gonna get up in the press every possession and make it so difficult for the other team."
"You know, we shot 3 for 22 from the 3 point line, so obviously there was some frustration from the outside. But when you shoot 20 for 22 from the line, that makes up for everything."
