University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Southern Illinois
11/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement:
"Happy with the win. You know, 6 and 0 start, obviously pleased with, but we needed a wake up call there. Just from an offensive standpoint, we were not real connected. We were frustrated and I think that's attributed to missing shots."
On what went well:
"Fortunately we played defense, we guarded the three point line, you know the free throw line we left a lot of points on the board there. We made some big plays when we needed to. And if you defend and rebound, and you guard the three, you're going to be in every game. And we did that tonight."
On Eric Curry in the starting role:
"He did some good things. He got a couple turnovers he got frustrated with. You know, we kind of threw him into the fire. He did play 35 minutes as a freshman."
On the atmosphere at Williams Arena:
"The crowd was tremendous. And those students - obviously if you had students I thought it would have been a terrific crowd. Very grateful for our fans that showed up I thought. You know, you could tell each game its getting bigger and bigger. It's exciting to see."
On how "complete" the team is without Lynch:
"I thought Bakary played really good minutes when he got in there. Did a lot of good things, you know, so, he came in and brought value which is extremely important. You know, we're not as complete without Reggie now. So it doesn't feel as complete. So we need to be healthy to be complete. But I thought Bakary really gave us good minutes."
Southern Illinois Head Coach Barry Hinson
On Thik Bol only one being aggressive…
"In a way I disagree with you. I thought that is the best defense we played as a unit. We just held a Big Ten team to 18 percent from the three and 38 percent for the game and we are the first team to do that in their six games. We are the first team to hold them under 80 points ... The thing Thik does for us guys, he gives us a shot blocker. He alters shots, he changes in the interior, and he just seems to get better with each game as we go and he has done a good job. This game tonight was two ends of the spectrum. We played phenomenal defense and then we played I wouldn't say bad offense, but we just didn't produce when the shots were there. I think we got great looks and I think you got to give credit to this crowd. I thought the atmosphere was good especially for a day after Thanksgiving and our guys weren't tough enough to handle this type of environment at this juncture of our team and season."
On how the game unfolded…..
"Our game plan was we had to make sure we get stops and do a great job on the glass and we have to make perimeter jump shots. We are not going to score inside the paint against their size and we don't have a guy with girth, so we knew that we had to make outside shots to be successful. We had 4 starters tonight that were 1 for 12 from behind the arch and we are not going to win a lot of games when do that."
On playing against the length…..
"I would say in most occasions it would be a factor, but I do not think it was a factor tonight. I don't remember exception of one three being heavily contested and Armon (Fletcher) made it in front of the bench. I don't remember any majorly contested shots tonight. I think we just missed shots."
On the way they competed……
"I think it is a huge night for our ball club. I think it was a huge night. This team beat Arkansas handily and Arkansas beat the tar out of us by 25. We had this game at 7 under 3 minutes and had a chance at 7 and two possessions we came up empty on and just didn't do it, so I'm happy with our progression defensively. We are getting better. I'm disappointed moreso in our offensive toughness as far as just stepping up and making shots, but I think this environment will continually help us and I am banking on it. That is why we set this tough schedule."
Junior Nate Mason
