University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: LIU Brooklyn
12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
On Dupree McBrayer's performance...
"We've always said he was probably our most improved player. He showed that, made some very very impressive finishes in the 2nd half. I always thought we recruited a guy that would be good later. I think from a body standpoint, he's put in the work, he's playing with great confidence. Confidence is a beautiful thing and he's shown that today."
On Amir Coffey's absence...
"I told him I said just warm up, And if you're in pain, we won't play you. And so we probably made that decision couple minutes before the game. So everybody had to adjust a little bit. 17 assists, 2 turnovers between Dupree and Nate was really good. But I think we understand that if we play that type of defense in the Big Ten we'll be on the losing side, so it's a good wake up call. But happy to be 11-1 obviously."
On Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer's scoring...
"It's important that Nate and Dupree score. because Ithink Amir is averaging what, 12, 13 a game. But I think he's naturally a great passer. Now I do think he's a very good slasher getting to the rim you know, and scoring the ball. But its very very important that Dupree and Nate, Akeem as well, give us that scoring punch."
On Eric Curry's performance...
"I'm excited about him, I've always been excited about him. He really rebounds the ball well. You know, gotta get him a little more confident with a low-post standpoint. But he can shoot the ball. Him making that 3 was not a surprise. You know, he hit a mid range shot too that was really nice. He's got really good hands, good instincts catching the ball going right to the rim. So I think, for a true freshman, I think he's pretty impressive."
On moving forward...
"Well, the focus right now is to get locked in for finals. You know, this game is always scary for a lot of coaches because they've got papers, they've got exams, they got all these things weighing on them. And as you know, in college, I mean those things are worth like your whole grade. So my biggest focus is to get them ready for that, get them healthy, get Amir healthy. We've got some time off here, and then get back to work here."
LIU Brooklyn Head Coach Jack Perri
Sophomore Dupree McBrayer
On scoring his career high...
"It feels good, I wasn't really worried about it, I was just playing. Coach did a good job just trying to get me going."
On Amir Coffey being out and if it caused any pressure on him to score...
"Not at all, we had a lot of scorers. Akeem scored, Reggie scored, Murphy scored, etc. So we had many options, so I wasn't really worried."
Junior Nate Mason
On playing with Dupree...
"It keeps the defense on their toes. Both of us can create for others, it would be hard to stop two people that can create for other people like us. It definitely takes the pressure off me that I know somebody can handle the ball, bring the ball back up court."
On being more comfortable shooting the three this year...
"Yes, definitely. Going back to what Dupree said, just putting in the work the whole season. At the end of last season both of us put in our minds that we were going to come back better players than ever. We definitely put in the work, put in the work together sometimes. It is good to see both of us excelling."
