University of Minnesota Athletics
Post Game Quotes: USC Upstate
11/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement
"Wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but you know those games are difficult when you play five guards that can all shoot the ball, and we had to go small. I didn't like our offensive attack in the first half, and that's on me. We gotta do a better job there, putting guys in the right space and I thought we adjusted well in the second half. We got the win, it was definitely not pretty, but Jordan Murphy was terrific obviously, so there was a lot of good, but now we gotta go back to work versus a terrific Providence team.
On where Jordan Murphy has improved the most…
"Just a belief that he can score on the low block, and then understanding that we have to go rebound the ball. We had nine offensive rebounds, they could not keep him off the glass. Obviously Providence is going to be a lot bigger, they were playing a lot of zone tonightso we did think we could get the offensive rebound against them, which we did. Twenty offensive rebounds is really good, and a lot of that had to do with Jordan Murphy. He's put in the work, and he's being rewarded, so it's good to see."
On Jordan Murphy's leadership…
"He was the most vocal guy in the huddles, he had 35 points and it's easy to be a leader when you're scoring the ball. He was terrific, he was the loudest guy on the team, and he wasn't that way last year. He was positive and picking other guys up, and he was a terrific leader today."
On Isaiah Washington's debut…
"Wasn't great, but again I think it's that he hasn't seen a zone like that before. We don't play a matchup zone, so he hasn't really gone against one. He didn't go against one in any of the exhibition games, so more than anything, I think it's just understanding where to attack, but he'll be fine."
On their next game on the road at Providence…
"It's going to be a great test. I think they've made four tournaments in a row, and they have four starters back. Coach Cooley's done a great job of building that program, he's got a lot of talent, a lot of really good players, tough place to play. For me it's obviously sentimental, I love my alma mater, had a lot of fun there, got fond memories up at Providence college, and it's always been a special place for me, so that'll be cool. But when that ball goes up, we gotta understand that we're playing a really good team, in a tough environment, and I can't remember the last time we had this tough of a road game so early, so our guys gotta wake up and be ready to roll."
Junior Forward Jordan Murphy
Murphy on what he has added to his game since last year…
"I have worked on pretty much everything in the off season and just making sure that my overall game is more solid than it was last year. I'm starting to understand the game better from a mentality stand point."
Redshirt Senior Reggie Lynch
Lynch on Murphy's performance…
"It was awesome, just 'cause Jordan has been my man. When I see him doing well it makes me wanna either excel to his level or vice versa, we feed off each other very well so it's always awesome to see him do well."
On what they do as team leaders to have better practices moving forward…
"Even though I'm not a captain, I have seniority over some guys on the team. Since I've been through 4 basically 5 years of college I just know the deal. No matter what the opponent is, you can't be sluggish leading up to it, it just gets you out of focus."
On going back to the Coach's alma mater, Providence, for the next game…
"It's just good that we were able to get a game out of the way, this game that we just played where it wasn't a complete blowout, we needed to have a game where it tested us a little bit so it was good to have this game. It can help us to better prepare and get focused for a game that is going to be top 25 potential team. I feel like even though there's a lot of importance since it's coach's alma mater, it's just the next game on the schedule and we have to prepare for it like any other game."
