University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Concordia-St. Paul
11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
Opening Statement
"Good win, obviously 25 assists and six turnovers are really good. I kept telling these guys to play the right way. Play the right way, everybody will get their points. We've got a lot of weapons which is a good thing. It was good to get back playing basketball, it was good to be in Williams Arena, fans were great, it was great to see them, and it was just great to get things started. Got a lot out of it and we'll get some rest and then get back and ready to go on Sunday. If we haven't talked about it, but Sunday at noon, if we can pack that place it's for a great cause, so hopefully we can do that because it will be really special."
On Murphy and Mason's game tonight…
"They were really good. Both of them very, very efficient. To not play a lot of minutes… 22 points for Murph, 15 from Nate. I think Nate had five assists and one turnover. Again, I kept harping 'play the right way' and I thought both of those guys did that and obviously I didn't play them a lot in the second half just because we are going to play a game this Sunday. But I thought everybody, when you get 25 assists and 6 turnovers, you are playing the right way."
On Murphy's development…
"It will be great. His offensive game is really really evolving. I agree with him, he's understanding his spots in the offense a lot better. He's a load down there too, he shot a 3, I had no problem with that, but he also knows where his bread is buttered. You know 11 rebounds is really good, because he should be one of the better rebounders in the conference"
On Davonte and what stood out about him tonight…
"He's got versatility to him, he's got length, he can rebound the ball you know, he is moving well, nice dunk there. I think he can really help us, and he's got size to do it and more than anything I'm just really happy for him, that's two long years out. I limited his minutes a little bit today just to be patient with him"
On chemistry between Dupree and Nate…
"They're really close, so they've got a great mutual respect for each other. I think that when you've got five guys back and have played a lot of minutes in those five, they're really vital to the success of this team because they have to have great chemistry. We've got younger guys in the line-up, it's going to take a while to be connected, there's no excuse for us to not be connected with those five guys because they've played a lot of minutes together and a lot of big games."
Junior Forward Jordan Murphy
On how he felt about his performance tonight...
"I felt good, it's just my teammates did a good job finding me in the right areas and finding me when I was open, so most of the credit goes to them."
On if the team looks ready for the season opener…
"Yeah we're a good team, really talented team. But, we still have some areas improve and we all know that, so it's just about getting into the gym and working as hard as we can everyday."
On how comfortable he feels being an upperclassman now…
"I think I'm starting to understand the game a lot more than I have the previous two years, and I'm just being more patient with a lot of the stuff that we're running."
Redshirt Senior Forward Davonte Fitzgerald
On how it felt to play in a game….
"Yeah, it felt great. I got a lot of jitters out in that first scrimmage. The closed scrimmage was great. It felt really good to get back out, up and down, get the jitters out."
On the process of sitting out with injuries…
"It just tested my patience, but you know we're here now. Time has flown. You know, we're about to start this season."
