North Texas Quotes
Opening Statement from Head Coach Johnny Jones: "First off I think our games came out
and played a very defensive basketball game against Western Kentucky who we all know is rich
in tradition and have tremendous players on their team. Thought they were playing extremely
well over the last few games. They are very competitive. We knew it would be a heartfelt battle
coming in. I thought our guys fought hard in the first half and the second half cleaning up
because we made some mistakes. We executed on the offensive side of the floor and took care
of the floor. We got stops that we needed and rebounded the basketball."
Question for Head Coach Johnny Jones:
On the start to the game..."I thought we got off to a great start. It had a lot to do with the
energy. You know we played a great basketball team. We didn't feel good about the game we
played earlier in the season against Western. I thought they came out and did an excellent job
and we didn't respond very well. I think our guys had that in the back of their mind. They put
forth the effort to make sure those things didn't happen again. Great start for us and that's what
you need against a tough team like Western Kentucky."
On the second half.... We came back in the second half on the offensive end and made sure we
took the shots that we needed. The execution was key for us and shooting such a high
percentage."
On the team..."They wanted to get better and I am just excited they have the chance to see their
hard work pay off. I think that is what is special about this group is they are being rewarded for
their hard work."
On Josh White..."It is great having a leader like that out there. Someone who can control and
command the game and we are excited he is back and at full strength right now."
Question for Tristan Thompson:
On the game and Western Kentucky beating them before..."It didn't make any difference it was
just another game and just another opponent. They were in our way to get to the championship.
They are a great team. No matter who we are playing we are going to come out swinging and
we did. I am glad we picked it up in the second half to pull away and come out with a victory."
On missing three free throws..."I feel pretty good. We won 81 to 62, that's the main thing and
we get to come back to the championship."
On his game..."The guys are showing a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in
myself. The whole team is just stepping up and we are playing some great ball."
On beating them as a senior... "Being a senior and struggling against them and being able to
knock them out is a great feeling."
Question for George Odufuwa:
On preparation for the game..."We prepared the same way. I know we were much more focused
and have been throughout the whole tournament."
On the season struggle..."It shows a lot about the character of our guys. WE came through a lot
of diversity this year and we responded in a good way. WE just tried to get better every day in
practice."
WKU Quotes
Opening Statement from Head Coach Ken McDonald:
"It's always a tough way you finish your season. I think North Texas played a really good
basketball game. I thought our guys came into the tournament with an approach that we were
going to win the tournament. We've played hard all three nights. I thought tonight North Texas
not only played well but they made shots time after time. They were in rhythm right from the
beginning of the game. We had a lot of good looks that didn't fall down for us. The guys kept
playing hard and putting us in position to make a run and we just couldn't make an open bucket.
We road our seniors to finish the season out the right way and pretty much this tournament
these guys were warriors for us. It is tough to be on this end but we did fight hard these three
nights"
Question for Head Coach Ken McDonald:
On the game...I thought they had a good game plan defending the post. They really made
Pettigrew work for post ups. We migrated to the perimeter a little bit I don't think we took bad
shots, but you got to force your will on guys. I'm not sure se consistently did that over the course
of the game but you know their three seniors stepped up. I mean we said that at the end of the
clock and managing the game, the guard play was there for them. You could see it in their eyes
a little bit, the confidence and the energy that they had. They had it for forty minutes, and a lot
of that happens when you are making shots and we just couldn't slow them down. They were
shooting too high of a percentage. In the second half it was tough to contain their guards and
every time we did it seemed like a rebound or a fifty-fifty ball was landing in one of their hands."
Question for Juan Pattillo:
On the game..."I thought we had open looks, we just couldn't knock them down. Shots that we
normally make we really couldn't find a rhythm in the second half. But I think we had really good
looks throughout the second half."
Question for Steffphon Pettigrew:
Emotion of the game..."It really hurt us to go out the way we did, but for the seniors and the rest
of the team, we left it all out there. From day one, we left it all out there on the court, me, Juan,
and Sergio to go out this way it hurts but you just have to look on and hopefully WKU won't be
back in the position and let it go."
