Oklahoma State University Athletics
Baylor Postgame Quotes
January 27, 2016 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU senior forward Leyton Hammonds
On second half:
"They came out hot and they were ready to go," Hammonds said. "Rico [Gathers] had three buckets straight and that changed the game for us. Us getting into foul trouble and Mitchell Solomon getting into foul trouble was hard for us. They were aggressive on defense and on the glass like we were in the first half and we had to go down deep in our bench. Joe Burton great gave us some great minutes but like I said it's hard to be aggressive on defense when you've got guys in foul trouble."
On the team making progress going forward:Â
"We've just got to be mentally focused for 40 minutes," Hammonds said. "We've had times where we've had mental collapses and they've resulted in fouls and turnovers and easy buckets for them. We're just going to have to be more mentally strong for 40 minutes instead of 10 for the first half and the other 30 we act like we don't know how to play basketball. I just feel like if can get mentally strong for 40 minutes, and it starts with practice and being mentally strong throughout the whole practice instead of having our ups and downs, then I feel like we can be a better team."
OSU senior forward Chris Olivier
On Baylor's defensive pressure:
"It's a lot of pressure," Olivier said. "Coach talked about it. They wanted to drive a lot and that's what they're good at and offensive rebounding. We just had to box-out and they were calling a lot of fouls and guys were in foul trouble. It was just tough and we've got to stay locked in for the whole 40 minutes."
On his second half performance:
"Coming into halftime, coach said, 'let's get the ball inside' and so I just went into the post hard and tried to be that person for the team," Olivier said. "I was getting good looks thanks to Jawun [Evans] and Jeff [Newberry] and those guys and they kept finding me in the right position.
OSU head coach Travis Ford
Opening statement:
"I was proud of the team's effort, and there was one aspect of the game that I was upset about and I'll address that later. We gave them too many easy points to start the second half. We gave Rico Gathers Sr. six points in a one and-a-half minute span, but they shot 12 more free throws than we did and that's the difference in the game. I'm proud of the kids' effort, we just gave up too many points in the second half - 42 - and a lot of those came at the free throw line."
On Baylor's zone in the second half:
"We started running some different things and finally got into a rhythm and go the lead back. You can't give a top-20 team that type of start in the second half, and we just had some stuff go against us that just made it difficult for us. Our guys played hard, we had one more field goal than they did, but they shot more free throws than we did."
On Chris Olivier's role in the second half:
"Part of our plan was to give it to him in the post, it was something we thought we could do and we could exploit a little bit. We had 17 assists, which is good, but I thought we had too many turnovers, 16 turnovers and three in the last two and-a-half minutes in the game in the illegal screen and ball-handling turnovers, and you can't do that."
Baylor Head Coach, Scott Drew
Opening Statement:
"I was really proud of our team tonight on how they battled and fought. Coach Ford did a tremendous job X's and O's wise. He's one of the best in the country on being active and sound defensively. I really credit our upperclassmen in the second half. You can tell my voice is gone, so you can ask questions to the players. They're the ones that did the work and they can tell you what happened."
On getting the lead back in the second half after a few OSU runs:Â
"They did and that doesn't happen if you don't have upperclassmen. Last year, Rico and TP they've been in the grind and the war. Their desire to win, their desire to stay poised and not get rattled and do the job that was the difference."
On if he was surprised on shooting more free throws than OSU:Â
"No, because we're a team that plays physical. When you have guys like Prince and Gathers, those are guys that will get inside. So we're going to get contact. I think consistently we've done a good job getting to the line all year long. If you look, we don't typically foul as much so I thought that was what we normally do."Â
Baylor forward, Rico GathersÂ
On the comeback in the second half:Â
"We just went into the locker room and knew we weren't playing our best basketball. And we knew it was going to be a grind-it-out game in the second half because they're playing on their home court. We just had to come out strong and that was the first thing we did by getting the ball inside. I think I scored like three buckets back-to-back and we just went to work from there."
On stepping up on defense in the second half:Â
"I felt like we came out really flat on defense early. So we had to take a few of the looks there we giving us in the first half and make sure we were taken care of the ball and converting on the offensive end."
Baylor forward, Taurean PrinceÂ
On the importance of closing the gap on the OSU lead before end of the half:Â
"It was huge. Coach did a great job of reiterating that we need to get stops and once we got stops we started getting inside with Rico Gathers. And I think when you know that you came back from that situation and you continue to have faith, anything is possible."
On gaining confidence on the road after winning three-straight road games:Â
"Nothing is easy in the Big 12, no matter how much you continue winning. Anybody can beat you if you don't come to play."
