WVU Postgame Quotes

OSU head coach Brad Underwood:

On how the game played out:
"It was what I thought it was. There's nothing pretty about it when you play against West Virginia. They don't let you run much and you've got to make good basketball plays and you have to be instinctive as well as doing all of the little things well. We had a swing of five or six possessions where there were loose balls - we've gotten those all year, but they beat us to everything today. Those became points for them and that's something you can't do in a conference or any game for that matter. There were a lot of blown assignments on our part today and I've got to do a better job of getting our guys dialed in. It was a very challenging game because they don't let you run anything. Their press is bothersome and you've got to go make plays. You don't have time to set up the perfect play every time. We did an OK job against the press, but we've got to get better. It's one game. We'll grow and continue to get better and be a little more solid."

On dealing with West Virginia's physicality at the guard position:
"Welcome to the Big 12. There's a bump or a hit on every play. Every ball screen is going to be a hedge of some sort and there's going to be contact when you go to the rim. I'm the biggest Jevon Carter fan ever. That young man gets the ball wherever he wants it. He'll get the ball on his hip and then get around the defender. He makes great decisions - six assists and only one turnover. He's a great, great guard. West Virginia is making shots right now and that's a tribute to Coach Huggins and their tremendous experience. They have a lot of guys back and that's a very, very good basketball team."

On what the team takes from today:
"I think they understand how hard they have to play. You have to work on every possession. You can't just pitch the ball out of bounds. You've got to fight for everything. You can't assume the ball is going to go out of bounds and let them go and get it - we saw that happen tonight. Those are the things that make the difference. You have to do those things when it's hard, not when it's easy. You have to do it when it's hard and things aren't going your way. You have to find that inner determination to do it and that's what I want them to take from this and what I'm going to show them. We had three or four opportunities to go take charges, but we bailed. We haven't been bailing out all year. We're a terrific free throw shooting team, but today we shot around 60 percent. When the game is hard, and things aren't going your way, that's where toughness comes in. That's when you have to fight and you have to be dialed in and that's what I want this to mean going forward. The X's and O's will get cleaned up and be different the next time we play, but the grit, fight and toughness - we have a long way to go there. That's a veteran team over there that was really ready to play and we have to grow from it."

On how he thinks the team will respond to the loss:
"The only thing that will different is that it's a true road game. We're gonna be facing a team that has a lot of good players and we've got to fight. This is a marathon and we're continuing to grow constantly. It was a new experience for some of these guys to play a team that presses like this. Most nights I want to walk out knowing that we were the team that played the hardest. Tonight, the team that won the game was the one that did that. There are going to be nights that the ball doesn't go in for you, but you can deal with those. You can't have many nights where you get outfought. West Virginia brought it more than we did today."

On the sellout crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena:
"Seeing that was one of the most awesome feelings I've ever had as a head basketball coach. We can talk about NCAA Tournament wins and all that other stuff, but to walk out here and see that - I was antsy all day. I popped out of the locker room three times today to keep looking. Having the arena full - that's what Oklahoma State basketball is all about. We didn't win today, but we're going to win a lot of games in this building and we're going to have a heck of a program. To do it without our students, a big thank you goes out to our athletic department and marketing people for what they did with the tickets and all of those people are to be commended. It was breathtaking for me, and almost emotional, because that is one of the main reasons why I came here."

OSU Point Guard Jawun Evans:

On playing that defense in person:
"It's a lot of chaos. Lot of running around. Just have to come out better and play. I feel like we did, we just didn't come out with the intensity that we usually do."

On if the game got too fast for them:
"Not really because we like to play fast. They got ahead, we turned over the ball too many times at one point. We were coming back, we were chipping away, it just got ahead of us."

On what West Virginia does that makes it so difficult to be consistent:
"Just with them being out of control. The way they press and jump off a man at any time makes it hard to run plays. You just have to be ready for it."

OSU senior forward Leyton Hammonds:

On what the difference was in the first half:
"I think we came out to a little slow start. We fought back throughout the game. I didn't think our intensity was their all the way. We were locked in but, like Jawun said, their chaos created a lot of havoc for us and turned into easy baskets for them. That's kind of our style of play, too. We just weren't turning them over as much as we should have."

On getting his shot going:
"I know I'm capable of doing it. Games like this you just want to come out on the win/loss column with a win. Teammates were finding me, but games like this you want a win, regardless of how many points you score."

On the atmosphere:
"It was great. As long as I've been here, that's the best crowd I've been a part of. I just want to thank them so much, especially at a time like this where we are out of school and on Christmas break, people are wanting to be with their families. They come in and support us like that, it means the world to me. I just want to thank the fans."

West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins:

On the key to the win:
"Our pressure, but that's what we do. I think that's the key to every game. If we don't turn you over we then we give up some easy looks because we take chances. If we're not turning them over and creating easy baskets for ourselves then it's going in the wrong direction for us."

On the importance to the quick start with the rowdy crowd:
"Our guys don't pay attention to the crowd. I know that people think that's a thing. They've played in enough places. Played against enough people in front of enough crowds. It's kind of a unique bunch in that regard. They think they're pretty good. Now whether they are or not, I don't know, but they think they are."

On the crowd:
"This league is full of places like this and that's not a knock on this place. It's like this. If you get nervous playing in front of big crowds this is a bad league. Probably should go somewhere else."

On the difference in Oklahoma State from last year to this year:
"When we played them here a year ago Evans was hurt, Carroll was sick so we didn't really see those guys. They're really good, they're really good. We disrupt you so much that they didn't get to run their offense and that's what we do. If we hadn't disrupted them we would have been in trouble."

WVU's Nathan Adrian:

On if he felt it from the crowd:
"Yeah, a little bit when they went on their run."

On playing a team with the same style as them:
"It definitely helps us. We see it every day so we aren't rattled as much. Just glad we came out the way it was supposed to."

WVU's Daxter Miles Jr.:

On the biggest difference in this game than last year's game
"I would just say it was a full team effort."

On handling the runs:
"We just stayed composed."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jawun Evans

Leyton Hammonds

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