Postgame Quotes - UCLA 74, Washington 53
UCLA 74, Washington 53
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
December 31, 2017
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Super proud of our guys. This is obviously a night that for 22-23 minutes not a lot was going right. We didn’t rebound the ball well, we didn’t defend, we turned the ball over and we weren’t making shots. We really challenged the guys at halftime about having a little bit more effort. Our effort, when you play a Pac-12 game and you finish on a 45-10 run, when you go on a run like that you’re effort is on another level. We grew up tonight and did a lot of good things. In the second half, we held them to 17 percent shooting and 17 points and outrebounded them on a night that we didn’t click. We didn’t have a lot of guys shoot the ball well and had more turnovers than assists and to come out with a 21-point win against a team that’s very good and having a good year…I’m really happy.”
on UCLA’s defense compared to Washington’s shooting
“I thought changing to the zone defense was huge and changing to the press was huge. Our guys played with a lot of energy and a lot of heart. We were holding them to 2-for-27 shooting from three and I thought we forced them into some quick threes as well. We didn’t put them on the line as we won the free-throw line battle as well. It was a game too where it wasn’t Aaron’s [Holiday] best night or Tom’s [Welsh] best night and we won by 21. So that’s encouraging to our young guys. I thought our guys just really grew up tonight. Prince [Ali] after a slow start played well, Kris [Wilkes] was great, Chris Smith’s minutes were really good, Jaylen [Hands] came in and did some really good things and G.G. [Goloman] was solid throughout. We had some guys that haven’t been in the forefront as much as Tom and Aaron come in and have some big minutes and help us.”
on changing to zone defense
“It was something we can do. We have played zone before and I think we just needed a change. I think more than the zone it was the full-court press that energized us. It’s not like we turned them over, but it was just energizing to our guys. It got us moving around more because that was the first team we’ve played against that’s in a zone for 40 minutes and we stood a lot in the first half. The press and our defense helped us get into transition and get moving a little bit. Once we were able to get into transition a little bit, we attacked the zone a lot better.”
on the energy level of the team
“For whatever reason I didn’t like our start. We tried to maximize our rest. We have five of our eight guys that have not been through this before. So I told them from now on we are Thursday-Saturday through late February besides when we play USC and have a bye game. So you have to do what you have to do on Friday to be ready for Saturday. And that Saturday game could be played at night, late afternoon or early afternoon we don’t know with TV where that’s going to be placed. In my opinion I thought they were the tired team late and we were not. That’s encouraging because I thought we showed some maturity. When you’re done 14 with 17 minutes to go and win by 21 you’ve done some really good things. I told the locker room I was really proud of them because there are a lot of teams that wouldn’t have been able to come back from that.”
on play of Kris Wilkes
“He was 5-for-6 from the line which might put him over 60 percent for the season which would be great. I told him that being from Indiana it’s ridiculous you’re under 60 percent let alone under 70-80 percent from the free-throw line. He’s been working hard at them. I thought he took the challenge tonight. It’s his first time playing two games in three nights and I thought he really responded well. He rebounded well in the second half and played 32 minutes without a turnover. His defense was much better. I thought all the freshman played better defensively in the second half, even though it was in zone it was much better and that’s what he had to have.”
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on the team’s second-half turnaround
“Really, I thought it started with me. I came out aggressive in the second half and I think that got everybody else going. Being a leader, you’ve got to do that sometimes and I think it paid off.”
on UCLA’s defensive adjustments
“We just switched to a press to slow them down, basically. First half, they scored a lot of points. I forgot how many, but they were up there. So second half, we just had to slow them down and that obviously helped us. It energized us, we got out and got steals, we got rebounds and it just energized our offense, pretty much.”
on if team was playing with low energy early
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Obviously, again, it starts with me. I didn’t come out the way I should have. Coach got on me and it changed in the second half.”
on how dangerous team is when players like Wilkes and Ali are producing
“Very dangerous. When Kris and Prince step up, they could go off for 20, 30 any night. When they step up and play and with me and Tom playing well, it’s going to be dangerous, pretty much.”
UCLA redshirt-sophomore guard Prince Ali
on Holiday increasing team’s energy
“He made sure he energized us. We played better defense. We got stops and we were able to get out in transition, so that really helped our game.”
on if team is playing with good momentum
“Yeah, we’ve got good momentum. We got some good wins. This one, especially, was a great win. Considering how much we were down, how much we fought. I think we really grew up together and it’s going to be great momentum going forward.”
UCLA freshman guard Kris Wilkes
on what led to the team’s second-half turnaround
“Really, I think the encouragement we had in the locker room. Talking to each other, saying ‘We got this.’ Just really wanted to win. Wanted to get this win because we lost that against Cincinnati at home and we didn’t want to go 0-2 at home. I’m glad we fought hard and I think that confidence, just us talking to each other, helped out a lot.”
on if team did anything in particular to start turnaround
“I think, really, the scouting report. I don’t think we trusted and believed in the scouting report as much as we did in the past games. The main point was stop Dickerson on the rebounding and I think he contributed to their big lead that they had. Making adjustments and boxing him out and getting rebounds and stopping him. I think that really helped us out.”
on if this was team’s best defensive half
“One of the best. I think a lot of games, we play real hard defense and we haven’t clicked so much on the offensive end. I think this game, not only did we click on the defensive end, we clicked on the offensive end. I think that’s what made it seem like it was one of the best. I think on the previous games, we did so good on defense, we just couldn’t do it on offense. This is one of the best overall in the second halves.”
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins
opening statement
“We really played well for the first 28 minutes, but unfortunately, the game is 40 minutes. They came out with a 1-2-2 zone to start the second half and we tried to make the adjustment, but it was a little too late. When they changed to the 3-2 defense at the 10-minute mark that basically won the game for them. Those guys over there are really big. Welsh is big and their wings are also big and long. They did a great job denying the entry passes to Dickerson. I really give them a lot of credit, but that’s just the breaks of the game and they have a really good coach over there.”
on what they learned from this experience
“I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve really grown a lot. We started out the season by playing in New York City against Providence and we won that game. In the next game, we were awful against Virginia Tech, then we beat Kansas and then we looked terrible against Gonzaga. Then we played well against USC and then we lose tonight. I know it might be a corny coaching cliché, but I just want to preach growth to our guys. It’s just the ups and downs of this team. We’re just trying to get better. We just want to show growth and figure out what we can learn. This league is really tough. It’s really tough to win in this league, especially here at UCLA. This place has a really great tradition and a great coach.”
Washington junior forward Noah Dickerson
overall statement
“They made the adjustments at halftime and went to a 3-2 defense, we just couldn’t score. It is what it is. It was a very good adjustment. They went on a run and we just couldn’t stop that run.”
on where the team goes from here
“We have Wazzu (Washington State) next. We just have to come out ready to play. I think tonight, we settled for too many jumpers when they (UCLA) changed to the 3-2 (defense).”