Postgame Quotes - UCLA 82, Arizona 74
UCLA 82, Arizona 74
Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center)
February 8, 2018
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“Really proud of our guys because they battled and competed. That’s the thing – I thought we took our competitiveness to another level. That was great to see. We had great contributions from everyone. I wasn’t able to get Chris Smith back into the game in the second half because I thought we had such good flow that I just went with it. I have to get him back in the flow on Saturday because we are going to need him. I thought we made them do a lot of different things. They had to go with a four-guard lineup, they had to zone us a little bit and that’s a credit to what our guys were doing. To come in here and basically be even on the glass with only 10 turnovers – I thought we were efficient offensively and that we really guarded. We made it very difficult on them for most of the game and this is a very potent offense we were playing. Anytime you can win down here you know you played well and I think we really played well.”
on team continuing to grow
“The slip ups early in the season…one was at Michigan and not a lot of teams win at Michigan and that was our first true road game. And I’ve said that before I wish we would have made some free throws but that’s part of a young team growing. Five guys haven’t played here before and I thought they really competed and hung together. We had one stretch in the second half where we got away from what we do and they cut it to four and then we called timeout and went on an 8-0 run. We got to sharing it again and defensively I thought we were solid all night.”
on play of G.G. Goloman
“G.G. was huge for us tonight. He took open shots. We worked the ball and moved it very well and to his credit he made shots. That’s something he’s worked awfully hard at and I thought he was terrific tonight."
on Jaylen Hands play ending the first half
“I thought both freshmen grew up a lot. I thought [Kris] Wilkes matured through a tough first half to have a really good, important second half for us. And Jaylen, yea people will talk about his three threes which was great and huge for us in the first half. But I thought he had just a solid game. He really played like a vet tonight and we really needed him to do that. We needed him to do a good job with the matchup against a very good senior guard. And then [Aaron] Holiday and [Thomas] Welsh continue to do what they do. They’re just very consistent in what they do. I also thought Alex [Olesinski] and Prince [Ali] gave us a lift off the bench. Our bench was really good tonight.”
on what the win means for the team
“This is huge. We’ve won four in a row and obviously this is a huge road win. This is a huge road win around the country to get a win in here. This is a top-20 team, they have been top 10. This is huge for us. Now we get a one-day break and then have to play another really good team on Saturday on the road. You don’t get a lot of time to celebrate this but we will at least have a very good bus ride tonight to Phoenix because the guys deserve it.
UCLA senior center Thomas Welsh
on importance of win
“This is great. This is a very good team and a very tough atmosphere to play in. I’m just really proud of the way we played and glad we got the win tonight.”
on the keys to the victory
“I think it was our defense. Especially in the first half, coach told us we had a defensive efficiency of 94 which is a goal we go for. We built a good lead in the first half and just continued with that in the second half."
on Jaylen Hands at the end of the first half
“That was awesome. That’s what he can do. He can make those shots and to make three in a row was huge for us.”
on offensive game plan with the front court
“Our bigs all have the ability to pick and pop and hit shots from the perimeter. So we threw those little wrinkles at them because those are two really good bigs and rim protectors so if we can pull them away from the basket in played to our advantage.”
on growth of the team
“I think we’re just growing. We’ve had a good stretch so far and we’ve got a big game coming up against ASU. So we have to watch some film on this game, learn from mistakes and build on the positives and get ready for the next one.
UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday
on importance of the win
“It’s huge. We are obviously fighting for our spot in the NCAA Tournament and this is a big win for that.”
on growth of team
“Over time growth is going to happen. At the beginning, at Michigan it was a big game and I turned the ball over too many times at the end. I was a little tired so I tried to help my teammates out by letting them know that if they get tired, bad things are going to happen. I felt like we wouldn’t do that now. With this big win I feel like we did a great job of that.”
on the game plan
“It was great. Coach did a great job of drawing up the game plan. Alex [Olesinski], G.G. [Goloman] and Tom [Welsh] did a great job down low with the bigs and I’m glad we came out with the win.”
on reaction to Jaylen Hands at the end of the first half
“I was just happy for him. Obviously we know how good he is and how good he is going to be before he leaves here. For those shots to fall it really helped us and pushed us to the second half.”
on playing defense against Allonzo Trier
“I just tried to play defense with my hands up so I don’t get called for any ticky-tack fouls. That was pretty much all I did.”
UCLA senior forward G.G. Goloman
on importance of the win
“It was big. But it was just another game. This is a great environment and a great team that we just beat. They have been top 10 in the country but we have one more game to go on this trip this weekend.”
on feelings after getting the win
“It’s great feeling especially getting to walk out knowing that this will be the last time on the court in my career. It was a great feeling.”
on battle with Arizona’s front court
“They have great bigs. Good size, great skill and have all the talent they need. We were just ready. We knew they were going everything and we gave them our everything and we came out of it with a win.”
on what win means for NCAA Tournament
“It’s a great win definitely to beat Arizona at home. But there are a lot more games to win for us to get there. This is a great starting point though.”
UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands
on hitting three 3-pointers in a row
“I’ve done that once or twice at Pauley and it’s cool because the crowd goes crazy but when you do it on the road they get quiet so that was cool.”
on atmosphere in McKale Center
“We really had a good week of practice so we expected to come in here and do some things. We played the way we wanted to so we weren’t surprised that the crowd wasn’t in it as much as they could be.”
on growth of the team
“We have had a lot of games on the road that we could have won but let them go. We talked earlier in the year that we had some tests that as a unit we may not have been ready for. But this game we felt that we’ve had enough bumps in the road that if we got up or down, we would know how to handle it.”