University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. Arizona State
POSTGAME QUOTES
Arizona State 84, UCLA 73
January 24, 2019
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UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
โItโs a tough loss. Arizona State has got a good team. I think some telling stats โฆ they did a great job and beat us by eight on the glass, that was huge. I thought [Zylan] Cheatham played great, Remy Martin was great. The fight with our team is good, no it is has nothing to do with the spirit of our team. Obviously weโve lost three in a row, but these guys have continued to practice hard, work hard. I thought in the second half too many turnovers hurt us, lack of play on the glass hurt us, and obviously free throw shooting โ we were 10 of 21 โ that hurt us. I thought we had multiple really good looks from our best players, they just didnโt go in. We want Kris shooting the ball, I thought he got some great looks in the second half. I thought Prince Ali got some great looks in the second half, just didnโt go in. Arizona State has got a good team. Good players, good athletes. It was toe-to-toe for a while, but they stretched it out on us a little bit in the second half.โ
ย
on ASUโs second-half improvement
โI thought they just hit shots. Our zone has been pretty darn good. If you look at Pac-12 play, our zone has been pretty effective. Our zone has been our best defense. We tried to play a little man, but our zone has been effective. Theyโve got good players. Remy Martin is a really good player, Rob Edwards, Taeshon Cherry. [Luguentz] Dort will play in the NBA. So theyโve got talent. Again, thereโs no secret formula here. If we make free throws, if we donโt turnover, if we make open threes โฆ and we probably missed 15-20 shots within four feet of the rim. The officials were obviously letting it go โ on both ends โ but it was physical inside and we worked all week on finishing against contact and we didnโt miss a lot of shots around the rim.โ
ย
on balancing win-now and development mentalities
โWeโre just trying to get better. We think we can beat anybody in the league, itโs as simple as that. Weโre confident and we think weโre capable of beating anyone in the league. If we donโt play well, anybody can beat us. If you look at that second half tonight, it had nothing to do with energy or spirit โฆ Number one weโre playing a really good team. In the second half, we take 31 shots and make 10. We take 15 free throws and make six of them. Then we get out-rebounded on the glass. These players are working their tails off. I wish everyone could be at practices, these guys work hard, the spiritโs great, energyโs great. We just have to play a little bit better. This league is wide open, and weโre smart enough to know that anyone can beat us if we donโt play better.โ
ย
on free throw issues
โI think with free throws, you canโt harp on it and harp on it. I think what you do is you drill it, you rep it. The guys who are poor free throw shooters, you get in the gym a lot and you make a lot. Make sure their technique is correct, make sure theyโre relaxed up there. Assuming theyโre relaxed and their technique is correct and youโre repping it in practice, I donโt know what more you can do. It is different when you get in a game and thereโs pressure and the crowd. Mentally it can be tough. Iโm really confident about our team. I like these guys a lot, theyโre very coachable. Weโve got a while left, we played a good team tonight that just played better in the second half.โ
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UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on the second half
โI donโt think it was so much the energy that changed in the second half, we came out with some good energy. I think we didnโt convert on a lot of opportunities. Didnโt box out when we should have boxed out. I think we relied on our athleticism too much. We had a lot of opportunities to hit shots and we just didnโt. I had a lot of opportunities I should have hit that I didnโt. You have to hit shots to win the game. โ
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Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley
on the win in Pauley Pavilion
โThis is a very special place with a lot of tradition. We didnโt get to come here last year, so we felt it was a great opportunity. It was truly a pivotal game. These two games [in Los Angeles] are very important to us.โ
ย
about the defensive pressure
โWe hope that you are working at it, so the shots become more difficult. It was nice for a team to miss some free throws and shoot below the percentage. For some reason, teams seem to shoot better against us. It just happens against us, maybe itโs just my world.โ
ย
on their slow start
โWeโve just got to start games better on the road. I thought the bench was really good. Taeshon came in and hit a three (pointer) right away.โ
ย
on accomplishing a road sweep
โIโve had trouble accomplishing a road sweep. I havenโt really done that. In the past, we hadnโt gotten a first win, so this feels good.โ
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Arizona State sophomore Remy Martin
on playing in front of his family and friends
โI had a lot of friends and family here and they were spread out. I knew they were here, so it was very special.โ
ย
on playing against his high school teammate Cody Riley
โCody and I go way back. It was crazy seeing him with a different uniform. We played on the same high school team and AAU club team. Heโs very successful and Iโm just okay. I really wish him the best. He is one of my best friends.โ
ย
on his dunk and career-high in assists
โThe assists for sure. A dunk is a dunk. It felt good to dunk since I havenโt dunked in a long time due to injuries.โ
ย
on the balance between taking shots and getting his teammates involved
โItโs like second-nature right now. I just have to have confidence when I take a shot. Coach says, โThatโs a good shot.โ When I miss a shot, sometimes itโs just a bad shot. I didnโt shoot the ball well tonight, but hopefully, it will happen on Saturday.โ
Arizona State 84, UCLA 73
January 24, 2019
ย
UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow
opening remarks
โItโs a tough loss. Arizona State has got a good team. I think some telling stats โฆ they did a great job and beat us by eight on the glass, that was huge. I thought [Zylan] Cheatham played great, Remy Martin was great. The fight with our team is good, no it is has nothing to do with the spirit of our team. Obviously weโve lost three in a row, but these guys have continued to practice hard, work hard. I thought in the second half too many turnovers hurt us, lack of play on the glass hurt us, and obviously free throw shooting โ we were 10 of 21 โ that hurt us. I thought we had multiple really good looks from our best players, they just didnโt go in. We want Kris shooting the ball, I thought he got some great looks in the second half. I thought Prince Ali got some great looks in the second half, just didnโt go in. Arizona State has got a good team. Good players, good athletes. It was toe-to-toe for a while, but they stretched it out on us a little bit in the second half.โ
ย
on ASUโs second-half improvement
โI thought they just hit shots. Our zone has been pretty darn good. If you look at Pac-12 play, our zone has been pretty effective. Our zone has been our best defense. We tried to play a little man, but our zone has been effective. Theyโve got good players. Remy Martin is a really good player, Rob Edwards, Taeshon Cherry. [Luguentz] Dort will play in the NBA. So theyโve got talent. Again, thereโs no secret formula here. If we make free throws, if we donโt turnover, if we make open threes โฆ and we probably missed 15-20 shots within four feet of the rim. The officials were obviously letting it go โ on both ends โ but it was physical inside and we worked all week on finishing against contact and we didnโt miss a lot of shots around the rim.โ
ย
on balancing win-now and development mentalities
โWeโre just trying to get better. We think we can beat anybody in the league, itโs as simple as that. Weโre confident and we think weโre capable of beating anyone in the league. If we donโt play well, anybody can beat us. If you look at that second half tonight, it had nothing to do with energy or spirit โฆ Number one weโre playing a really good team. In the second half, we take 31 shots and make 10. We take 15 free throws and make six of them. Then we get out-rebounded on the glass. These players are working their tails off. I wish everyone could be at practices, these guys work hard, the spiritโs great, energyโs great. We just have to play a little bit better. This league is wide open, and weโre smart enough to know that anyone can beat us if we donโt play better.โ
ย
on free throw issues
โI think with free throws, you canโt harp on it and harp on it. I think what you do is you drill it, you rep it. The guys who are poor free throw shooters, you get in the gym a lot and you make a lot. Make sure their technique is correct, make sure theyโre relaxed up there. Assuming theyโre relaxed and their technique is correct and youโre repping it in practice, I donโt know what more you can do. It is different when you get in a game and thereโs pressure and the crowd. Mentally it can be tough. Iโm really confident about our team. I like these guys a lot, theyโre very coachable. Weโve got a while left, we played a good team tonight that just played better in the second half.โ
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA sophomore Kris Wilkes
on the second half
โI donโt think it was so much the energy that changed in the second half, we came out with some good energy. I think we didnโt convert on a lot of opportunities. Didnโt box out when we should have boxed out. I think we relied on our athleticism too much. We had a lot of opportunities to hit shots and we just didnโt. I had a lot of opportunities I should have hit that I didnโt. You have to hit shots to win the game. โ
ย
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley
on the win in Pauley Pavilion
โThis is a very special place with a lot of tradition. We didnโt get to come here last year, so we felt it was a great opportunity. It was truly a pivotal game. These two games [in Los Angeles] are very important to us.โ
ย
about the defensive pressure
โWe hope that you are working at it, so the shots become more difficult. It was nice for a team to miss some free throws and shoot below the percentage. For some reason, teams seem to shoot better against us. It just happens against us, maybe itโs just my world.โ
ย
on their slow start
โWeโve just got to start games better on the road. I thought the bench was really good. Taeshon came in and hit a three (pointer) right away.โ
ย
on accomplishing a road sweep
โIโve had trouble accomplishing a road sweep. I havenโt really done that. In the past, we hadnโt gotten a first win, so this feels good.โ
ย
Arizona State sophomore Remy Martin
on playing in front of his family and friends
โI had a lot of friends and family here and they were spread out. I knew they were here, so it was very special.โ
ย
on playing against his high school teammate Cody Riley
โCody and I go way back. It was crazy seeing him with a different uniform. We played on the same high school team and AAU club team. Heโs very successful and Iโm just okay. I really wish him the best. He is one of my best friends.โ
ย
on his dunk and career-high in assists
โThe assists for sure. A dunk is a dunk. It felt good to dunk since I havenโt dunked in a long time due to injuries.โ
ย
on the balance between taking shots and getting his teammates involved
โItโs like second-nature right now. I just have to have confidence when I take a shot. Coach says, โThatโs a good shot.โ When I miss a shot, sometimes itโs just a bad shot. I didnโt shoot the ball well tonight, but hopefully, it will happen on Saturday.โ