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BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Scott Drew

On being ready to face Xavier...
"First and foremost, I thought the crowd was tremendous today. They really gave us a lift, especially in the second half. I thought that really helped with the defense. Coach Mack and Xavier are a real tough team to prepare for because they have so many weapons and so many people that can hurt you. You understand why they're going to have such a good year with the talent they have. With our guys watching them on film and seeing how good they were, I think that brought out the best in us today, especially defensively."

On facing two Top-10 teams...
"We're very blessed and fortunate to get two wins. Just because you play somebody doesn't guarantee that you're going to win. I think in both games we played well, competed, and put ourselves in position where RPI wise, the rest of the year we can benefit from."

On Xavier's size and defense...
"Obviously they do a great job defending the rim. I thought they did a good job tucking our bigs in and taking them out of rebounding position and out of opportunities to get more blocks, but I thought they did alter several shots at the rim, and obviously blocked some of them. At the end of the day when you know that you have that behind you it allows the guards to pressure the ball a little bit more because if they get beat there is a chance that at least the mistake will be erased. That's important when you have great shooters like they have."

On coming back after trailing early...
"I think we had to settle down. This is the best crowd we've had and it gave us a lot of energy. We were probably too hyped to be honest. We made some mental mistakes, and weren't communicating as well with each other. I think once we settled down and took a breath, and had a couple timeouts, we were able to get back to playing our style of basketball.

Johnathan Motley

On adjusting to the physicality of Xavier...
"They are a very physical team. Strong, very strong. They did a good job of beating us up in the first half but we came out and adjusted. We matched their physicality and got it done."

On finding his shot...
"Most teams we play are going to try to come down and clog the paint, so having great shooters like we do opens it up for me. Once I get going with shots, the next thing you know is they start opening up things for me down in the paint later on in the game and vice versa. When they're hitting shots and I get out in the post, they have to stay out and respect those shots. It just brings a different dynamic to our team when you got the inside and the outside game going, because you can't really guard that."

Manu Lecomte

On team's strong second half...
"We just had to get in rhythm because we struggled a bit in the beginning. We just kept shooting, kept finding each other and that's what we're all about. We're all in. We just have to keep finding each other."

On the crowd...
"Yeah, they were amazing today. I mean they help us a lot. We love it. It's not every day that you get to see the Ferrell Center packed like that. It was a great feeling."

Head Coach Chris Mack

On playing Baylorà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Give Baylor a lot of credit, they're awfully good. It's nothing that we didn't know coming in. They've been a second half team all year so far and today was no different. I thought about what we could have done better and in the second half we just allowed too many baskets and when we got fouled we missed too many free throw opportunities. Consequently, we fouled them trying to offensive rebound a few times and sent them to the line and they converted their free throws. Trevon Bluiett was out and that hurt our team. We weren't the same offensively. We didn't get production inside and then we fouled and lost our best three-point shooting threat. We turned the ball over and you can't turn the ball over on the road and expect good things to happen, and Baylor had a lot to do with that. Their length gave our team problems. That really cost us and became the separation in a game and we couldn't necessarily get back in."

On second half poor shootingà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"I would like to have some of those shots we took back, but the more Baylor stretched out their defense, if you took away the three-point line, the more it exposed the interior, not exposing something that's a weakness of Baylor's. When you throw the ball in there and you get fouled and we don't convert free throws, you're only asking Baylor to continue playing the way they play. If we could've gotten some and-ones and been stronger with the ball in and around the lane and get to the free-throw line and make those opportunities, maybe Baylor would have honored that more in the interior. But we didn't do it and that's why they won the game at least from our offensive perspective."

On team's defenseà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Defensively, we fouled way too much. Their size and athleticism has a lot to do with that. Give them credit, they're a terrific team. They're so long, so big, and you can't simulate that in practice. We talked about putting the pads out there, but it's a unique team to play against and we weren't good enough for two halves to be the victor."

RaShid Gaston, Forward

On second half playà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We didn't stick to the same things we were doing in the first half. We turned the ball over, missed free throws, and fouled an awful lot. We had 14 fouls in the first half. With all those components, we didn't win the game."

On moving forward after tough lossà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We got a little spread out. We had a hard time with turnovers and just a lack of focus with everybody. We played extremely hard tonight and Baylor played really well. They're a very good rebounding team. We just have to keep playing with the same intensity and clean up some of the turnovers and we'll be successful."