Baylor, Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
2/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018
Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
Attendance: 10,627
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew
Opening Statement...
"Another typical Big 12 game. I thought Texas Tech hit a big shot at the end of the half and gave them the momentum. We really wanted to come out and establish and get the game heading back in our direction, and you got to really credit them second half. I know their leader Keenan Evans didn't play and they made shots and battled and competed, which all great teams do, but I was really proud of our team because normally you go into a game and if Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Manu Lecomte are going to be 5-20, you're pretty worried about your chances of winning. I thought defensively we were really good. I thought rebounding wise we were good enough, and then I thought we did a good job taking care of the basketball. We beat a great team, very difficult team to play because of their athleticism and their defensive scheme. They do a great job making things tough on you."
On making a case for the NCAA Tournament ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"I think that is the great thing about the Big 12. I think there is 9 schools making cases for the NCAA Tournament."
On good defense and holding Texas Tech to no-good shot selectionsÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"I think the crowd was tremendous, and I thought that was really beneficial and helpful. We are tired, and Jake had the flu and didn't practice all week. Really was gutsy to play today. I think he had an IV before the game today after shoot around. I thought the guards up top did a great job and the front line cleaning up the stuff in the last 3 minutes. That's why the crowd is so important. You're tired and they push you through the finish line."
Senior Terry Maston
On wanting the ball and feeling good with his shotÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"I had a really good first half and got cold in the second half, but my teammates still trusted me to give me the ball, called a couple of plays for me, and I ended up executing down the stretch. I've just been playing really good basketball down the stretch."
On the difference in Texas Tech's play without Keenan EvansÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"You can really tell. That is one of the best players in the Big 12 to me, especially at the guard position and playing with him in high school and seeing him develop in AAU while playing on my team. He's a really great player, but they still did play well. They are No. 7 in the nation, so one player isn't going to lead you to that. They started running a lot of pick and rolls and they were moving a lot in the second half and it was a tough game, but I'm glad we got the W."
Freshman Mark Vital
On the hard fought defense and his ability to make plays when it counted ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"We are just playing hard. We are hustling. We didn't want to give up the game, so everything was on the line right there. We needed to play hard and make stops."
On how big of a physical game this game ended up beingÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"Yeah, you could say that. A lot of games have really been the same, but this one stood out. As you can see I was bleeding and I have never bled like that."
TEXAS TECH POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Tech Head Coach Chris Beard
Opening Statement...
"I just want to congratulate Baylor on a good Big 12, protect your home court win. I got a lot of respect for Coach Drew and the program he has ran here over many years. The consistency he has speaks for itself. I thought Baylor played really hard. We were trying with our defense to speed him up a little bit but they had a low turnover game, which I think shows a lot about their guard play, ball handling and really coaching. I thought Terry Maston was the best player on the floor today and so congratulations for him, that's back to back all-conference type games for him, so we always recognize when other players play well. For my point of view, we wish we would have played better. 18 turnovers is way too many. I take a lot of that responsibility myself as the coach. But you got to give Baylor credit, they were the ones who were making us turn it over."
On the second halfÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"Just like Justin said, it was next man up. I thought our guys did a great job competing in the second half. This is one of the grittiest efforts I have ever seen from our guys. We played really hard, we played together, we out rebounded Baylor while playing small ball, without one of our best players, Keenan (Evans), who is actually one of our best rebounders too. You know defensively he always gets five or six rebounds. So, I thought today, to win a Big 12 game there's two things going on, you got to play really hard, you got to play together, you got to play aggressive. I thought we did all those things and the second thing is you got to play well, and tonight we just didn't play our best game."
On Terry MastonÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"He is kind of a mismatch guy. You put a smaller, athletic guy on him and he's big enough. He can get things done around the basket with his post game. Put a big guy on him and he pops out. He hits jump shots tonight. He drives the ball. I like his demeanor. He is a guy where he is the end of his career and he's trying to play another day. I have coached guys like that. They find another level at this point in their career. Special things can happen. We have a lot of respect for him. I know he has battled some injuries throughout his career. He has been asked to do different roles, but he is playing great. He is playing like an all-conference player in the Big 12. When you put him in the mix with their other players, nobody is looking forward to playing the Baylor here in the next month."
Senior Justin Gray
On not having Keenan Evans in the second halfÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"Just next man up. Everybody prepared for this moment and these games. We've been working hard, so pretty much just next man up. Everybody was ready and obviously you saw in the second half we played well, well enough to win but just didn't pull it out in the end."
On reboundingÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ ¦
"Baylor is one of the top rebounding teams if not the top rebounding team in the Big 12. So, we definitely stressed that at halftime. That was the only way we were going to have a chance to win was to win that battle. I feel like every guy was tuned in, was focused, boxing-out making sure we grabbed the rebounds. Just ultimately we didn't get it done. "
