Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement…
“We’ve been in these games all year. I’m not surprised. No deficit means anything to these guys. We had chances to win. They were really good on defense. That’s why you just watched another NCAA Tournament game tonight. But no one cares because it’s the Pac-12. That was an NCAA Tournament game tonight. I’ve played in them, I’ve coached in them so I know what it looks like and there should be no debates about USC. The way they defend, their athleticism, they have guys like Boogie Ellis that can go out there and do what he did tonight. They are really defensively-oriented around the perimeter and we struggled there and (Drew) Peterson is a major threat and I’m happy with my team. I am very proud of our team. We’re now 20-11, we had a very tough finish to the regular season. Take any NCAA team and ask them to go to Arizona, UCLA and USC with their last three games and see what their record is. So I’m happy for my guys.”
On the message to the team at halftime…
“We were 7-for-31, shooting 22%, but because we defend with energy and play as hard as we do on that end of the floor, a lot of teams would have no chance, but not us because of how we defend. We should feel fortunate down nine based on our offense. I felt like the ball would go in (the hoop) a little more often and we played a little bit better on that end of the floor in the second half.
On being able to comeback late in the game…
“Our pressure forced them to work with a shorter clock and we were able to create some turnovers. Guys were hitting shots and making plays. It was great to see the heart that they showed at the end of the game.”
On being the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament…
“Oregon State has played us well both games. They have young players. I’m sure they’ll play freely with nothing to lose and our bracket is our bracket. The top four teams in our conference are really good. There are others that are upset threats. We have a better league than anyone gives us credit for but we just have to be ready to compete and win a championship. That’s what our goal is.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard DJ Horne
On the last offensive possession of the game…
“I wish that shot would’ve went in but you can’t always have that magic. We had a lot of magic lately especially with the shot at Arizona but you learn from things like that. You go into the Pac-12 Tournament and hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to see them again.”
On the team’s identity to be resilient when things aren’t going their way…
“It shows that we have a lot of fight in us and we don’t quit. We’ve been battling with that the whole season, not being able to make shots consistently, we’ve made our identity to fight hard and compete until the very end. I felt like we did that today but just came up short.”
What’s the spirit of the team like after the loss…
“I think it just lit an extra fire under us going into the Pac-12 Tournament. A lot of people are probably going to count us out now. I know we still have games left to put us into that conversation going into Vegas. It’s not over yet.”
Opening Statement…
“We’ve been in these games all year. I’m not surprised. No deficit means anything to these guys. We had chances to win. They were really good on defense. That’s why you just watched another NCAA Tournament game tonight. But no one cares because it’s the Pac-12. That was an NCAA Tournament game tonight. I’ve played in them, I’ve coached in them so I know what it looks like and there should be no debates about USC. The way they defend, their athleticism, they have guys like Boogie Ellis that can go out there and do what he did tonight. They are really defensively-oriented around the perimeter and we struggled there and (Drew) Peterson is a major threat and I’m happy with my team. I am very proud of our team. We’re now 20-11, we had a very tough finish to the regular season. Take any NCAA team and ask them to go to Arizona, UCLA and USC with their last three games and see what their record is. So I’m happy for my guys.”
On the message to the team at halftime…
“We were 7-for-31, shooting 22%, but because we defend with energy and play as hard as we do on that end of the floor, a lot of teams would have no chance, but not us because of how we defend. We should feel fortunate down nine based on our offense. I felt like the ball would go in (the hoop) a little more often and we played a little bit better on that end of the floor in the second half.
On being able to comeback late in the game…
“Our pressure forced them to work with a shorter clock and we were able to create some turnovers. Guys were hitting shots and making plays. It was great to see the heart that they showed at the end of the game.”
On being the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament…
“Oregon State has played us well both games. They have young players. I’m sure they’ll play freely with nothing to lose and our bracket is our bracket. The top four teams in our conference are really good. There are others that are upset threats. We have a better league than anyone gives us credit for but we just have to be ready to compete and win a championship. That’s what our goal is.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard DJ Horne
On the last offensive possession of the game…
“I wish that shot would’ve went in but you can’t always have that magic. We had a lot of magic lately especially with the shot at Arizona but you learn from things like that. You go into the Pac-12 Tournament and hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to see them again.”
On the team’s identity to be resilient when things aren’t going their way…
“It shows that we have a lot of fight in us and we don’t quit. We’ve been battling with that the whole season, not being able to make shots consistently, we’ve made our identity to fight hard and compete until the very end. I felt like we did that today but just came up short.”
What’s the spirit of the team like after the loss…
“I think it just lit an extra fire under us going into the Pac-12 Tournament. A lot of people are probably going to count us out now. I know we still have games left to put us into that conversation going into Vegas. It’s not over yet.”