Jan. 26, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Coach Herb Sendek:
OPENING STATEMENT:
"I thought we had a number of opportunities to make plays that would have allowed us to be in better position to win this basketball game. Not to take anything away from Washington, but I thought there were a number of instances where with greater awareness and alertness, and just following through with making plays that we were more than capable of making, especially on the defensive end of the floor, we could have been in a far better position. It's the plays we're capable of making that we didn't make that really stand out to me right now. On the other end of the floor, I thought we by the large had pretty good shots. I don't think it was our best shooting night obviously--from the field, from the three, or from the free throw line. We came into the game in Pac-12 adjusted field goal percentage. That will not hold true after tonight's shooting. Even the start of the game, I thought we got some great looks. You're going to have nights like that. But I think the difference for us was just not making some plays that didn't have anything to do with offense or defense--just our capacity to be aware, to make better decisions, to continuing playing, to get the ball."
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FAN SUPPORT IN A BUMPY SEASON LIKE THIS:
"Our fans have been tremendous. I thought we had a great turnout tonight. We had a really good crowd. We truly appreciate that. All things being equal, this is an easy group to cheer for. They're really giving great effort, they're together. So, yes, thanks for asking. They've been tremendous."
ON Jordan Bachynski:
"I think going back to last week before the Utah game, he finally decided he was going to be more of an animal. That's kind of the picture he has in his mind of himself for this point. Even though, right now, it's still a work in progress, that mindset is serving him very well. He put together his season best games back-to-back now. Obviously, tonight, he was very active for us, grabbing 13 rebounds for us, a career high."
ON Jonathan Gilling:
"Jonathan is quickly emerging as an outstanding player and you see how much we go to him right now. We ask him to share a heavy lifting load for us, especially in Trent's absence. I am just thrilled with his progress and really excited looking into his future. He is a tremendous shooter and he had some shots today that over time he's going to make. Even with that, he just is a gamer. He missed his first few shots and we took him out at the first media timeout. He quickly regained his composure and he still goes on to make five three's. That's pretty telling for a freshman."
Quotes from Washington's head coach, Lorenzo Romar:
Opening statement:
“Coach Sendek and his staff never cease to amaze me. I keep talking about how their first year here, they were 2-16 in conference, they had lost ten games in a row including a preseason game and then nine league games. When we came to play them here they looked like they were approaching this game as if they were playing for first place. That was the attitude they had. They’re here without their best player, their roster is really trim right now, and they go out there and find a way to stay in the game and compete. That’s a heck of a job by them.”
On ASU’s effort to limit possessions:
“Its difficult. They put themselves in a position at the end of the game to have a chance to win and that’s all you can ask for, especially when you’re so on demand like they were. A lot of Sun Devil fans just see the end result and not have any type of understanding of what they are faced with here without their full roster.”
On making adjustments at the half:
“The main thing was, we came out early and we were hardly contesting any of their shots. I just think more at the defensive end we came out and had better position; we didn’t leave their shooters wide open. Offensively we were able to work some things out of the corner to get some things below their zone that loosened us up a little bit.”
On freshman Tony Wroten:
“I’d be willing to wager you have not seen what just happened tonight. A team that plays a really good zone for forty minutes, I don’t think he took one outside shot but scored twenty-two points and was nine for twelve. That’s pretty impressive to be able to do that. He’s much more selective now, after twenty games under his belt, then he was earlier this year. Earlier he would have tried to crash through that zone and may have turned it over or forced shots but he has really matured a lot and picks his spots. That lane was open for him to go for the dunk and he saw it. The more he learns conceptually what you are trying to do he takes that and kind of puts his own flavor to it. He just adds a little extra. Now he knows where he’s supposed to be and now he plays with a little bit extra. He just kind of hides and plays possum then he comes up with a steal or a dunk. He does have really good instincts.”
On the game tonight:
“We had some hiccups, a couple of fouls we shouldn’t have made. By and large, I thought we did some good things.”
On adjusting to tempo:
“If you’re fortunate enough to make it to the NCAA tournament, you’re going to play against a team that grinds it out. We have teams in our league that grind it out. You have to be able to pull those out and find a way. The best to me, year in and year out, is Michigan State. They’re a great team. Sometimes you can’t impose your will in terms of the tempo so you’ve got to be able to do what we did tonight. So that’s why I say we’ve made a lot of progress.”