Dec. 5, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
HEAD COACH Herb Sendek
Opening Statement
"I thought our guys played tremendous defense in the second half to hold a team who executes as well as Hartford does, offensively 29% in the second half, is a real badge for our team. Hartford is a good basketball team, for those of you who just watched the game don't need me to tell you that. The way they moved the basketball, and cut, they are difficult to defend. It seems that they are playing a combination of 5 guards and 5 forwards on the court. With all of them being able to play on the perimeter, pass, dribble and shoot it a unique as well as difficult match up. They make you defend for 35 seconds, and you could do a great job for 22 of those 35 seconds, and if there is one guy who has a break down, someone who is beat off the dribble on a quick ball reversal close out. You don't talk on a dribble hand off, which happened to us serval times a night, and they make you pay. I was really pleased with our defense in the second half, i thought that was the difference. Offensively, we continued to be very efficient. We shot a high percentage at 56%. We had our season low with 10 turnovers, coming off a game of 11 turnovers, the Achilles heel is obviously our free throw shooting. We make free throws, maybe we have just a little different feel at certain junkers of the game. But all in all good gut check win for us in the second half. Give Hartford a lot of credit, they are a well coached team, with a lot of young players. They can only get better, with having a lot of sophomores who are playing."
On Carrik Felix's performance...
"I can't talk about him enough about Carrick Felix. I can't remember coaching the guy. I know it has been guys who give great effort, but it's hard to think of anybody right now, with every possession, offensively and defensively is given the kind of energy and effort that Carrick Felix gives. He is laying his heart out. He's fun to watch and easy to cheer for. He's given incredible effort, and he now has consecutive double doubles, which isn't easy to do, he's shooting a high percentage, literally playing every facet of the game for us."
On keeping Eric Jacobsen on the floor...
"The thing that Eric Jacobsen is able to do, he is able to bring defensively versatilely, we also talk about the sense of versatilely. Small utilities, big utilities, multi-dimensional, but it is equal valuable to have multi-dimensional on defensive. With these opponents that we had, who are playing 6 6 post, who can shoot three's off the dribble. Eric provides us with someone who can as a big guy, go out on the perimeter and guard, of course he can guard in the post, and that allows us to run our offensive at the other end of the floor. His contribution has been valuable because of his defensive versatilely."
On Eric Jacobsen offensively...
"He does go to the hoop. We're able to kick it to him a few times, on post action as well as pick and roll stuff."
On over coming a tough night of free throws...
"You just have to keep working on it, and shoot the next one. The good thing is, we are getting to the free throw line. With today's 11 makes, and they 7 attempts, we are one short of making more of what our opponents have attempted. So i love the fact that we are getting to the line. We are playing good defensive without fouling. We only fouled 10 times, and held them to 29% in the second half, that's phenomenal defensive.
On what changed in the defense between halves....
"We just had a much greater sense of urgency. I think we got rib -shoted when we realized how they move the ball and how they cut. That ball moves from side to side then into the post, and then once they reverse it three times they do a great job of driving it and spacing it. We did a very poor job at times talking in transition. We did a poor job communicating on ball screens and dribble handoffs. We still had a few of those miscommunications in the second half, but not as many."
On Eric Jacobsen's performance tonight...
"Eric has given us great minutes; I am really proud of his contribution. His defense versatility is outstanding."
On his thoughts so far this season on the defensive play...
"I think our half court defense has been very good, with a couple of exceptions. I think the best thing we have done all season is play pretty good half court defense. Our defensive numbers have been pretty good. Our transition defense has not. Our ability to limit our opponents to one shot and come up with lose balls has not, but the basic structure of our half court defense has been pretty good.
On the offensive execution...
"We ended up shooting a really good percentage. We were shooting 62% in the first half and it's hard to get better than that. We are getting to the foul line but still we have too many positions where we settle, where the ball sticks. If we can eliminate those processions where we settle, we can improve offensively. To me a really encouraging thing is, the last two games our turnovers have been down. We went from 18 turnovers three games ago and now we are 11 and 10 over the last two games. We had a low turnover game against Arkansas and had a number of games where we have been in that 10 to 12 turnover range and if we can stay there consistently that is a good sign. I think this is a result of a multitude of things. Needing to do better on our outlet passes, catching the ball, making a simple play, turnovers are one of those things that if everybody put one up on the board it would fill up with the reasons why they happen. I don't get the sense that any one way or category causes them"
On Hartford's forward, Nate Sikma...
"He played a great game and got going right away. He got going right out of the gates and did a heck of a job with taking advantage of the matchups. He was out on the perimeter coming off of flares, knocking down threes and when we would switch on a dribble handoff he would slide into the post and take advantage there. He had a great game."
JAHII CARSON
On Eric Jacobsen's play...
"I think he stepped up. He stepped up big. He's physical down low. He's proved that in every single game. Tonight I think he took advantages of the mismatches they had down low. Us guards tried to find him down low and capitalize."
On being aggressive early in the game...
"I just try to come out and give our team a boost of energy. If that's scoring or if that's passing the basketball, or if that's stepping up my defensive intensity, I do whatever I think will bring energy to the team."
On feeling better compared to the last two games...
"Oh yeah I do. I'm getting over a little cold but I don't make excuses for those kinds of things. They don't really matter."
On Carrick Felix...
"He's a high-energy guy. He's always there when we need him. Whether it's rebounds, blocked shots, or the open shots that he hits, he's the component that we need when we need big stops. He comes through in the clutch every time."
On the slow opening to the game... "We had some mis-match problems. Those guys can step out and shoot the 3-ball. When they weren't quick, they were deceptive. It took us a while to get used to them putting the ball on the floor and shooting those three-pointers."
On the foul shooting...
"When the whole team is shooting bad, somebody has to step up and just make a few. It got everybody's confidence. I think Eric stepped up and hit some clutch shots for us. That also gave us the boost to get on a run. When he hit those free throws, it gave us a confidence booster on the other end to come down and score the basketball."
On where he thinks the team is so far...
"I think we were more hyped coming out in the beginning of the season. People underestimated us and we felt like we had to prove a point and make a statement. These last couple games, I think we got a little more comfortable. I think we have a little bit of an ego coming out now. I think if we stick to how we were at the beginning of the season, hungry and ready to come out and make an impact and just beat teams. At the beginning of the season, we handed it to them. Now I think we're letting off the gas a little bit and just being content about where we are now. We're looking to get better."
ERIC JACOBSEN
On what got the game going in the second half...
"We just kept playing hard. We kept attacking. We got a couple defensive stops and they helped a lot."
On Jahii Carson getting him the ball...
"That was nice. I liked that."
On being able to finish the game as a freshman...
"I'm just out there playing as hard as I can. I'm doing whatever it takes to win. If that means that I'm on the floor then I'm on the floor."
On his confidence going into the game...
"I was pretty confident but I try not to get too confident. I try to stay humble. I go out there and do whatever it takes to help the team win."
On his biggest adjustment going from high school to college basketball... "Probably the speed of the game. College basketball is a lot faster. I'm starting to adjust a little better. I have great teammates that help me out a lot so it's been a good transition."