Feb. 2, 2008
Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel:
Opening Comments:
"I want to congratulate A&M. They made plays down the stretch and we didn't. That's why they won the basketball game. [on not winning the hustle plays] That's very frustrating. That's something we try to pride ourselves on. We had chances, but we were in serious foul trouble."
"It's tough to win a game when free throws are 20-4 in the second half. That's tough. We have to do a better job of playing without fouling. We've been a team that's been getting to the line. I thought we were aggressive. We went inside. We just didn't get to the line today like we have been. It was very disheartening. It's tough when you play good defense for 30 seconds, then at the end you're called for a foul."
"We had some careless turnovers trying to do too much. A&M is a very good team. Mark (Turgeon) has done a really good job here. They responded to some adversity they had in the early part of their conference season. They're playing well now. They're a good defensive team and those guys down low are big. Those guys all gave them really good, solid minutes."
On the A&M Program:
"They've done a great job. Everyone involved; from the administration, the athletics department, the marketing team, coaches, Billy (Gillispie) and his staff, Mark (Turgeon) and his staff, and just as important the players. This is a program that was 0-16 a few years ago when (Acie) Law and those guys were freshmen. You look at how far they've come. You look at the environment at the games. It's electric. These kids really deserve it. It's really neat to see. It gives you hope that if you build it, they will come. I know that's kind of corny. They've done a great job here. The students do a good job of being in the game and standing behind their team. It's even greater that they came out and responded the last two games here after losing three straight. Sometimes when you have bandwagon people they jump off really quickly when you have losses like they had. These people here are with their team. They understand that your teams needs you even more when things aren't going so well."
Oklahoma Senior Guard David Godbold:
"We just couldn't get those 50-50 balls. They were out hustling us to them and getting their hands on balls we couldn't get our hands on. That's something we have to focus on if we want to win those close games."
Oklahoma Freshman Forward Blake Griffin:
"Give them credit. They played well. They played pretty well on defense; in the high post, low post, everywhere. They had a good gameplan and they obviously did what they worked on. They kept high pressure. They made sure to double the post every time because they knew that was our strength. They also tried to pressure our guards. That's our gameplan too. They just did a better job today."
Texas A&M Associate Head Coach Scott Spinelli:
"It was a great win today. Obviously our guys were very resilient shooting 35% and beating a very good team. One of the things we were most proud about is when we were down we were able to come back, make some stops, and make some plays. We were very fortunate to beat this team today. Our identity all year has been defense. We thought our identity took precedence today in beating Oklahoma. We started out 1-3. To be able to come back and beat an Oklahoma State team on the road after losing a 5-overtime game, and then beat a top 10 team in Texas and then come back today it's been a tough two weeks. As we all know the Big 12 is a very though league. Night in and night out it's going to be a battle. After the Texas game we had an emotional high and had to respond today. These guys have such an unbelievable resiliency about them. There's a toughness about them. I think our confidence was there today. We want to make sure we continue to stress our identity and that is a very good defensive team.
Texas A&M Senior Forward Joseph Jones:
"We just felt like defense had to carry us. Sometimes you don't make shots. Sometimes they're just not falling, but defense has to step up and take control of the game. Then when the shots start falling the defense has to stay consistent. You have to give your all to find some way to win. You just have to gut up and play, and you'll come up with the victory."
"It was great team defense. All our guys were alert and active. This is the Big 12. Every win is great. They're a great team. They've won on the road against a lot of great teams. They beat West Virginia this year and they played Memphis to a close game. We knew they were going to play physical. We just had to match their physicality."
Texas A&M Sophomore Forward Bryan Davis:
"You have to take what a team gives you. Their bigs were in trouble so we tried to get them out of there in the second half.
