Post Game Quotes From Ohio State’s Victory Over Oakland – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/27/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 1999
Recap| Box Score| Notes| Interview
Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien
“We are still working with new combinations. We chose to start Cobe because we needed good matchups.
“Brent Darby played probably his best game. Brent is a guy who can shoot the ball well and can create plays. He still is not at 100 percent.
“Oakland is a team that can play well against us. They played Toledo very closely. We knew if we could extend our defense to the perimeter, they would have to get the ball inside where they were missing their two top players.”
Brian Brown
“I was feeling my shot tonight. Mike and Scoonie were being doubled, so I knew I would have to step up. They were playing good defense inside, doubling Mike and Scoonie. That left me wide open.”
Cobe Ocokoljic
“The only difference tonight was that I started. I still had to play hard, aggressive basketball. My shot started falling and I got some good rebounds. This probably was overall the best game I’ve played.
“They told me I was going to start because they needed the matchups. I didn’t know until right until the start.”
George Reese
“We were trying to come out strong and play our game. Brian and I had to step up to help Scoonie and Mike.”
Oakland head coach Greg Kampe
“We made a good effort against the supposed No. 16 team on their floor. The 16-0 run at the end of the first half – a lot of that was us. We took a lot of bad shots that led to some fastbreaks for them. “Our biggest problem is our post. When you do not score in the post, the opponent is going to guard against our best three-point shooters. That is what happened tonight. They stayed with Buddenborg all night, so he couldn’t shoot. That is what is really killing us right now.
“We went in here tonight thinking that if we guarded Ohio State’s two superstars, we could win this game. Both Scoonie and Michael did not have great nights, but we did not expect Brian Brown. He had an outstanding game.”
“Brian made some tough shots tonight – uncontested on our part. He’s a great player and had a great game tonight.”
Oakland’s Mychal Covington
“We’ve been battling all season to get rid of the mistakes we made at the end of the second half. We realized we can play with these guys when we rebounded and boxed out.
“It’s hard for us to battle back when they make that run (at the end of both halves). Other people stepped up for Penn and Redd, which is what you need to do when your main man doesn’t get it done.”
