Postgame Quotes From Ohio State vs. Towson – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2004
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Ohio State head coach Thad Matta
Opening statement
“Tonight I thought we were able to sustain our effort throughout the game. We did a good job in keeping heat on the ball, but we did go through some stretches where we did not make the best decisions. Overall, though, I thought our focus was better than it was a week ago.”
On the win
“It was nice to get the first win of the season, but we have to continue to raise our standards. In a coaches’ mind you always try to improve. With these guys I am not always concerned with who we are playing, but how we are playing.”
On the transition game
“I thought our transition game was good, but it still needs to improve and that is going to take some time.”
OSU junior center, Terence Dials
On his game performance
“It felt really good tonight. Everybody was looking inside and trying to get the ball to me. We moved the ball really well and that’s a credit to my teammates.”
On second half team performance
“In every basketball game, the first four minutes of the second half are so crucial for both teams. We wanted to come out and make sure that we played hard and executed.”
On the margin of victory
“Coach Matta preaches defense and we wanted to come out and play hard. We did well on help-side defense and we really take pride in that. We’re just trying to work hard for Coach Matta and do the things that we have to in order to be successful.”
OSU junior guard, JJ Sullinger
On the play of the defense
“We knew that in order to run we needed to get defensive stops. Tonight we did a good job turning our defense into offense. It’s hard to run if the other team scores so we tried to increase the intensity on defense.” On his mindset going into the game
“I’m just focusing on winning and doing whatever it takes to do so. Tonight, I grabbed some big rebounds which helped us get some big stops.”
On Coach Matta’s first game
“I haven’t seen a time where his intensity wasn’t up and tonight was no different. He’s always ready to go, and we try to just play the game hard for him.”
Towson head coach Pat Kennedy
On the game
“We tried to prepare for tonight’s game by studying Coach Matta’s system at the other schools he has been at throughout the summer. In the first couple of minutes we did a good job of staying with them and trying to control the tempo of the game. I thought we slowed Stockman down and did a good job of keeping a body on Dials. As the first half wore on we had 13 turnovers, which took us out of our rhythm and the bad part about those turnovers were the fact that they were unforced turnovers. Overall I thought we executed well and our kids played inspired ball but we have to learn how to finish.”
On Ohio State forward J.J. Sullinger
“Sullinger is an exceptional player, we knew this coming into the game after watching film of him at the Maui Invitational last season. He is an excellent player from mid-range who rarely misses a shot.”
