Postgame Quotes From No. 21 Ohio State vs. LSU – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2005
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Thad Matta, OSU head coach
On first half
“For whatever reason, we weren’t competing during the first half. We had a tentative defense and were not as active on offense. We never got the flow, but I give credit to the guys. There were times we could have cracked today, but they kept playing. The guys played better in the second half.”
On Ohio State’s defense
“I was frustrated during game w/ the defensive. During the end we were able to keep the heat on. I feel the full court stuff hurt us in the first half, but the change made a difference down the stretch.”
On LSU
“Look at LSU’s performace; they are going to be good. They are good. We were very fortunate to pull this out.”
On OSU
“We need to continue to build on the team. The small things will make the team effective. This first half we didn’t do what we could have.”
Matt Sylvester, senior forward
On his game-winning shot
“Well, I wasn’t thinking a lot. I was pretty much blank and hoping it would go in. I felt good when I released the ball and I am glad it worked out the way it did.”
Je’Kel Foster, senior guard
On the fans
“We have great fans. I am not surprised at all at the way they supported us today. We wanted to play together and give them what they wanted to see.”
Ron Lewis, junior guard
On the perimeter play in the second half
“We had to come out confident in the passing game. We had too many turnovers in the first half and knew it was something we had to fix. We wanted to slow down, be confident and be where we needed to be.” Terence Dials, senior center
On his defense in the final seconds
“I just wanted to defend him [Glen Davis] well and definitely not foul. There was only a few seconds left so I knew he couldn’t pass it. My goal was to get a hand up, not foul and challenge the shot.”
John Brady, LSU head coach
On LSU’s performance
“We did not close the game as we should have. Losing Garrett Temple hurt our stability. We don’t have stability at the front guard and there lies the difficulty of our team. I wish it was different but it wasn’t. We have a good basketball team.”
On the change of the game
“We had a flow early on, but our team got concerned with winning. We started holding the ball and became stagnant. We didn’t finish it off tonight.”
On OSU’s performance
“OSU is a well coached and experienced team. I have to compliment OSU for making the big plays and staying with what they wanted to do.”
