Postgame Quotes From No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Xavier – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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NCAA Tournament Second Round
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Rupp Arena – Lexington, Ky.
Ohio State Head Coach Thad Matta
Opening statement…
“We are very fortunate to be sitting up here [as the winning team]. I could not be prouder of what our guys did in keeping their composure. Xavier went on a blitz to start the second half making their shots. Sean [Miller] did an excellent job of moving his kids around on offense. He really toyed with the match ups well. When [Drew] Lavender hit the three with the shot clock winding down [late in the second half], that was the first time I thought, ‘uh oh this isn’t good.’ To our guys’ credit, they kept battling. I told our guys that we’ve been here before and that is what I love about this team, that they give you as a coach a lot of confidence. I kept telling them to keep their confidence and make plays and they did.”
On this game being a good omen of things to come…
“I’m a super positive guy so I’m saying this game is a good thing. We knew when the brackets came out that Xavier was going to be a really tough match up for us. The reasons why are exactly what you saw out on the court today. Fortunately for us, we were able to get through it.”
On Greg Oden’s final foul in the closing seconds of the second half…
“I thought he got fouled on the putback. That’s what I thought the whistle was and that we’d be shooting free throws. It was one of those plays were Greg was aggressive and I want him to be aggressive.”
On beating Xavier head coach Sean Miller…
“This was a very difficult game today. I’m as happy as I’ve been but at the same time as sad as I’ve ever been. I couldn’t be happier that he [Miller] was in the round of 32. I feel bad for him. I was there for his first college basketball game and his last. Think of the irony of that happening. You talk about the job Sean Miller has done and it is incredible. I’ve said this since the first time I met him as an assistant coach at Miami of Ohio that he is one of the best coaches in the country. He taught me everything I know about recruiting. Sean is one of the guys that will be put in the same opportunity I was in. Xavier is a great program, but make no mistake about it, he is going to have options in the future.”
#12 Ron Lewis
On his game-tying shot…
“On the three, I was just trying to get an open look. I told Mike (Conley, Jr.) before we left the huddle and he found me and I got the open look.”
On Greg Oden fouling out…
“When that happens we don’t have an inside presence and that’s a key aspect of our game plan. That forces other players to get aggressive and that’s what I did down the stretch.”
On his role with the team…
“My role is to get these guys together every game and do what I do on the court, which is get fouls and make shots and help this team win games.”
#1 Mike Conley, Jr.
On what Coach Matta said to the team when they were down by nine points…
“He told us not to try to get all nine points back in one possession. We needed to take things one step at a time and not force shots. We started getting open shots, and we were able to stop them (Xavier) during the run we had.”
On his confidence in Ron Lewis to shoot Ohio State’s last shot of the game…
“He was hot, and I had all the confidence in the world in him. I was going to look for him regardless. When I got the ball, I tried to look for him as quick as I could to pass him the ball.”
On Greg Oden fouling out toward the end of regulation…
“We lose a big inside presence when he goes out. We’ve played seven games without him this season, and he has been in foul trouble before, so we’ve learned to play without him. Our team did a good job of adjusting their roles when he fouled out.”
On stealing the inbounds pass from Drew Lavender late in the second half…
“We were trying to pressure them full court and I decided to deny him the ball on the pass. There was no one back there to help him, and I tried to anticipate the pass. Luckily I have pretty long arms, so I was able to get the ball from him.”
#14 Jamar Butler
On his three-point shot that rimmed out late in the second half…
“When I took the shot, it felt good coming out of my hands, but it didn’t go in. When we got to the timeout, we said we were going to find a way to hit a big shot, and we did.”
#31 Daequan Cook, G
On Ron Lewis’ game-tying three-point shot…
“I knew it was going in. He shot that with a lot of confidence. That is the shot he took against Tennessee. That’s what you expect out of a senior – a senior leader like that.”
On the ability to come back late…
“We know just to go in and keep playing hard. That was our mindset. We never want to give up, and if we stick with it, good things can happen.”
On winning in overtime without Greg Oden…
“It was very big. That’s the type of guys we are though. We know other people have to step up, and that’s what they did.”
#20 Greg Oden, C
On ‘surviving and advancing’ in the NCAA tournament…
“We still have another game – hopefully four more games – but we’re happy we got these two (wins).”
On Mike Conley Jr. stepping up in overtime…
“He just stepped up; he didn’t want to lose. After Ron Lewis put us on his back at the end of regulation, he took over in overtime. He wasn’t going to let us lose.”
“The guards just really stepped up and we put it all in their hands.”
#3 Ivan Harris
On overcoming adversity…
“Down nine with about two minutes to go, as a senior, you really start thinking about it maybe being your last game, but we just stuck with it and stepped up. We just played together.”
On if playing without Greg Oden earlier in the year helped prepare to play without him when he fouls out…
“Yeah it did kind of help. The beginning of the year, we still won games and played at a high level without him. It helps having him in there, but if he’s not, it just gives other guys an opportunity to come in and hit shots and do their job on this team.”
On Mike Conley Jr. stepping up in overtime…
“That was huge. I love Mike, and as a leader, even though he’s a freshman, we need him to step up. He was huge for us today.”
