Postgame Quotes: No. 2 Ohio State 80, Western Carolina 65 – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
No. 2 Ohio State (8-0) 85, Western Carolina 60 (4-8)
St. John Arena – Columbus, Ohio
December 12, 2010
Attendance: 6,905
POSTGAME QUOTES
Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach
On the game
“We came out with a little more intensity on defense to start the game, and we shared the ball well on offense, especially in the first half. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the way the guys played today.”
On the play of Ohio State’s bench
“We made a real effort to get those guys in the game today. They’re working hard in practice and we’re seeing a lot of improvement. The more we can get them in the game and develop our bench, the better off we’ll be.”
On playing at St. John Arena
“For me, whenever I walk into the arena I think of all of the history and great moments that have happened here. Hopefully, we’re building moments like that over at the Schottenstein Center.”
On the play of Jordan Siebert
“I felt like today we [the coaches] were telling him what to do and he was doing it. Things are starting to come to him more instinctively, and he’s using his natural athleticism out on the court. I thought he did well today.”
Jared Sullinger, freshman forward
On running more and playing better defense
“Coach (Matta) said we need to let them know we are there on defense and force turnovers, the last few practices have been on toughness; I thought we showed that today.”
On getting out – rebounded
“We didn’t rebound at all tonight. They were a really scrappy team and they will be a good team by the end of year. They out-rebounded us because they wanted it more.”
On playing at St. John Arena
“I loved it; it was very loud and way smaller than the Schottenstein Center. There is a lot of history here and I loved it. I was lucky enough to see Tennessee Chattanooga play here; my brother played them and he said how fun it was. If there wasn’t a blizzard outside I think it would have been packed. You can really hear the echo in here.”
Jordan Sibert, freshman guard
On practice recently
“I think the whole team is coming together and practicing harder, earlier in practice I was thinking too much, and now I am just playing. I think it is starting to show in the game.”
On coming from high school into the college game
“You can go 75 percent in high school and get 26 points. In college you can go 100 percent and get four points, it’s a learning experience.”
On big block against Mike Williams
“That’s what I am talking about when I am saying play harder, I could have relaxed but I didn’t want him to get an easy lay-up. I think that we are all starting to play harder; it starts in practice and it showed today.”
Larry Hunter, Western Carolina head coach
On facing Ohio State and their character
“I knew coming in from video tape; I really like Thad’s team. They have really good passing and an inside presence. They play with poise and have a lot of high character people on their team.”
On Western Carolina’s play
“We’ve not been a team with a lot of turnovers. I think our guys know a lot of their (Ohio State’s) freshmen class from AAU, and we almost gave them too much respect. We were aggressive on the boards. We have some athletic guys, we’re just not big.”
On playing at St. John Arena
“Someone told we they were thinking about tearing it (St. John) down. With so much tradition and history, so much of Ohio State is in here. You could definitely hear the crowd.”
On Jared Sullinger
“I love him and his family, his dad and brothers. He knows the game and how to impact the game. He is a winner. If you guys don’t want him …”
