Postgame Quotes: No. 2 Ohio State 100 (13-0), Tennessee-Martin 40 (4-9) – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
No. 2 Ohio State 100 (13-0), Tennessee-Martin 40 (4-9)
Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
December 27, 2010
Attendance: 15,133
POSTGAME QUOTES
Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach
On tonight’s game
“I think first of all we had great intensity. We really challenged them. Defensively we had good energy and we continued to move the basketball. I think these guys have continued to get better.”
On the play of William Buford
“Will gets stronger as the season goes on. As a coach you always like to see guys who put in that kind of work have a good outcome. “
On Ohio State’s defense
“Our defense is shaping up; I think one of the big things is building that. Seeing things before they happen, communicating on the defensive end and we’ve done a pretty good job on rebounding, those are things we can build on. We’re trying to build how we want to play.”
William Buford, junior guard
On non- conference accomplishments
“Glad we went 13-0 in non conference. Now we need to stay on our game and get ready for Big Ten conference play. We always want to go 13-0.
On improving as a team
“I think we can still get a lot better in every aspect of our game. I think we shot the ball well tonight. We’ve been working on a lot of shooting in practice. This is the best we’ve shot all year.”
On his shooting performance
“I was just focusing on if I had good looks to take them.”
On starting the Big Ten season
“That’s a whole new season. When you get to the Big Ten conference your record starts 0-0 again so you have to be focused and ready.”
On the team’s confidence thus far
“Our confidence is pretty high. When you’re No. 2 in the country and 13-0 you have to have a bit of confidence in you.”
Deshaun Thomas, freshman forward
On the pressure of the final free throws
“In practice we shoot free throws a lot. When we have contests I’m usually runner-up or in the finals. I’m confident for free throws. You have to knock it down for the crowd when they get that excited.”
On scoring 100 points
“Every team likes to shoot for 100 points. We came out to get 100 tonight. With how many teammates shoot the ball we’re aiming for 100 every game.”
Jason James, Tennessee-Martin head coach
On the game
“I thought we’d play a little better. Obviously they’re as good as they get, in the whole country. I thought we’d come out and compete a little better. I don’t think you ever expect to get beat by 60, but I thought we’d go out and compete a little better. I knew we wouldn’t be able to rebound over them, but I didn’t think we’d get beat that badly. It’s hard to pick out things that you do good in a game like this. We’ll try to stay together, try to do the little things, try to improve the next time we come out.”
On what he said to his team halftime
“We talked about competing, battling, boxing out, jumping for rebounds…even though it’s hard for us to get them. I just wanted to get better on the offensive end.”
On finding positives in this game
“It’s very difficult to find positives in a game like this. I don’t think we missed a free throw, so we’ll try to build on that. We have to get ready to play in our league next week.”
On Ohio State
“I don’t know if you can sum them up. They’re as about a solid of a basketball team in my opinion. They’re not very deep but tonight they played a bunch of guys. I think they’re as good as it gets in the Big Ten, and maybe in the whole country.”
