Postgame Quotes: Ohio State 65, Purdue 61 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2015
POSTGAME QUOTES?
Ohio State 65 (21-8, 10-6 B1G), Purdue 61 (19-10, 11-5 B1G)?
March 1, 2015?
Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
?Attendance: 15,978
?Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach?
On halftime adjustments?
“What I told our guys at halftime was, `Look we have to chip away at this thing.’ They went through a stretch where they hit 4 straight 3s, and 3 of them I know, were challenged. The biggest key was we had to get back to doing what we needed to do. Defensively, we were a lot more effective with our length and athleticism. Sam’s half-court finish was a big time play and got us ignited … D’Angelo got rolling there in the second half, it was a great win.”
On buckling down in March?
“We talked about it today at shoot around, you know, it’s March. You’ve got to find ways to win basketball games, you have to make plays and I think guys did a good job of that. We were fortunate to get back in it. We kind of chipped away, chipped away, and we finally go the lead and then we told them hey it’s a ball game now. I think we won every 4 minutes in the second half which was huge for us.”
On the meaning of the win tonight
?”I feel great we won the basketball game and to get a win like this is huge. We haven’t done this before, getting down in double digits. As we move forward here, I told the guys I was very proud of their effort and their composure because we didn’t panic. Knocking the free throws down the stretch, tonight was a great team win for us, everyone contributed.”
Sam Thompson, senior forward
?On the turnaround after halftime
?”They made a lot of shots in the first half. At one point, they made three or four in a row. We knew they weren’t going to keep shooting like that, and we knew we weren’t going to shoot in the 20 percent range. We had to play harder and tougher, but we knew we just had to weather the storm and finish the game.”
On his block on Hammons in the second half?
“We knew our big men were in foul trouble, so we told them that if they get sealed to just let it go and we will come get it. I saw Hammons get in the post, so I came over and got it, and D’Angelo made a great pass to Amir on the other end.”
On the importance of tonight’s win?
“It’s huge. This is the type of win we need to get, especially in the month of March. It’s too late for us to be taking steps backwards, and it’s our time to hit our stride, get going, and to put together a run. This is a step in the right direction, so we need to have a good day of practice and go play hard on Wednesday.”
D’Angelo Russell, freshman guard?
On his scoring and passing tonight?”My coaches put me in a great position to both score and facilitate for my teammates. The game forced us to make plays, and we kept running the same play and getting great results.”
On the lack of three-point shooting in the second half
?”They were attacking us in the first half, and we were settling, which got us on our heels. Coach preached to us at halftime to attack and not settle. We did that, and we were very successful with it.”
Amir Williams, senior forward?
On handling Purdue’s forwards in the post?
“We knew we had to play smart coming into the game. We knew they like getting the ball inside to Hammons and Haas, so we tried to do our best on post defense, and I think we did a pretty good job aside from the foul calls.”
Matt Painter, Purdue head coach ?
On allowing Ohio State back into the game?
“We had to make them earn more things in my opinion, we put them to the free throw line too much. 35 free throws and they don’t throw the ball inside, think about that, they don’t play it through the post whatsoever. We play it through the post a lot and they go to the free throw line a lot.”
On the game’s turning point?
“For us, it was about that ten minute stretch in the second half where we did good things and we missed lay ups and free throws. I think if we could convert some of those and take care of business, we would’ve been in a different position where we have a lead and they play from behind.”
On containing D’Angelo Russell?
“We just didn’t do a good enough job staying into him. But he’s a good player, and when guys are making step back shots that are contested you have to shake their hand.”
