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Utah vs. Washington State Post Game Quotes
2/14/2016 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2016
Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Gallery 
UTAH vs. WASHINGTON STATE Post Game Quotes
Utah 88, Washington State 47
Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On possibly strongest showing of the year...
We played pretty well. Defensively [giving up just] 30%, I thought maybe some of the changing defenses got them off kilter a little bit. That's a team that came off a tough double OT loss in Colorado and we've been on the end of those and perhaps on paper they shouldn't have let that slip away and should have won that, it's hard on the second half of that deal coming in and playing in elevation. I thought we got a great boost off the bench, some energy, Brekkott [Chapman] got us some easy baskets, Dakari [Tucker] playing with some energy, led by Jakob [Poeltl's] post performance, we got stops and it was nice to get guys in the game and get some conditioning for guys that don't usually play and get well deserved rest for some of the other guys.
On Jakob's play...
It's always a two-part deal for sure. From a player's point of view, playing AAU and high school basketball, feeding the post is a lost art. Not a lot of guys play with there back to the basket. That's something we work daily on in practice, you can have the best post guy on the planet and if you can't get a guy to throw him the ball he can't get into that scoring position. So our guys have taken a lot of pride in taken the ability to do that and Jakob has taken pride in his ability to slow down and finish. It's been a really big change from a year ago, it's obvious that's where we want to start our offense and the tandem is working, definitely.
On last road trip coming up...
Southern California is tough, UCLA with their size and rebounding ability and USC is playing great. They're both playing this evening and I'd like to try and watch them, they're the teams that we have yet to play. It's kind of interesting other than Colorado at the tail end of the season, here we are playing with the Southern Cal's and the Arizona's that we haven't had an opportunity to play yet. I think a little more priority placed on the scouting. Up until this point we've done a nice job in adjustments on the second half of those games and so theres gonna be a little more mental side to it for sure. We'll do whatever we can for UCLA on Thursday.
On Josh Hawkinson's struggles...
I'd like to give our guys some credit, he's the leading scorer on their team and a double-double guy in the conference and we've been talking about him through film to make things difficult for him. I can't speak for him if he's sick or tired, but I think our game plan was solid and we did a good job of limiting his touches. He touched the ball in the post a few times and we doubled him and so that was our game plan all along. You look at the guys at the top of the list and try to make things difficult for them and it was mission accomplished by our guys.
On lopsided win...
That's what I talked about at half time and down the stretch. If you're going to be a mature team, and I don't think the concepts are any different. You try to take care of the ball and make a defensive effort and follow the game plan. Austin Montgomery came off the bench had six points and was dialed in defensively taking a charge, all the pick and roll coverage was proper. There's some guys that don't get a chance to play, and it'd be a shame if I didn't coach those guys the same and expect the same. So not really, sometimes you can get a little sloppy and step away from your game plan and we did at the end of the half with some turnovers by trying to hit the home run. But we had to continue to grind the way we had with some singles we had and some runners and that's where you have to ask if you're solid enough. That's what can come back to haunt you in basketball if you're not able to be disciplined through the whole game whether you're up or down. It's all about the next point mentality and that's what we talked about at halftime.
Senior Forward Jordan Loveridge
On being able to rest starters late in the game...
It's nice to get everyone in and play because we're going to need everyone down the stretch especially going into tournaments and things like that. We need everyone and it's sometimes hard to find time to rest. Thursday off was good, we were able to get in and get some guys treatment and others some skill workouts. Those days really help us.
On takeaways from blowout games...
The biggest thing is we'll get a lot out of watching film because there were mistakes that we can fix and better ourselves. In a game like this you have to keep working hard and practice some things as if it was a closer game.
On Jakob's play...
We always have confidence when we give it to Jakob because he's such a great player inside. It's nice when he does his work and seals guys, he makes it easy when he creates that angle.
Sophomore Forward Brekkott Chapman
On scoring today...
I was just gonna go out there and not force anything and let the game come to me. As soon as Isaiah found me for an open three it was easier after seeing the ball go through the net to get into a rhythm. I was just trying to place as good of team ball as I could today.
On limiting Josh Hawkinson to just four points...
Coach just wanted us to limit his touches as much as we could because he's a great player. Me and Kuzma just tried to limit his touches and contest him as well as he could, and keep him off the glass because he's a really good rebounder and keep him out of his sweetspots.
- - - -
Washington State Head Coach Ernie Kent
On the game…
For me, I just throw it in the trash can, keep moving, get back to Pullman and regroup. Obviously we played a big game here and did not play well. When you have a team that has a total collapse like that, obviously again the mental grind of it all kind of got those kids a little bit. I am going to move it aside, get them back home to Pullman, get them in classes on Monday, get them regrouped and get them ready for Thursday's game is that much more of a concern for me.
On losing close games and the deflation that comes after…
It was Washington at home. It was Colorado at home. It was Colorado again on the road. There were a couple other situations there where you had an opportunity to win games and obviously that would have given you more energy, more focus and kept in hump with the other teams. Unfortunately, when you don't win those games you put yourself in those positions where you really, really need to watch your mental grind over anything else.
This was just a total, total, total mental collapse in this game and when that happens, it's not about beating up young people. We know where we are at right now. I don't think we can get any worse than we are right now. We just kind of move it aside, we are going to get back and battle like crazy on Thursday and like I said before, our post season is going to be the conference tournament. We need to get ourselves in sync and in rhythm like we did against Colorado and have the same team.
I feel like, Utah, they have come so far in the last four years. I did TV and did their first games here and to where they are today, a very, very organized [team]. They have athletes that are skilled. There is just no slip-ins. They make you pay if you do not work and do not understand the fundamentals of basketball. In a collapse like we had here mentally, they did what they were supposed to do. They beat our tail is what they did and their program does that.
Move the game, don't beat up these young kids and just move forward and regroup them. Let's see how many more of these games we can ride out. Try to get a W or two here as we close out the season. Last two home games and all those things it means to the seniors, but more importantly just get back to where we are playing well down the stretch of the season heading into conference tournament.
Players Mentioned
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