Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew:
On the game:
"One thing's for sure, we'll change how we guard (Craig) Brackins when we play them again. It was a great defensive effort by our team in the second half, especially when we made that big run that was 22-2. Defensively that really set the tone, and I credit the upperclassmen for picking it up defensively in the second half."
On the difference in the second half:
"We started off with great energy. We came out and got a lead early, and then we became tentative. They started hitting some shots and running their offense, and they did a very good job of doing things. In the second half we just tried to pick it up to the level where we dictated the tempo instead of letting them dictate it."
On winning close games:
"Any time you have close games, you're not going to win them all, and you're not going to lose them all hopefully. You win more the older you get and the more experience you get, and we've had a number of close ones this year, and we're over .500 on them, so that's a good thing. At the same time, you don't want them to have to be close. We've got to do a better job stopping them when someone gets hot against us."
Baylor guard Henry Dugat:
On the game:
"At halftime coach was telling us that we weren't getting after them like we usually do on defense, and like we're capable of, and they were getting their offense too easily. We wanted to crunch that a little bit, and we came out with the focus in the second half. We used the pressure to take them out of what they wanted to do and make them do what we wanted them to do, which was turn the ball over."
On winning close games:
"We've been there before with all of the close games that we lost last year and even this year. We showed that tonight with the poise we kept and the way we finished the game."
On stepping up the defensive intensity in the second half:
"We fed off of our defense for a while when our offense kind of got stagnant, but that goes with our experience. We knew what we had to do to get the win, and we just had to calm ourselves down and get going again."
Baylor forward Kevin Rogers:
On getting into foul trouble in the first half:
"I have to be on the court to help the team win. I get some of the tough baskets in the paint and take some of the relief off of these guys. In the second half I just calmed myself down and just got back to my focus, and I was able to come out and produce in the second half."
On winning the Big 12 opener:
"It's always good to get off to a good start at home. Like we always say, you want to protect your home court. This game is over and done with, and now we're looking forward to Oklahoma State. Obviously they're a great team, so we're now putting this game in the past and just looking forward."
On wanting to show the Big 12 that Baylor is going to be a force:
"It's just a small step. It's just the first game, and not a lot can be determined in your first game, but like we always say, we just want to get better day-by-day, and take it game-by-game."
Baylor guard Curtis Jerrells:
On what went wrong in the first half:
"I was frustrated because we started so well and we kind of relaxed and thought it was going to be an easy night. We credit those guys for continuing to play, but we've been there before in the last two years and even a couple of times this year, where we had to battle back. We're finding ways to win, and that's a positive."
On stepping up the defense in the second half:
"I told the guys before this game that everyone on this team can score, but this game is going to be won with defense. We played tight defense at the beginning, but then we relaxed and started relying on our offense, and it wasn't working, so we went back to defense. Scoring comes easily when you're playing good defense. You get open shots and we're able to run, which is what we're so good at."
On how playing good defense led to easy baskets:
"That was our style of ball. Henry (Dugat) had a couple of steals, I had a couple, and we were shooting the lanes and getting open shots. That's how we play, we play fast, and when those guys are scoring buckets it doesn't help us any."
