Baylor, Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
12/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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RV/RV BAYLOR 77 (8-1), NR/NR TEXAS A&M 63 (6-2)
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014
Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
Attendance: 7,265
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew
Opening Statement:
"I thought that rebounding-wise, as a coach, you could not be more pleased with what we were able to do on the glass and with second chance points. With the rivalry and the hype going into the game I thought that is why it is good to play this type of game because that is what conference games are like and it is good for our guys to get in that environment. I think that we got better because of that. Coach [Billy] Kennedy has done a great job with A&M. We are pleased we were able to play as well as we were, especially the last 30 minutes of the game. "
On Johnathan Motley's game:
"When you are a freshman you have ups and downs. Tonight he was aggressive and he had confidence. The guys did a great job getting him the ball and he was feeding off that energy. I definitely loved his performance tonight."
On the team's chemistry:
"Royce [O'Neale] and Kenny [Chery] have been outstanding in their leadership. We have done a very good job with the defensive end. The offense has shared the ball and shot selection is getting better."
Junior F Rico Gathers
On tonight's crowd:
"It was about feeding off the crowd's energy. They brought the energy. When you come into the game like Battle of the Brazos between Texas A&M and Baylor, then newcomers don't know about that. Everyone was new to the rivalry. We were excited. We had some pregame jitters, but we had to tone that down and express our feelings through our game, and that's what we did."
On Kenny Chery coming back from injury:
"It felt great for him getting back on the floor and getting his feet wet. He had a breakaway dunk that I thought he was going to go for, but I had to realize he just got back. It was like he didn't miss a step at all. The flow of the offense, defense, everything was clicking for Kenny."
Freshman F Johnathan Motley
On his play:
"My team was like, `welcome back Mot.' Every player goes through one of those slumps, and I just had to change up some things and get back to my old self. Thanks to my teammates for giving me the confidence to do it."
On tonight's crowd:
"There were a lot of Texas A&M fans out there tonight, but this is our house. This is the Ferrell Center. We wanted to let that be known. This is Baylor and we made a statement."
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
Opening Statement:
"I'm really embarrassed about how we competed around the basket. You have to give Baylor a lot of credit. Johnathan Motley and Rico Gathers really set the tone on the offensive end and on the defensive end in the paint. When you don't get an offensive rebound, you have to give Baylor a lot of credit. Their defense and their interior game was really good. We thought at the end of the first half we made some bad decisions offensively to let the game break away. We have to make free throws at the beginning of the second half to make it a game. Baylor was tougher than us and deserved to win, obviously."
On Baylor's edge in the paint:
"They physically whipped us. We have to fight and do a better job of preparing our big guys to fight more. We physically got whipped and just didn't fight, and that's something we were concerned about at the beginning of the year. Coming into Baylor, playing Baylor, Motley, and Gathers, who are both very good players, I had a lot of respect for them. But I didn't anticipate they would dominate us the way they did."
Junior G Alex Caruso
On Baylor's rebounding edge:
"[Baylor had an] all out pursuit of the boards. Nobody since earlier in the Puerto Rico games really crashed that hard. We did a really bad job of matching their intensity. Obviously, whenever someone's going to the boards that hard and you don't do anything about it, they're going to win the game."
