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BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew

Opening Statement:
"Well, losing home games really stinks. Well, three in six days, wanted to finish it out on a positive note and I think in the second half we ran out of gas. Thirty-eight percent from the field zero for nine from the three, 63 percent from the free throw line. But you really have to credit them for shooting 48 percent and 66 percent, 71 percent. They made big shots so they deserve credit. They had more second chance points than us, that's something that we a normally better at, and our turnovers were the biggest difference. They had 20 points off our turnovers; there was no defense for turnovers. Sixteen turnovers, we can't beat a good team in half court game with 16 turnovers. So I think after three big wins we got up, I think we kept thinking we would put them away or they would go away. I think they deserve a lot of credit for staying in their game plan. Scoring in transition, if not in transition then making us guard. I thought that we took some shots where the past couple of games we have gotten better looks I thought. Still, we will get some rest and get ready for the rest of the grind. Three home games left."

On Oklahoma State's ability to move the ball around:
"Yeah, 21 assists. [Anthony] Hickey, a fourth-year guard who they got eligible right away, made a big difference for their team. 12 points, 7 assists, zero turnovers, and 4-for-6 from three. It's a monster game, and defensively he is very good so I thought he was big and [Phil] Forte had a big three pointer and foul in transition -that four-point play. We were just getting some momentum, that kind of got him going. [Jeff] Newberry had been struggling - zero for 10 from three in his last five games - he hit some big threes. I thought we could have gotten hands up better. Again they made shots, we didn't do enough to make them miss shots, we didn't get enough second chance points to carry us for a bad shooting night.

On the guards struggling:
"Oklahoma State is very good defensively with guards like Hickey and Newberry; they do a very good job. [Michael] Cobbins is a fifth-year guy that is very underrated, third in blocks in the league, and [Le'Bryan] Nash is a fourth-year senior who has gotten better defensively. Forte is third in the nation in steals. They are very good defensively, we are just better offensively than I thought we showed tonight."

Junior G Taurean Prince

On Oklahoma State stopping Baylor's run to end the first half:
"Look liked they just missed some big shots, could have contested on Newberry as coach said, just things we couldn't fix. We had mental errors and couldn't get the job done."

Senior G Rico Gathers

On the loss, after playing well recently:
"It's disappointing, just the turnovers. One of our keys for every game is to limit our turnovers to nine and under and we didn't do that tonight. Really, their players hit some big shots for them and that's really what put them ahead. It's really disappointing, especially when you are on a winning streak and you feel like you are getting things going. Then you come out flat and drop the ball. We have to get back to the drawing boards, we have to look ahead toward Kansas."

On getting the game within three points near the final minute:
"It was there for the taking, that's when you are supposed to crank down. One of our keys is the last five minutes of the game we strive to be the best team, and we didn't do that. We dropped the ball on the inbounds play to Forte - that's what put them back up by six. When you are that close in the game you have to be able to seal the deal, and you have to be able to regain the lead and we didn't do that. That's Big 12 basketball for you."

OSU POSTGAME QUOTES

OSU Head Coach Travis Ford

Opening Statement:
"I'm proud of our team--proud of their effort after coming off an emotional win this past Saturday and a quick turnaround against one of the hottest teams in the country, Baylor. I like how we were very steady tonight. We never panicked. I thought the difference in the game was the last two and half minutes in the first half. That was the difference maker for us. We'd gotten down eight or nine points and to cut it back to one at the half was really big for us. I like their composure. We took each possession one at a time. We won it with defense. We normally like to get out on fast breaks and do all that but we weren't able to do that tonight so we found other ways to win, which is always good. We had guys step up."

On playing against Baylor's zone:
"It takes patience. Sometimes we were a little more patient than I wanted as I had to tell them to move it but the coaching staff was talking about this--they see what's going on out there a lot of times. We may think we see something that's open and it may not be open. We see one thing on the sidelines and as I told our coaches last night, `we're just going to have to let them make plays.' They found the open man. One of the things as a coach I'm very excited about is that we scored 25 field goals off 21 assists. You're going to win if you do that. I love the unselfishness of the basketball team right now. That's very important. We didn't make a lot of shots first half and we had a lot of good shots. I told these guys to not quit shooting. It paid off, especially for [Jeff] Newberry because he missed some shots early. He started sticking big shots in the second half."

On playing the bench:
"I used the bench first half but I didn't go to it second half because I thought we were in a flow. When you're going against a zone, you've got to stick with the flow and the guys who are making shots. I kind of apologized because I wished I could have gotten some of them in. I wish they could all get their chance and they're all going to have their opportunity. The way this game was going, it was a possession-by-possession game. It wasn't a fast break game. It wasn't that type of game. It was a possession game and we had to stick with the guys who were in the flow. When it gets like that I've always been hesitant to sub."

Junior G Jeff Newberry

On making shots early:
"It was really big. My confidence was down but my teammates and my coaches always preach to me to keep shooting and keep playing. Making those shots got my confidence going and just kept me in the game and trying to make some plays on defense."

On the difference between now and the beginning of Big 12 play:
"I feel like I know a lot more, especially about playing games. There was a lot I didn't know and now I'm playing hard every play--just playing 110%. That opens a lot more for me. I feel like I know a lot more, but I feel like I'm playing a lot harder too."

Senior G Anthony Hickey

On what's worked well for the team during the three-game stretch:
"Our defense. We let our offense come to us but we are pulling for each other on the defensive end. We're just playing together. We're staying hungry and not settling and we are just going to keep getting better each game and moving onto the next game."

On how the team has played the last few weeks:
"We had a couple bumps in the road where we took a couple losses and even lost at home but it's all about moving on and getting better. We've had a good stretch but we've just got to keep moving. Like we said, we are keeping that chip on our shoulder and staying hungry and taking the game one by one instead of looking forward."