Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Northwestern vs. MSU
2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2006
Northwestern Men's Basketball
Michigan State vs. Northwestern
February 4, 2006
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
Opening statement:
"They got a lead on us on in the first half and we managed to get back into the game by halftime. At the beginning of the second half they came out, I guess as a 12th-ranked team would, and played with some poise, executed and got a big lead on us. It was too much to overcome. I did not think it was a lack of effort. We certainly came back and I feel good about that. What happened in the first eight or ten minutes of the second half? I will look at the tape, but it did not seem like we were as energized as we were in last six or seven minutes of the first half and certainly not like we were towards the end of the game."
On the Northwestern's pressure defense towards the end of the game ...
"I thought we got to them a little bit there with our pressure, but they are poised."
On Bernard Coté's performance ...
"If you're going to look for a bright spot, he hit a couple of shots. We got the ball down to him and he missed a couple of things down around the basket, but I hope in the near future that they start going in."
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement...
"Well nothing comes easy. At times we played well enough to put them away, but Northwestern's play and our ball-handling deficiencies let them back in it. I was really pleased with a couple of things. We started to address our rebounding. Our guards needed to rebound better and Maurice (Ager) and Shannon (Brown) getting 11 and 8 was good. Northwestern is not a great rebounding team, so I do not know where that puts us. We handled their zone fairly well. We had a lot of points in the paint, shot a good percentage and we did not force many things. We had a lot of foul trouble tonight, especially with Paul Davis. That has really been the nature of this team: we plug one hole but then another one opens up. It was a big road win, but we have a lot of things to work on still."
On Shannon Brown scoring his 1,000th point...
"Shannon had 22 tonight when he needed 21 to do it, and to do it in front of family was pretty exciting. He made a couple of key plays at clutch times. That gives us three 1,000-point scorers two years in a row. That means you have pretty good players and guys that have stuck around."
On deciding Paul Davis's status for the game...
"There was a decision made yesterday that we would probably start him, but we did not know how long he could play. He did some real good things, but he did some uncharacteristic things as well. Considering he had not played for a week, I think he sucked it up pretty well."
On the team's ball-handling difficulties...
"Ball-handling was such a difficult thing tonight because they (Northwestern) did a great job on defense. They scrambled tonight and you have to give them credit. They are a never-quit team. I told my team when we were up 16 that they could come back. At the same time, the ball-handling mistakes were poor and we need to work in that area."
On Vedran Vukusic...
"(Matt) Trannon got in foul trouble and I think he is the best matchup for him. Delco Rowley came in for us and gave us a few minutes and did some good things. He (Vedran) is a good player that can give you a lot of trouble in different ways. Bernard Coté played better for them and I think if he continues to play better that will be important for them in the future."
