Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
1/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2012
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Northwestern vs. Illinois
Welsh-Ryan Arena
Jan. 4, 2012
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
On Illinois' defense in the second half…
“They played us hard. That's how they played us the whole game. I didn't really notice anything. We had some open shots.”
On the team's offensive struggles in the second half…
“We definitely got better looks in the first half. Guys were open for shots and I thought we had to make them.”
On the final possession of the game:
“If he [Myke Henry] had made [the free throw], we were going to run Sobo [Dave Sobolewski] off a screen to get the ball and come down the court. At the time we went small at the end of the game when we came back and we just tried to put five guys who could put the ball in the basket out on the court. Drew got the rebound, pushed it up there and [Meyers] Leonard made a good play.”
“I didn't want to take a timeout, make or miss. I just wanted to get going and cause some confusion.
On if he would have liked Shurna to have been more aggressive in the second half…
“I would have liked him to get 17 in the second half too. They noticed that he got 17 in the first half too. I really wasn't thinking about that. We were just trying to run our stuff and see what kind of shots you can get. We tried to get (Shurna and Crawford) off a bit on drives and stuff, but we just weren't successful. As I said before, you have to give them credit.”
Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber
Opening Statement…
“Obviously a close win on the road in the Big Ten is a good win. You don't have Sam [Maniscalco] in there and you struggle early. The whole game we talked about having emotion, playing with a motor, and having energy to push the ball. We had a great finish to the half that allowed us to stay in the game; Then a great start to the second half. We haven't been good in either one of those spots for most of the season. [John] Shurna was special in the first half. I challenged D.J. [Richardson] and Brandon [Paul], 'him and [Drew] Crawford are kicking your butts, we need to stop them.' We were able to hold him to one field goal and that was late in the game. We didn't score much and it wasn't very pretty, but we did a great job on the defensive end. I think someone said that for a 13-minute stretch they only had seven points. It was a huge team effort and Myke Henry had a huge free throw without playing a lot of minutes. Nnanna [Egwu] was great when Meyers [Leonard] was slow for us in the first half. Nnanna came in and did a great job and gave us a chance to stay in the game and make a big run, and when Meyers did come back, he made a big block to obviously clinch the victory for us. We are happy and it was a good team-win for us. We have to keep getting better and go home and see if we will get Nebraska.”
On Sam Maniscalco…
“We are dealing with him day to day. I would doubt if he plays Nebraska to be honest. It will be up to the doctors. In the long run we are hoping that if we rest it he can make the run through the deep stretch of the Big Ten like the last 12 to 13 games in the Big Ten Tournament. You have to feel bad for him; it's his senior year and it's his one chance. He pushed it to the limit and just didn't feel like he could go any further. He felt like he just needed some rest. We will go to the doctor tomorrow and see what happens. When you lose at Purdue…he is our maturity. I thought Tracy [Abrams] did a good job. In 30 minutes, he might not have had any points but he had five rebounds and three assists and did all the things you need to as a point guard. It was a good experience for him and obviously a much better performance as a group then against Purdue. We miss Sammy's experience. When we were playing well offensively, it was because Sam knew where people were going and how to get it to them. These other guys are learning.”
