Northwestern University Athletics
Quotables: Northwestern vs. Chicago State
12/16/2018 1:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Read what the Wildcats are saying in advance of their Monday night matchup with Chicago State…
"[It was] our grittiness. We're down 15 with 10 minutes to go. Our guys just refused to say it say it's not our day. They kept fighting. And DePaul was playing well. They were confident, they were emotional and they were enthusiastic and we just dug down really deep to get the game. I think our character, our grittiness, our fight [came through]."
— Sullivan-Ubben Head Coach Chris Collins on his biggest takeaway from the win against DePaul.
"That was my role when I was a player, I was a shooter. For me, it's tough because I never met a shot I did not like. If I missed 10 in a row, it did not matter to me. But to a lot of guys, missed shots can be mistakes. And what I told him [Turner], if you look at his numbers in the ACC, he was close to 40 percent three-point shooter, so he can shoot the ball … The other thing is, we're asking him to play point guard, which he's never done in his career … I just wanted him to stick with it. He's put a lot of time in the gym. I want him to take his shots, I want him to be aggressive. Today was the day he broke out and we needed every one of them."
— Collins on A.J. Turner finding his shooting stroke against DePaul
"It feels amazing. The crowd was into it. When you play college basketball, that's what you want to play in, that type of atmosphere. It makes it fun. Going on those runs, 25-0, that's kind of impressive. It felt really good."
— Redshirt junior A.J. Turner on what the 25-0 run against DePaul felt like.
"It was tough not playing basketball for a whole year. I've been playing my whole life. I just took it as an opportunity to get better, grow mentally, watch a lot of film. When you're on the sideline that's all you can do since you're not able to play, obviously. It kind of went by fast, honestly. I thought it was going to go by slow, but it went by fast, and I was just approaching every day trying to get better."
— Turner on the difficulty of sitting out his transfer year.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
"[It was] our grittiness. We're down 15 with 10 minutes to go. Our guys just refused to say it say it's not our day. They kept fighting. And DePaul was playing well. They were confident, they were emotional and they were enthusiastic and we just dug down really deep to get the game. I think our character, our grittiness, our fight [came through]."
— Sullivan-Ubben Head Coach Chris Collins on his biggest takeaway from the win against DePaul.
"That was my role when I was a player, I was a shooter. For me, it's tough because I never met a shot I did not like. If I missed 10 in a row, it did not matter to me. But to a lot of guys, missed shots can be mistakes. And what I told him [Turner], if you look at his numbers in the ACC, he was close to 40 percent three-point shooter, so he can shoot the ball … The other thing is, we're asking him to play point guard, which he's never done in his career … I just wanted him to stick with it. He's put a lot of time in the gym. I want him to take his shots, I want him to be aggressive. Today was the day he broke out and we needed every one of them."
— Collins on A.J. Turner finding his shooting stroke against DePaul
"It feels amazing. The crowd was into it. When you play college basketball, that's what you want to play in, that type of atmosphere. It makes it fun. Going on those runs, 25-0, that's kind of impressive. It felt really good."
— Redshirt junior A.J. Turner on what the 25-0 run against DePaul felt like.
"It was tough not playing basketball for a whole year. I've been playing my whole life. I just took it as an opportunity to get better, grow mentally, watch a lot of film. When you're on the sideline that's all you can do since you're not able to play, obviously. It kind of went by fast, honestly. I thought it was going to go by slow, but it went by fast, and I was just approaching every day trying to get better."
— Turner on the difficulty of sitting out his transfer year.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
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