SMU/UCF postgame quotes
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:56 pmUCF head coach KIRK SPERAW:
"We knew Jon Killen was shooting the ball exceptionally well, and playing at a high level.
We've got to give all the credit to SMU. We knew they have some weapons, and they played well tonight."
SMU head coach MATT DOHERTY:
Just very proud of my team, to be down 10, against - to me - one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the league, and come back and win, showed a lot of toughness, showed a lot of competitiveness. I was just really proud.
Then, to go into overtime and not hang in our heads ... we kind of dug in our heels and came out with toughness. We have a lot of respect for UCF, I love watching them play. Taylor is unbelievable.
He's grown into one of the better players in Conference USA, statistically, and if you watch his performances, you have to say that. He made huge plays. I ask him and Derrick for their opinions, what defense they want to run, and I only overruled him first.
I thought the guy that struggled, and the guy we did a good job on, was O'Donnell, and Noel - he had 12 points, but
I think it shows our guys what we can do. We can beat some upper-echelon teams in the league, and we're not at full strength. I think it showed that even when we're not at full strength, we're capable of beating some of the better teams in the league. We just have to play at high level."
DERRICK ROBERTS:
"I've never seen him play like that, and he told me before the game 'Derrick, it's feeling good tonight.' I told him, 'let it fly.'
I think the biggest thing, personally, was the feeling you have playing hard the whole game and then you lose - guys didn't want that feeling again, like we had against Tulsa.
I think the biggest thing is, and one of the things I like about the young guys, is that even after a loss, they come back the next day at practice, and they don't linger on the loss.
The whole time we were in halftime, Mouhammad and Papa were the ones who were talking the most. 'Come on, come on, D up.' I think they wanted to be out there as much as anyone."
"We knew Jon Killen was shooting the ball exceptionally well, and playing at a high level.
We've got to give all the credit to SMU. We knew they have some weapons, and they played well tonight."
SMU head coach MATT DOHERTY:
Just very proud of my team, to be down 10, against - to me - one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the league, and come back and win, showed a lot of toughness, showed a lot of competitiveness. I was just really proud.
Then, to go into overtime and not hang in our heads ... we kind of dug in our heels and came out with toughness. We have a lot of respect for UCF, I love watching them play. Taylor is unbelievable.
He's grown into one of the better players in Conference USA, statistically, and if you watch his performances, you have to say that. He made huge plays. I ask him and Derrick for their opinions, what defense they want to run, and I only overruled him first.
I thought the guy that struggled, and the guy we did a good job on, was O'Donnell, and Noel - he had 12 points, but
I think it shows our guys what we can do. We can beat some upper-echelon teams in the league, and we're not at full strength. I think it showed that even when we're not at full strength, we're capable of beating some of the better teams in the league. We just have to play at high level."
DERRICK ROBERTS:
"I've never seen him play like that, and he told me before the game 'Derrick, it's feeling good tonight.' I told him, 'let it fly.'
I think the biggest thing, personally, was the feeling you have playing hard the whole game and then you lose - guys didn't want that feeling again, like we had against Tulsa.
I think the biggest thing is, and one of the things I like about the young guys, is that even after a loss, they come back the next day at practice, and they don't linger on the loss.
The whole time we were in halftime, Mouhammad and Papa were the ones who were talking the most. 'Come on, come on, D up.' I think they wanted to be out there as much as anyone."