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Feb. 13, 2013

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 

TEXAS

Head Coach Rick Barnes
Opening Statement: Well, I can tell you that was a hard-fought game for a season opener [laughs]. Hard-fought game and you knew it would be. There were difficulties that are as hard as we may believe but they do a great job of getting you into the strangest situations. I told our guys after the game that tonight there were a lot of guys that showed individual toughness. We made the changes that we made in the lineup and you take a guy like Julien Lewis who had a lot of opportunities this year where he sits there, doesn’t play very much, comes in and makes a few plays. Sheldon McClellan comes in and finally does some things-- there was a play in the game, where you guys saw, Iowa State caught up and got a couple rebounds and I said, ‘we need one of those.’ Sheldon went and got a couple of those just like that. Cameron Ridley may have had the best defensive game maybe ever. I mean he did an incredible job showing some screen and getting back and blocking the shot. He and Prince Ibeh both, because we were switching some, did an incredible job. Connor Lammert, by far, did the best game. But really, it was a great win for us and it was fought hard. I thought our guys did a great job coming out of timeouts. The best they have done all year.

On thoughts about 3-point shots throughout the game: I told the team, some of you guys are open by design whether you want to or not. I said, ‘It’s okay if you shoot them but you got to pick your spot in possession and know what we need to get done.' They shouldn’t be open and need to move the ball around a little bit more. Second half, we came out and we won through the side. We scored half of our points in the lane and if you look at it, we won the rebound battle. We gave up too many offensive rebounds but they were really, really hard team to keep off the glass because of the long shots and you got to run them down and they did a great job on it.

On thoughts of how the team took to having two key players return: As a coach, you can’t say things that you know you can’t back up. I can tell you that last night, I told them I have some more guys now so we are going to do it this way, or you are not going to play. It’s just plain and simple. I told Sheldon McClellan, Javan Felix, and Julien Lewis, 'you guys have played more minutes than anybody and the things that we are lacking we have to get. We must have rebounding and defensive get stops. We have to go back to being a team that can rebound the ball. We have to go back where we get offensive rebounds because we haven’t been anywhere near that.'

I am really proud of them. I explained to them last night what I think a starter is. I am going to tell you why a guy starts--they play longer, harder and are more consistent. If you can't do that, you are a role player. If you think about it, Julien Lewis played a great role tonight. Sheldon came in and I think he sees we need that. The fact of the matter is, maybe he needs 22 minutes a game to get that done.

Javan had the weight of the world lifted off of him. I don’t think there is anyone who wanted Myck more than Javan. Still, Demarcus Holland what he does, they are our post guys and those guys are getting better. They really are. I even thought Cameron’s travel violation -- I like what he did with it to try to get the ball and do what we ask. Jaylen Bond -- Todd Wright told me after the game that he doesn’t know if he has ever seen a guy better throughout the game than Jaylen Bond in terms of the way he stayed in games on the bench and the way he played. So that’s the main thing. We have something to work with and we are still not anywhere near where we need to be but it’s a start.

On thought of why team didn’t fold tonight after getting Myck Kabongo and Jonathan Holmes back: Maybe that was the best part of it because you have Jonathan Holmes, who has not practiced for 30 minutes since he walked off the court in Oklahoma. That says a lot about him that he played, he got tired, but you can tell his presence makes a difference. And Myck, I have never seen him get tired like I did tonight, but some of that is from the emotional build up with the team. He didn’t want to come out [of the game] -- he never wants to come out -- but I it was key the way that that group gets things done. Really, they were terrific coming out of time outs. They were really executed them tonight.

Myck Kabongo
Opening statement: First of all, it was a great team win today. The only thing I have to say is to thank the fans for coming out, the kids, and the people that have been supporting us. They need to know we play off of their energy and it was a great team win. It’s not about me and I don’t want this to be about me so I will not be answering any questions. I just want to thank the fans for sticking by our team with my situation and also the kids that come out every time to see us. We put a smile on their faces and that’s what it’s about really. We have to keep moving forward. We’re 1-0 with our full team. It’s all about these guys. I would also like to thank the University of Texas and everyone that has been supporting our team. Thank you.

Sheldon McClellan
On taking over 2nd overtime: I was just being aggressive. The offense was kind of stagnant and coach told me to drive the ball and that’s what I tried to do.

On having most aggressive game: I would say so. Coach is always talking about effort with me so I just wanted to give him my effort tonight and I think I did.

On criticism: A lot of the criticism has just made me better and made me stronger. I don’t take it personally. I know Coach loves me and wants me to be the best player I can be. He gave me credit today. He told me I had a good game and showed good effort.

On less pressure for Javan Felix with Kyck Kabongo back: Most definitely. With Coach Barnes all in his ear, having Myck Kabongo back was good for Javan Felix. It took a little pressure off him and it let him get into a little rhythm in the game. With Javan and Myck on the court at the same time they did a good job. I didn’t know they could play that well together. It’s good having 'Speedy Gonzalez' back.

Ioannis Papapetrou
On last shot of regulation: To tell you the truth, I felt it. Every time you shoot the ball you want it to go in. I just pictured the ball going in. It was just another shot, though. I was open and I shot it. We’ve been working on late game plays all year for these close games. We had a couple of different options, no one was open and it came back to me and I shot it.

On sticking together: I think it was team energy. It was a great team effort and everyone was engaged. Everyone was talking and trying to give advice and keep us confident throughout the game. It doesn’t matter who fouls out because I feel like we have eleven players and everyone can play. Everyone gave their best effort.

Connor Lammert
On teammates fouling out: It’s great to have them back. We’ve won some games without them and we’ve been in situations where we have to close out games and we haven’t sometimes. I think we’ve learned from that. Myck Kabongo and Jonathan Holmes definitely put us in a situation to win but with them being fouled out I think it was just a good team effort. We came together and did a good job of closing the game out.

On coincidence of having great game with Myck Kabongo back: I think so. Everyday in practice he is the one moving the ball and pushing the ball. What he does really opens everything up for everyone else. Papi had a lot of great passes to me, too. It was just a great team win.

IOWA STATE

Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
Opening Statement: I am sick. I am absolutely sick for our guys, they fought all the way down to the wire again. We chose to foul this time, but still could not get it done. Papi (Ioannis Papapetrou) got lose on the last one, and there was no stopping them.

On the difference of Texas with Kabango: They are a lot faster.

On where the team will go from here: We can’t let one loss turn into two. If we continue to fight like this we are going to come out good in some of these games. We have lost three absolute heartbreakers on the road to some very good teams. If we keep fighting, we are still plus-one with one road win. We have to go take care of our home court and try to find a way to steal these last few road games.

On the 18-2 run during the first half: We went small, we got stripped of things but once we went small we were able to control on the glass. I thought we were great on the glass tonight, we played 50 minutes and only gave them nine offense rebounds, we have done that a lot of times with smaller teams.

On whether Iowa State had an advantage coming into the game: We were confident. We tried to pump our guys up going out there. Texas struck first, hit a couple of shots, then we bounced back. I was proud of our guys and the way they got back in it. It was a hard fought game, both teams played extremely hard but unfortunately we came up short.

Melvin Ejim
Opening statement: It is a tough position to be in. Whenever you feel that you have played tough on the road, you take a team to two overtimes you feel that you had a changce, but there were some things that went wrong. We have been here before but we have to bounce back at home and try to get some wins on the road.

On how Iowa State can bounce back: You have to have short memory, if you can’t do that you won’t be able to play at the collegiate level. You have to put it behind you.

On playing on the road: In college basketball, playing on the road is one of the toughest things to do. We have put ourselves in great position but we have not been able to get it out in the last seconds. We have not been able to buckle-down to get the shots that we needed or the big plays. It was a tough game. We are going to go home, watch some film and learn how to correct it.