ECU-UCF Postgame Quotes
January 02, 2016 | Men's Basketball
East Carolina Head Coach Jeff Lebo
Opening statement
"Defensively, I thought we did a good enough job. We took away the 3s; they made some late. We had momentum in the second half, and miss a dunk, a wide open dunk, and foul on the other end, and we should be up nine. Instead of nine it's five and they're right there in that area where they can sting you and that's what happened in the game. It was frustrating. We did some good things. I thought we showed some toughness. We took the lead in the second half, and couldn't get enough plays. We missed a lot of shots at the rim, we missed a lot of foul shots at crucial times. Those kind of plays, missing layups or wide open dunks, they take the wind right out of you, and that's what happened. Give [UCF] credit they took advantage of it."
On playing against their size
"They out-rebounded us by 10. I think the big key in the game too was that we've been able to keep guys off the foul line and we did not [do that tonight]; they hurt us there. They outscore us by six at that spot. I don't think we got enough from other people in this game, we got scoring from about four, and then not a whole lot from anywhere else. We missed a lot of easy shots in around the rim, too. When you have size, that's what it does to you, makes you miss those shots. Give them credit, I thought they stayed with it and made some big plays coming down the stretch, A.J. Davis made a heave [3-ponter] right at the end and it went in. And then [Adonys] Henriquez had been struggling, makes two 3s late in the game that were back breakers for us."
On UCF's play down the stretch
"They made some key jump shots coming down the stretch, and they got to the foul line. They're a pretty good foul shooting team, and we've been doing such a good job of keeping people off the line. We got them into the one-and-one early into the second half, that really hurt us."
On what his team can learn from this game
"We've got to be better. We've got to be able to be tougher. We've got to have leadership. We've got to have guys who are going to be able to make some plays in the last three minutes of a game. We've struggled in that area mightily. On the road, we've had multiple opportunities in the last three minutes of games in close games and haven't been able to finish out. Being tough enough to make a play; late in the game, through contact, a lot of refs are not going to call a lot of stuff late, and you're going to have to be able to get some things accomplished. We panic a lot. I don't know what it is, but sometimes the kids panic a little bit when it gets tight."
Sophomore B.J. Tyson
On difference in mood after this loss
"Everybody came in quiet, not saying too much, but I told them, 'Let's get ready for practice tomorrow and get two [wins] on the road.'
On feeling like this victory slipped away
"We had it. They knocked down two 3s and they were rebounding the ball, that kind of hurt us, too. Like I told the guys, 'Let's just forget about this one and start over tomorrow."
Junior Caleb White
On what went wrong going down the stretch
"We gave up two 3s on the wing and that really stuck us. I really didn't think it was anything on offense. I just feel like we broke down on defense for those two possessions, and then momentum is a killer once you give it away."
On what the team can learn from the loss
"Being sharp in practice, and just being mentally focused down the stretch in games because it can cost you like tonight."
UCF Head Coach Donnie Jones
Opening statement
"I thought Adonys [Henriquez] hit a couple of big shots, he couldn't get going. He had some good looks early on from the three-point line, didn't make them, but then hits two big 3s later that I thought really sparked us. We just played a tough game against George Washington, where we didn't play well in the second half, tucked our heads, and I think us playing that game several days ago and coming back, and now rallying, gave us some great energy from that last game to know that we have to keep fighting, keep competing. I'm sure proud of how we hung in there."
On the different game swings
"I think it kind of went back and forth, but we kept trying to cut it to seven, get it to eight, we'd foul or they'd hit a 3, or we would turn it over and they'd go back up 10. We kept staying right there at 10, and then we finally had a breakthrough down the stretch under that four-minute mark, we finally got it to two. Then we hit a few big shots, and then the momentum shifted our way at the end."
On winning a close game on the road
"I think the thing for our guys, we played four games non-conference in somebody's arena like this, we didn't play neutral site games, and I think that really helped our guys be able to walk into the atmosphere and be able to play, and it was a great atmosphere in there tonight. Jeff [Lebo] has done a great job, he's got a terrific team, and I know they had a few days offs, too. Sometimes when you have that long break, getting back to that competitive spirit sometimes takes time, and they came back out in the second half and I thought played terrific."
