Press Conference Quotes
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2006
GAME 1: (10) SMU 61, (7) RICE 59
RICE QUOTES
Rice Head Coach Willis Wilson
"The first two times we played SMU, even though we lost in Dallas, I really thought we were the better team. We dictated the tempo in those games. We let it slip away in the last minute (at Dallas). The game at home we made the run and we really played a solid, consistent second half. But today we were just beat by a better basketball team. My hat is off to SMU. I thought they came out with a lot more intensity. They really kept the pressure on us. They played a very physical style. They hurt us in an area where they don't normally hurt people and that's on the front line. Their big guys both scored in double figures. That really made the difference. By the time we stepped up our game in the second half, we just didn't have enough to get over the hump."
"I thought SMU did a great job. They had a good game plan. We just needed guys to step up today and knock down some shots. We missed three lay-ups, maybe four, point blank; looks that you got to have, you got to make in this type of basketball game. We had a number of guys who had open shots from the outside and were unable to knock them down. We just didn't play with the aggression and confidence that we needed to and SMU did."
"Morris (Almond) is going to see a lot of those kind of defenses in the future and we just got to be a little bit smarter. Part of having a high level of intensity is confidence. Confidence is also measured out in making decisions. I thought there were a couple of times where he really had it going and it just went away from him for no apparent reason."
Rice Player Morris Almond
"They had the box and one defense going. I don't know if we were just a little impatient with it, but you can get open shots with the box and one. You just have to knock them down. That was the first time we had seen that defense all year. We were pretty confident going into the game knowing that they were going to throw that style of defense at us. But we missed some open shots and that kind of threw our offense off kilter."
SMU QUOTES
SMU Head Coach Jimmy Tubbs
"It was a hard-fought game by Rice and by SMU. I thought both teams played extremely hard and we knew this game would be a dogfight. The game could have gone either direction. I thought our kids made some plays down the stretch, particularly in the rebounding and defensive standpoint. We made some free throws also. My hats off to Rice and Coach Willis Wilson."
As for Ryan Hopkins not scoring any points for SMU
"I never thought of it like that. Any time Hopkins does not score it is a positive for the program if we get the win. I thought Hopkins played well though. He rebounded well for us, got some assists and penetrated. He made things happen."
"Donatas was very good. He scored some points early in the first half. That got everyone going because we like to get the ball inside and that got us all going as a team. It was a tremendous help for us for him to start out hot."
The box and one was good for us but Morris Almond still scored 28 points for Rice. It is hard to stop him in any defense and he is one of the best players we have faced all year. He is a great player. Period."
SMU Player Dontas Rackauskas
"Bamba (Fall) is injured right now so I knew I had to step up my game. Our coaches said they were going to get me the ball and I knocked some shots down today."
SMU Player Devon Pearson
"Donatas Rackauskas really stepped up for us and Bamba (Fall) was hurt and Rackauskas stepped in for him and did it today.
"We knew everyone had to step up and play well because our big man was hurt and this is the C-USA Tournament and if you lose you go home. Everyone did contribute and that is why we won."
