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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SAN DIEGOMarch 21, 2014Danny ManningJames WoodardD'Andre WrightSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA UCLA – 76 THE MODERATOR: We welcome Tulsa, Head Coach, Danny Manning, student athletes are James Woodard and D'Andre Wright and we will start with an opening statement from Coach Manning. COACH MANNING: UCLA came out in the first half and they turned us over. I think they had 16 points off of our turnovers, and second chance opportunities. Then in the second half we were able to make a little bit of a run, but they controlled the game with their athleticism and they got out and shot way too high of a percentage for us to have a chance in the second half. They moved the ball well and attacked the rim and we didn't guard the way we would have liked to have guarded. So that's a really good, talented 4 seed. They came out tonight and they dictated‑‑ they controlled the game. Q. James, did you anticipate‑‑ obviously you anticipated that they would attempt to limit your touches, with their length and size was it just something you hadn't encountered before? JAMES WOODARD: Yeah, it was tough, they were a good defensive team. They made my touches tough, but I gotta give credit to them defensively, but yea it was kinda a first time dealing with the length, was kind of hard but we just didn't put out. Q. D 'Andre, can you elaborate on the second‑chance points? D'ANDRE WRIGHT: They are a good team, athletic, they did a great job of crashing the boards and they crashed the boards and gang rebound and had we had trouble with that. They came up with key offensive put‑backs that put the game away so that had a big part to do with it. Q. D 'Andre, I know you're disappointed with what happened tonight but do you consider this the first game of the rest of your career with the way you played tonight and the way you were aggressive? D'ANDRE WRIGHT: I don't look at it that way, they always tell me to be aggressive and if you have a quick move in the post to do that and my teammates did a great job of looking for me and that had a big part to do with it but from here as a team we're trying to get better, individualwise and as a team we're just trying to get better as a team because we want to be back here next year. Q. Can you guys talk about disappointing, losing tonight but after the slow start to the season how you came on and finished strong, how much of an accomplishment you feel it is to make it here? COACH MANNING: We talked after the game, and, you know, I told the guys, hopefully this loss stings, hopefully it burns. Every year the expectation for us is to be playing in this tournament. We want stay in the tournament longer than we stayed today. But, you know, just looking at the stat sheet of tonight's game, points in the paint, points after turnovers, second chance points, fast break points and bench points there haven't been too many games all year where we get beat in all those categories and UCLA did that tonight. I think once these guys and we as a staff have a chance to look back on our season we can definitely say that we have some solid building blocks to move forward, getting a piece of the championship, winning our league tournament, those are things that, like I said, I hope will be building blocks to a successful run for the next few years. Q. Both of you, frustrating with the loss, obviously, but did you get a chance to soak in the NCAA atmosphere when you were out there at all? Yes, it was a great experience because that's the biggest crowd we've been around except for probably Creighton and it was a great experience, but since we got a taste of it we want more and we're going to stay hungry, stay humble and work to come back here. D'ANDRE WRIGHT: Just like James said we were excited to be here and it was definitely a great experience for us, but we're not content with just being here. We want to come back and we want to win games in this tournament, because it's the best of the best, you know, and we want to prove ourselves consistently. So we're definitely not content with it. COACH MANNING: One thing that‑‑ when you come to these tournaments you don't have a chance to soak up the atmosphere. We're not walking around the streets downtown we're in the film room watching film, we're at practice, we're getting extra treatments and that's what everybody is doing. It's extremely hard to get a feel for the environment and the atmosphere of this tournament because you're so focused on winning games and moving to the next round. I think, you know, as this tournament continues to play out, you know, guys will have a chance to see different things on TV and things of that nature and it will all settle in for them but when you're playing in it, you're not caught up in all the hoopla and things like that, you're focused in on trying to do what you can to help your team be successful. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the student athletes? Okay. We will continue on with Coach Manning. Thank you. Q. Danny, the way D'Andre played tonight, he had 18 points in four games before tonight, he has 18 tonight, he's aggressive with the ball, he made good decisions with the ball, do you view this as the first step forward the rest of his career? COACH MANNING: Absolutely. D 'Andre is a very talented guy. I think he's scratching the surface. I think that's a better way to put it. He's a guy with a very good skill set, especially when he's able to step away from the basket and make shots. Post moves are getting better and he's working on those, but I do think that this game and this situation on this stage can be something that he builds on, absolutely. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for Coach Manning? Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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