Feb. 18, 2009

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Cleveland State Head Coach Gary Waters:
"I was a little disappointed in that game. We played to hard for the game to be that tight. Everytime we play this team, we don't do what we do. We turn the ball over too much. We miss some free throws. We just don't take ahold of the game. We had a good start, just like we have for the last four games, but it hasn't ended well because the team has come back and made a surge on us."

"I told the team I didn't mind how the game went because we have to learn how to win those games. You can win and learn and I thought we learned this game. We missed eight layups tonight and I told our team we can't continue to let teams off the hook like we did tonight."

"Our defense becomes the controller when we get off to good starts. I thought tonight, we could have kicked in the defense a little harder in the second half, but we accomplished what I wanted to do. I wanted to put fear in their hearts and we did."

"They were in man-to-man to start the game and it's hard for teams to guard us. In zone, people clog up the middle so J'Nathan can't score and now we have to shoot from the outside. These are the things we struggle with if we don't get it going. George came in and hit a few shots in the middle of the zone in the first half to open it up a little."

"Cedric is phenomenal when it comes to defense. He gets his hands on so many balls."

"The 20 wins means that the program is moving forward and there is a change of guards. It shows there is a form of consistency in the program, but we have to maintain that."

"I told the team if we lost this game they could have chalked that up to me at the end."

"Wichita State will toughen us up for our last roadswing. It is really important for us in regards to how we play. We are getting ready to play two tough teams on the road and this will tell me some things on the road. We have to control tempo, defend and not foul people and we have to take care of the basketball."

"They played well tonight and are a team to be reckoned with and will be again next year because they don't lose anybody."

Cleveland State's J'Nathan Bullock:
"You don't get rattled in games like this. You weather the storm, take the blow and keep going."

"We take it one game at a time. We can't overlook any opponent at this time. We are going to stick what we do and Coach Waters is going to get us prepared."

"We're very disappointed with some mistakes we made. We started out fast, but didn't sustain it throughout the game. Coach talked about 40 minutes of focused and we have to get back to that."

Cleveland State's Cedric Jackson:
"We take pride in our defense and do what we do. I was able to get my hands on a lot of balls tonight."

"We wanted to attack because we knew they would go into their zone. We got a little stagnant, but started to attack again."

"We're not concerned with any other team than ours."

"We all have an objective and that's to shut our man down. If they screen, then we help each other out."

Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum:
"Their M.O. at home is they start so good. After the first 10 minutes of the game, I thought we were the better team, but we never overcame it. We took care of the ball better in the second half and we had a good look to tie it. Our kids battled hard and gave a good effort in the second half."

"Somebody has to make shots to win basketball games. We played on our heels in the first half and aggressively in the second half."

"They are a very good defensive team. They came out and did what they do when they play at home and that's be aggressive. It put s on our heels, but we adjusted in the second half. Both teams played well defensively. They did a good job with their man-to-man and we played well in our zone."

"We've played well this last month and I think that's because it's the second time around we have been playing people."