Dec. 20, 2011

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POSTGAME QUOTES
Ohio State 70 (11-1), Lamar 50 (8-4)
Value City Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 14, 169

Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach
On tonight’s game
“I thought we did a decent job of defending, especially with the amount of screens they set. For us, our defense was overall the best thing we did today. We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be [offensively], as I told the guys after the game. Shooting is a mindset and for some reason they weren’t dropping early. We have got to get that down. Our standard has to be higher.”

On practice
“With this team I don’t talk about the past. We’re a young basketball team and one of the things I want them to understand is the level we need to practice at. One of the things you can see is their improved level of play coming off a great practice.”

On Ohio State’s injuries and Jared Sullinger’s progress
“When you’re not in full force it’s one of the things that can really stress you as a coach. Now we’re better and we can get back into it. Since he [Sullinger] has been back the schedule has been difficult [for him]. We’re not doing the two and a half hour practice yet, but he’s doing everything he can and we just need to keep working at it.”

On Ohio State’s slow starts
“I have to find the answer. I think it will come from the standpoint of the mentality of thinking outside the box to make sure we’re ready. We need to get to the point where we can sustain our effort throughout the game.”

On playing Miami University at Nationwide Arena
“We’ve only done it once since I’ve been here. It [Nationwide] is a very similar area [to Value City Area]. We have an in-state team, and I think it will be good for us to go down there [to Nationwide] and get ready. It’s a good game for us; they have a great coach. It’s overall just a great game to have before Christmas.”

Jared Sullinger, sophomore forward
On his foot injury
“It’s getting better. The swelling went down. As you can see, I played today, so that’s good.”

“You don’t go through a career of basketball injury-free. It’s just something I have to go through. Fortunately, it’s now and not later.”

“I missed too much with the back spasms and now with the foot. I have to get back in a routine. I can’t sit here and wait for it to heal. By that time I won’t have my timing down defensively and offensively. I had to get back as soon as possible.”

On his own offensive play
“We were just playing basketball, and just trying to find the open player. Fortunately, I was the beneficiary on the end of those plays.”

“That’s just my teammates finding me as soon as possible when I’m open. They give me the ball quickly and it makes me more efficient. Normally they have to focus on timing, but now when they catch it on the wing, they’re firing it in sooner and giving me time to make a move.”

On the game against Miami at Nationwide Arena
“Honestly, we just need energy period. We were kind of dead today. As far as playing at Nationwide [Arena], hopefully we’ll have the energy we need to play. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a different venue so you can’t really count it as a home game.”

Deshaun Thomas, sophomore forward
On the game
“I think we played well. We could have done some things better. For me, I played alright, I tried to hit shots for my teammates and I played hard.”

 
“In some games, you’re off. When it’s like that, you have to pick it up on defense and get steals and breakaways. We did well today by protecting the ball and scoring. We have to go into practice and work hard because you play how you practice. That way we can start to boost scores to the 80s and 90s.”

Pat Knight, Lamar head coach
On his team’s strategy heading into the game
“We wanted to make the game ugly, limit them in transition and keep the game in the 60s or 70s. We knew we didn’t stand a chance if they scored in the 80s or 90s, so we tried our best to slow the game down.”

On Ohio State’s use of Jared Sullinger
“He’s so quick with the ball. We tried to double down on him, but he had our guys stuck so deep in the post that we didn’t have time to set it up. He really hurt us in the second half.”

On his team’s inability to make 3-pointers
“We can’t shoot the 3s, and that was a problem with this team last year because that was all they wanted to do. We’re just not a good shooting team – we’ve got to ground and pound and take the ball to the basket.”

 On his family’s relationship with Ohio State
“Ohio State runs deep in our family. Growing up I knew two teams, both from the Big Ten - Indiana and Ohio State. These last two days have been great for my dad [former Indiana head coach Bob Knight] – he loves being here in Columbus, and we are very appreciative of the effort Thad [Matta] made to put all of this together.”