March 5, 2011
Purdue at Iowa
Postgame Iowa player Quotes
So. Guard Eric May
On his performance
“It was a team win in every sense of the word. Everybody gave quality minutes, and everyone picked each other up. It wasn’t just points or rebounds, it was a mixture of effort. It was a great team win.”
On teammate Jarryd Cole’s last game as a senior
“It just shows you the type of player he is. He came out on a big stage and really performed. It was great for all these fans to come out and give them a good game to watch.”
On getting over the hump and finally beating a ranked team
“It was a long time coming. We were right there for a couple of games. This is the way we can play and should play.”
Jr. Guard Matt Gatens
On getting the win
“It was huge. We were playing for Jarryd out there, that’s one of my brothers and we’ve been through a lot together. We came in together and have been through three coaches together, so it was great to get the win for Jarryd. To end our regular season on top is a big plus for us. Now we just have to keep it going Thursday in Indy and anything can happen there.”
On making his free-throws and making it a two possession game
“I was just trying to attack and get them on the side of me to get to the line. At the end with about six seconds to go, we ran an inbounds play that we practice all the time. The play worked and Bryce and myself executed. When they tried to trap I saw the open court and was thinking about just dribbling it out but instead, I just went for it, was fouled and got the two shots. It felt good to knock them down tonight and get the victory.”
Opposing Coach Quotes
On Jarryd Cole
“Jarryd is a good player. He is a big strong kid. He has a lot of experience. When he gets an angle down there with his strength he is hard to stop. He also popped out and made some primitive shots especially that last one. That was a huge shot that he made.”
On Iowa having six guys with five or more rebounds
“They were quicker to the ball today than us, whether it was a long rebound or a loose ball they were making the 50-50 plays. That is something we try to pride ourselves in trying to win the rebounding category, but today we got beat in the category. I thought it was better for us in the second half than the first half. We were in a position up 17-10 to push the game out, to make a rebound, and make a hustle play or make our free-throws. You have to give Iowa credit. They kept plugging and it was tied at half. Like I said, I thought we did a better job in the second half, but Iowa was quicker to the ball than us.”
On not being able to make the 3-pointers
“You have to shoot shots in rhythm. At times we did, but Iowa did a really job of keeping the ball in front of them and making us shoot some more primitive shot. We really talked during the timeouts about probing the defense a little bit more and trying to drive the ball a little bit more. We did a better job of it, but we had some shots just not go down. You have to give Iowa credit here. I thought they were ready to play and did a good job of sticking with it especially after we started missing some shots and forcing us to make a perimeter jump-shot.”