Michigan State - Minnesota Post Game Quotes
2/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2002
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo:
"I'm not sure we make it easy, but that was a big win for us. I thought early in the game Marcus (Taylor) got some good looks, but they weren't falling. Chris (Hill) also had some good looks that weren't falling. When your two best shooters have that many good looks and only shoot 7-of-23, and you still find a way to win, I guess that's the most encouraging thing.
"You have to give Minnesota credit. Switching to that triangle and two was a big move and they did some good things where they pressured our guards. When we were in foul trouble, especially when Marcus was out of the game, we started to look a little sloppy offensively. But we went back to rebounding well. I thought other than the first five minutes of the game where I think they were 6-of-7, I thought we defended pretty well after that point. I thought our big guys, Al (Anagonye), Adam (Ballinger) and Jason (Andreas) did a pretty good job on (Rick) Rickert and (Jerry) Holman. I thought we defended them well that was the difference in the game.
"It's a very good team that we found a way to beat. I'm just happy we're still above water."
Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson:
"I was pleased with our effort. Coming off of two losses and heading into a tough environment like this, I was concerned with how we would start the game. I thought we started well and did a lot of things we wanted to do. But as the game wore on, their strength just wore us down. We just couldn't get the ball inside to our guys, and when we did, they (MSU) did a good a job of bumping them out.
"We had to hit our jump shots. This is a team that has lived and died by the jump shots all year. When you're 4-of-18 shooting for three's, you're not going to win.
"Their strength I thought was the biggest key. It just seemed like every time there was a rebound they ended up with it. I thought our guys gave a great effort, but their strength was the difference tonight."