Washington-UCLA Post-Game Quotes
March 10, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Washington 96, #13 UCLA 94
March 10, 2001
Bank of America Arena, Seattle, Wash.
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH BOB BENDER
General Remarks:
"That was one of the most enjoyable games to have been a part of and we all know the reasons. That was something that is a good lesson of what people are made of, to come out and play like we did today and be rewarded with a win. It was not an easy win, it was not a game that was taken lightly. I know one thing about UCLA: they were coming in here with a lot to play well for, we knew we'd get a good shot from them. Our kids fought through that and got a win."
On the five seniors finishing the game together:
"The only way it wasn't going to be that way is which one would foul out first: Thalo (Green) or Will (Perkins). As far as our intentions it was running it all the way to the end with them. They made 'senior' plays."
On the last shot:
"Three things: ball screen on Bryan (Brown) and Thalo (Green) stepping back, the screen for Mike (Johnson) and the look for Will (Perkins). They played the ball screen well because they matched-up, so we didn't have Thalo. I think the little bit of action away got Michael the extra step that he needed. I'm not always the best judge of a ball going in the bucket, but that thing came out of his hand and looked awfully pure."
On UCLA's last timeout:
"It did give us time. We knew what we were going to run, but it did give us a chance to re-emphasize. All we did when we came to the bench was say 'okay, we're running regular.'"
On Michael Johnson:
"I think they (the seniors) would tell you they couldn't be happier for one individual in their class and that is Mike. And it was all game long. The innocence that is still there even though sometimes we say college basketball has lost some of that. The most innocent reaction and true joy was from Curtis (Allen) and CJ (Massingale) when he hit the shot. When freshman can have a feeling for someone who is finishing their career and to have it end like this, it is a great lesson about staying with it, never making excuses and working hard."
On the difference today:
"If I were to point out one play that showed how the energy and playing loose made a difference would be in the first half during that scurry for the loose ball. We had three guys go to the floor. It got a great reaction from our team and the fans got into it, which was really helpful. We've put ourselves in huge deficits in this building during the year and that play identified that we weren't going to do that today. It had an effect on everybody."
On Bryan Brown:
"You always think he's going to do something spectacular just about the time when it's looking a little bit bleak. It was more than just making a three-point play, it was getting fouled and going to the line and hitting the free throw."
WASHINGTON SENIOR GUARD MICHAEL JOHNSON
General Remarks:
"I can't describe how this feels today. We had such a hard time this year and I haven't had the year I wanted to have, but to go out this way it just feels so good. It was perfect for us five seniors to be in there at the end. This is a great win and we'll always remember this win no matter how hard the season was for us. Every senior played big tonight, we were going to give everything we had and that's what did it. UCLA didn't do anything different, we came out with nothing to lose."
On the last shot:
"I was really surprised they let me get open on the wing because that is the same play we'd been running all night. I figured they were going to deny that. I was trying to get open down low, but I saw they packed the middle. Right when I got outside, I had an open look and I figured I'd take the shot and that'd be the best one we can get. Will (Perkins) set the screen."
UCLA HEAD COACH STEVE LAVIN
General Remarks:
"The first half I thought we played very poorly. The second half we played pretty well. We dug ourselves too deep of a hole to overcome. Their three seniors, Johnson, Clark and Green, combined for 64 points. We did fine offensively but we turned the ball over too much. We shot 50 percent and shot the ball well from the 3-point line. We just couldn't get the stops defensively at critical stages in the game, particularly on the final out of bounds play."
On Washington being a struggling team:
"It is very discouraging to lose in the last game of the season because you are hoping to get momentum going into the tournament and you want to be able to build off your last game in the regular season."
On playing flat:
"We actually came out a little flat against Washington State in the first ten minutes and in this game we dug ourselves an 11 point hole. In both games we admirably came back and made some big shots, but they made big shots down the stretch to answer our runs. Washington played extremely well today and we played extremely poor in the first half."
On why the team played flat:
"There have been other games we came out flat but we just didn't play defense. We were a step slow, but we shot the ball well from the three point line so our offense wasn't at fault we just couldn't get the stops. Offensively we weren't flat, we scored 94 points. Defensively we didn't have the ability to make the stops until late and that is too risky. We played 30 minutes at Washington State and 20 minutes today, so to play 30 good minutes in two games in disappointing."
