Jan. 25, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the game:
"In spite of the fact it didn't look as good or feel as good as BYU, it was every bit as good because we won. If you have good, talented players, they find ways to hold on and get a win. And we did that.
"We had good performances from a variety of people, and some not so good. We turned the ball over about 18 times, and New Mexico won what seemed like every 50-50 ball. But we made some very timely shots, Kyle Spain in particular. We've become a team where you better not foul us because we make every free throw we shoot, and that wins for you. We'll take it and not apologize."
On Brandon Heath's injury late in the game:
"The doctor said he's okay. In the words of our trainer, if we were playing a pick-up game at 10 p.m., Brandon would play."
San Diego State Forward Kyle Spain
On playing against UNM's zone defense:
"I love when defenses play a zone, that's when I get my breaks. That's when breaks come up."
On his confidence shooting the ball:
"Confidence is my number one thing. If you don't have confidence, you don't have anything. You have to have confidence to play and to be a player. After my first three, I knew I was feeling it so I kept shooting."
San Diego State Forward Marcus Slaughter
On playing against UNM's zone defense:
"They have a good zone. We haven't played a team that plays 40 minutes of zone defense. I'm glad we practiced that. It was a good team victory for us."
On winning close games:
"You have to win the close games, getting over that hump. It's about playing 40 minutes of good basketball and right now we're doing that. It shows the maturity of our team."
San Diego State Guard John Sharper
On the homecourt advantage:
"It is a great thing for us. We keep winning games and people keep coming. It is a great atmosphere and gives us all the motivation in the world. You have to win at home because it is going to be tough on the road. That is going to be a major factor down the stretch."
New Mexico Head Coach Ritchie McKay
On the playing a complete 40 minutes on the road:
"I think we've been playing better as of late. I think we are a force to be reckoned with and we are determined to stay that way and improve. I still think our best basketball is ahead of us. The guys are starting to see the court a little more and understand the system a little bit better and it is paying off."
On rallying from 15 points down:
"It's hard when you play from behind to limit possessions and that's what we wanted to do against San Diego State. When they go on a run like they did in the last four minutes and the first four minutes, you are in danger of getting blown out. But you could see it on our guys faces, we weren't panicked. We only turned it over 11 times as a team. I think we forced 18. We did some good things, but we didn't make some plays down the stretch."