Feb. 18, 2006
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SAN DIEGO -
SDSU-TCU Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
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San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the game:
"I know some fans thought this game was going to be easy and maybe I was hoping it wouldn't have been this difficult. But we knew TCU would bring fight, effort and energy. I think we all know what they did before we played them the first time. You look at the record and say mail in the score, but that's not going to happen. I think our kids prepared mentally to come out and compete. What happend early on (when TCU took the lead) we got over-anxious. That wasn't because we weren't prepared to play, we got anxious and tried too hard to make a play. To our kids' credit, they fought back in the second half and got a victory a lot harder than the final score indicates."
On Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter:
"Your two best players have to lead by example. Tonight, Brandon got a little edgy and anxious and it affected his focus a bit. But he settled down in the second. Marcus settled for jump shots in the first half rather than trying to get to the free throw line. In the second half he was better at rebounding and getting to the line.
These are the guys who will probably, as we continue to move, set the table for how we're going to finish."
SDSU Freshman Guard Richie Williams
On SDSU's second-half rally:
"We just fed off of our defense. It began when I (stole the ball) at halfcourt and we got the easy basket. They had nine lay-ups in the first half and we didn't make any stops. We just kept feeding off our defense and making the easy baskets."
On his lay-up in the second half:
"I was just trying to keep my eye on the basket. Anything could happen and mine just went in."
SDSU Junior Guard Brandon Heath
On SDSU's defensive effort:
"We knew we had to get stops. They're a team that averages 60 points for the whole game and (TCU) had 40 at halftime. When you give up that many, you can't win. At halftime, we talked about getting stops."
On TCU:
"TCU is a good team. They're in every game and lots of times they're winning down the stretch. Even though they are losing, they come out and play hard every night. They don't let losing get in the way and come out and play hard every game."
SDSU Junior Forward Mohamed Abukar
On his performance in the first half:
"I was real frustrated (with his foul trouble). I told myself on the bench when I get back in I am going to do any little thing to help this team win. Coach (Fisher) told me that he wanted me on the boards, so that's what I tried to focus on."
On rebounding:
"The first half we didn't rebound well. We did a lot of watching and standing. In the second half, we came in and our emphasis was to crash the boards and we did that."
TCU Head Coach Neil Dougherty
On his team and the game overall:
"Our team is not as far away from winning as our record indicates. I think that can be said about a lot of people. I think SDSU is probably the best team in the league, don't misunderstand me, I just don't think the gap is so big that people can't compete on a nightly basis. We were already shorthanded coming into the game and the bench got shorter quicker when Art (Pierce) got into fould trouble and shorter when Brent (Hackett) goes down, yet they continue to fight. I'm a little baffled, in a good way, with our guys and what they've had to endure this year and continue to play as hard as they do. It was fun coaching them tonight."
On SDSU's postseason chances:
"In my opinion, they're in. Unfortunately, I don't get to vote, but I think if people use common sense and factor in what their non-conference record would be with (Mohamed) Abukar, I think you give them three wins, maybe more. If that's the case, then they are two games up on the entire Mountain West and I think they're in. That's also the other reason why all the talk about (the MWC) being a one team league is wrong because if SDSU has Abukar and they win three or four more games against (whoever), then the league's RPI goes up because non-conference teams didn't have to play against the SDSU team we're playing against. Abukar changes a lot of things when he's out there."
TCU Senior Guard Nile Murry
On the game:
"Despite how our season is going, we're still going to come out and play hard. We showed a lot of heart. We showed that we are still trying to come out and get a win and compete to the best of our abilities."
On SDSU:
"They're a good team. They are the best in our league and they proved it tonight. They hit shots, got great offensive rebounds and it just showed the depth of their team."
On the Richie Williams shot:
"It got the crowd into it. (It was) a good play on his part. It was a little bit of luck. It was a great play, you rally around that. They came out there and things started going their way."