University of Houston Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: Houston 91, Arkansas 65
12/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (5-2) at HOUSTON COUGARS (6-1)
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 • Health & PE Arena • Houston
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kelvin Sampson
Opening Statement
"We changed our starting lineup a little bit, I don't know if we have one this early in the season. We have eight new players, so we are trying to figure out who goes where for a while. I know that our two best defenders are Galen and Corey, and their best offensive players are (Jaylen) Barford and (Daryl) Macon. I felt like we matched up ok at the other three positions, but Macon and Barford are really good. They're both shooting over 50% from three.
We said we were going to make them put it on the floor. That's the main thing I emphasized defensively and it upset me when Galen fouled on one shot, because I really emphasized that we were going to contest hard, but not foul. I think we did a good job of taking away their three and being disciplined. It's taken a while to get this team to this point, because we were starting over. I'm proud of our effort tonight more than anything, Galen was our leader. The other thing was our push game, our kids do a good job of spacing the ball in transition. We run to the corners and the baseline and it forces other teams to spread out. When you're spaced in transition the point guard has to make the right decision. This was a good step for us. There is a lot of basketball left, so we're getting ready for Wednesday."
On Devin Davis
"You guys didn't see when we beat Baylor earlier in the year, that's how he played. When he starts making his perimeter shot it opens up a whole new game for him, he starts playing like a man. He's such a great role model to Fabian, I tell Fabian that he is so blessed to have Devin as his senior to learn from every day and to watch him practice every day. How hard he plays, Devin is a man. The two best players on that floor tonight, were Devin Davis and Galen Robinson. Nobody played harder than those two."
On depth improvement
"Devin missed 17 games last year, he only played a minute against these guys. This was the game where he tore his tendon and had to have surgery. It's just recruiting, having the time to build the program. If you do it the right way and not try to win a national championship after just one year, we're not going to do that here. We recruited, that's why our best days are ahead of us. You look at the recruiting class we just had in November, it's our best recruiting class. We were shorthanded a lot last year, we had two guys that could make a basket, and we finished third. Some people were disappointed, but we weren't. I knew what we had. We had to overcome some things, but I was proud of last year's team. This year it's a totally different team. We have two good point guards in Corey and Galen, we have three good wings in Armoni, Rob and Wes. Gabe Grant is still figuring some things out, but he'll be ok. We have five good post guys; Devin, Fabian, Breaon, Chris and Nura. The guy that was playing the best of our fives was Chris Harris, he was playing better than all of them until he hurt his foot. We have depth, we've never had depth here."
On mindset pregame
"The difference between a coach, media and fans is that I don't ever base the next game on the last one. Had we played Arkansas Wednesday night, we would've played like this. This wasn't a surprise."
On the crowd atmosphere
"I'll be glad when our program gets to the point where people come see us play. I get it, people came to see Arkansas tonight, I get that. When Arkansas goes home people go and see them, and that's good for the kids. I feel badly for our kids sometimes, because people don't come see them play, I wish they did. Maybe we'll pick up some fans after this game, because these kids are really invested and I'm like a proud parent. You know Rob Gray is graduating from college next week, Devin Davis after this semester has 10 credits and he'll graduate, Nura Zanna has already graduated and he has a degree, Wes VanBeck is graduated. I'm really proud of that, that's a big deal to me. I know the investment they make on a daily basis in study hall, tutoring sessions, the classroom, then they come over to the gym and work their tails off to then they come out here and play basketball. I'm glad to see a big crowd tonight, but I know that was because of Arkansas. I know people come to see who we play, but the day will come when they come see us."
HOUSTON SENIOR FORWARD Devin Davis
On redemption performance from last years
"It was a blessing. Personally, it was a payback game for me because I missed 12 games as a result of an injury I sustained from the game against this team last year. Our team played extremely well though, especially our point guards."
On momentum resulting in a huge lead
"Toughness is something that Coach Sampson preaches to us during every meeting and practice. His philosophy of toughness includes having the lead and not taking our foot off the gas pedal. Our main focus is building off our momentum and toughness."
On making buzzer beater three point shot during the second half
"I honestly felt pretty confident when the ball left my hands. It felt good."
On what the team can improve on
"Getting defensive stops and rebounding. Offense scores point, but defense wins games. Also, being smarter on defense. Giving up free points because of fouls is something we have had a problem with all season. We need to player smarter."
HOUSTON JUNIOR GUARD Corey Davis Jr.
On momentum resulting in a huge lead
"It was all about staying focused. At no point during the game were we content with how we were playing offensively or defensively. All week our main focus leading up to this game has been playing hard defense, and playing Houston Cougar basketball. All of those things are what ultimately secured our win tonight."
On having a successful team performance
"We were happy with our offensive play, but we were more concerned about our defensive play because we knew we had something to prove against the team that came to the arena to play us tonight."
On being named a starter because of the opponent's back court
"To know that Coach Sampson trusts me enough to place me in the starting lineup to defend against the opponent's top scorer shows me that he has confidence in my playing ability. My mind was set on him not being able to secure a win for his team tonight."
On what the team can improve on
"Defensive consistency. There are times when we get tired and commit unnecessary fouls or miss one of our assignments on defense. Being consistent even when we are tired is something we must work on. "
