University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Basketball: Connecticut 76, Hofstra 67
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2009
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Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"Hofstra gave us everything we could handle. Down nine with nine to go in your own building, I think, is tougher than being down nine on the road."
"Jerome was finally able to get free and take it to the rim."
"Technically, it wasn't a great game for us, because we held a team to 32 percent, and we won it in the last minute of the game."
On rebounding
"I know we're facing all spread teams, I understand that, and we won't face spread teams much like this in the league, but the ball is still there and we still should be able to do a better job."
"I thought it was the first time that this particular group - and this is a completely different group than we started off with last year - had a real big-time gut check."
"We wanted to be in Madison Square Garden. That was our goal. And I thought we fought like hell to get there. I'm proud of the way they fought back. I'm not proud of how hard we played."
"The long rebounds killed us. We all agree with that. Technically, it wasn't a great basketball game. We're not going to break this one out as a teaching tool."
"We jumped back, started to chip away, started to make a couple of plays."
"We didn't get they type of performances out of a couple of guys, like Stanley [Robinson], who we think is one of the best players in the league. He didn't play like that."
"Kemba [Walker] had a fair game. He's better than that."
"Collectively, they did some good things. Collectively, they showed some toughness that they're going to need on the road."
"Hofstra is a good team. They have guys that can really shoot the ball. They can put four on the perimeter. They run good stuff. I think anybody in this business knows that Tommy is a terrific, terrific coach, and has good players. They gave us as much as we could handle."
Stanley Robinson
"It was an excellent win for us."
"Their go-to guys were scoring for them. They were hitting from three. They've got to come in and play an excellent game against UConn. I'm sure that's what they wanted to do. We executed and did what we had to do to win."
"It's a new team. We pulled together and got the win."
Gavin Edwards
"We're definitely going to have to do a better job when we get to New York. We're going to work hard this week before we get to Madison Square Garden."
"Our goal is to go to New York and win the whole thing."
Alex Oriakhi
On being outrebounded by Hofstra "There were a lot of long rebounds. They shot a lot of threes. Our guards have to get those long rebounds."
On holding a lead
"It starts in the first half. You have to come out with more energy from the first half. We just wait too long."
Kemba Walker
"We don't want to be down late in the game like that. We'd rather have the other guys work hard to catch up with us."
"We're still working. We have a lot of work to do."
"We have the opportunity to go to New York and play a lot of other great teams."
Jerome Dyson
On taking a charge against Jenkins late in the game
"I was just playing solid defense and trying to keep him in front of me. I saw him going to the basket with his head down. I kind of took a chance there with my fourth foul. We got some energy and fed off of it."
On being 14-15 from the line
"I was trying to get myself going. We needed something. I was just trying to get to the bucket."
Donnell Beverly
"This is a new year for me. I'm just trying to do new things."
"I'm out there knowing my role and being a leader."
Hofstra Head Coach Tom Pecora
"I've been talking to my team about effort and how when we've had our really good teams at Hofstra, I wasn't coaching effort. Good coaches don't have to coach effort, you coach basketball, and effort is a constant and a given."
"We're not about moral victories. We're not about coming to places and playing people tough. This is a game we wanted to win, and we wanted to play in Madison Square Garden next week."
"If we give this kind of effort, and we're able to make adjustments like we did in 24 hours, I think we have a chance."
"The question is, how consistent can we be? And that's what is going to dictate how good of a season we'll have."
"But I was pleased with the effort of a lot of people. We talked about trying to out-rebound UConn, and we were able to do that by four. We had 19 offensive rebounds and they were huge. And we only had 12 turnovers, and that's our game goal... The way they go after you defensively, that will be six or eight turnovers against most teams. So I was happy about that."
"There was a stretch where we lost our way offensively, and that allowed them to get back into the game."
"UConn's a very, very good team. And it was a great college basketball atmosphere."
On foul-trouble "That was a good whistle. That was a big-time crew. They're all very good officials. That wasn't what dictated the game. I said to these guys at the beginning: No one's giving you anything, in life or in basketball, so you have to take it. And we had an opportunity to take the win and we didn't."
