COLORADO BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES Colorado Buffaloes at USC Trojans, Galen Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (January 29, 2015) University of Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle On This Win Saying Something About The Team “It does. I told them in the locker room it has nothing to do with the numbers on the stat sheet. It has everything to do with what’s in our chest, which was big time heart tonight. We overcame a lot, you mentioned injuries, foul trouble, on the road, it was just a gritty performance by multiple guys. Obviously ‘Ski’ [G Askia Booker] was phenomenal. But you look at turning the ball over 20 times and only having eight assists on the road and finding a way to win; we just found a way, and our guys did a terrific job. I was really proud of them. We went through a scoring drought that was just holy cow, I’m not sure we’ve been through some before (that were worse), but that was a long one. We finally got out of it and ‘Ski’ got going in the overtimes and that was a big time performance by him.” On G Askia Booker’s Performance “He came out and was kind of getting everyone else involved and wasn’t really pushing it. You know that he can score and he hit some big time shots. Players have got to make plays. We talk about it in losses that, ‘Hey, players got to make plays and if they don’t you come up on the short end of the stick.’ Well guess what? Our players made plays tonight, and he was one of them. Tory Miller, in overtime, rebounding the ball, he made two big free throws and then made the big one at the end, and had the tip back late. That kid, he really grew up. Dominique Collier really grew up, I thought he did a good job defensively. He got that fourth foul and I was hoping he wouldn’t foul out. We had Dom and Ski both with four. I took Ski out at the end, just defensively, just in case it went to a fourth overtime because he had four fouls and we needed to have him. I didn’t want him to foul out. You’re just so proud of the guys. You get so emotionally invested in a team and the highs are high and the lows are low, very little in between. That’s why I have very little hair left.” On CU Looking Like It Was Going To Run Away With The Game In The Second Half “Yeah, but we couldn’t score and I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, because they kind of crept back in, they didn’t blow back in. It wasn’t like, bang, bang, bang, it was just kind of a creepy, slow thing. We couldn’t get to the foul line and we couldn’t make a shot. I thought our offense tonight was ok, it was good enough when it had to be good enough. Give them credit, USC is a much improved team from the one that was in Boulder. They went to the Oregon (schools) and played tough games; they’re playing better. To get a sweep against them is (impressive). Hopefully they can beat some teams here (at the Galen Center) before the season is over with.” On CU Not Folding When USC Fought Back and Took A Lead “We didn’t panic. The place in the game I was most proud of was in the first overtime when we went down five. That’s when it’s like, ‘OK a five point deficit in overtime.’ But, that’s when ‘Ski’ comes down and hits a three and then comes down and gets fouled and now boom it’s tied. I think when that happened it really gave our guys this feeling of, ‘OK, we’re here.’ You could just tell as the thing went on, the huddles, guys were into it. Even the guys that were fouled out of the game, they were dialed in. That’s what you have to have when you go on the road, it has to be a ‘us against the world’ mentality. When things don’t go well, I’m not afraid to hold guys accountable, and when things do go well you have to pat them on the back and say, ‘Hey great job.’ There’s multiple guys tonight that I can say that about. ‘Ski’ is one of them, Tory Miller is one of them, Dominique Collier, the list goes on and on. I thought, poor Dustin Thomas couldn’t get in a flow, and it was like holy cow. But, you have to overcome, you have to overcome. Our guys overcame and I was really, really proud of them. Big night for the Buffs. We’re not going to practice much tomorrow. We’re going to head to Pauley Pavilion and shoot some free throws and get used to the rims. But, we’re going to rest up and then buck up Saturday night. We’re making strides, and you just want to keep getting better. We didn’t play our best and still won the game, and that’s a sign of a good team.” -CONTINUED- COLORADO BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES Colorado Buffaloes at USC Trojans, Galen Center, Los Angeles, Calif. (January 29, 2015) University of Colorado Student-Athletes On His Fatigue “Yeah, I’m exhausted. My hips hurt. I hurt one in the Washington State game and then one today. So, I’m pretty banged up, but coach [Boyle] said get rest tomorrow and then be prepared for the next game.” On His Teammates Stepping Up “Most definitely. Coach always talks about everyone being ready. Everyone. It doesn’t matter if it comes down to the walk-ons, or who it is, it’s about being ready. I think everyone did that tonight. Tory Miller told [coach] Rodney Billups to put him in the game so he could stop a player. That player didn’t score the rest of the game when Tory Miller came in. So, he did a wonderful job on that. I told our guys, ‘we play at altitude every day; so these three overtimes, it doesn’t matter, we could go into six of them, we’ve got to win this game. We got a lot of key stops and I congratulate my team on that.” On This Win Helping The Team Gain Confidence “No doubt about it. We went through an 0-4 stretch. We won one at home and that was a very good game for us, but coach [Boyle] wanted us to get one on the road for the first time this year. I think this was a very key one, a very big one and the next one (at UCLA) would be another big one.” On How Many Family Members He Had At The Game, Being From L.A. “A whole lot, I can’t even count really. My mom, my dad, my brother, my cousins, local friends, a school teacher, a lot of them. I’m happy I had their support behind me, so it was just a wonderful night to show off in front of those people.” On His Slow Start To The Game, Before Going On To Score 43 Points “Me and coach [Jean Prioleau] always talk about picking and choosing our spots. He wants me to be aggressive when the time is needed. I used to force a lot of shots, not saying I still don’t, but I think I’ve gotten better. I’ve watched a lot of film and I’ve learned when to shoot the ball when I need to. I felt the team needed my spark, and then I went on another little drought. Then, the last couple of overtimes I decided it was my time and I busted out of it.” -COLORADO-