California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin

Opening Statement…
 
"Good win. Good team win. Hard-fought win. We didn't want to have any excuses after the game. You had key guys out, and this is part of the game. You have 13 scholarship guys. You have to make it work with the guys who've been in practice. Probably one of the better wins in my coaching career, just to see guys compete and battle and not make excuses. Got off to a slow start. You could see it in the locker room, guys were a little flat. Obviously Bird and Grant were kind of game-time and you just have key guys that were not in the rotation. Next man has to step up and still be counted on. I thought the guys did a great job as a team adjusting in the second half and still getting over it, and finding ways to win and compete. One of our better wins. And to see guys like Stephen Domingo, Roger, Sam – three guys combined who averaged six points a game last season, and to see them have an impact on the game and that outcome of a game of that magnitude is great for me to see as a coach. Good win for our program."
 
On message at half time…
 
"Just settle down. I feel like we were playing like we were a road team. And again, not to make any excuses for our guys but I could feel the locker room at the beginning of the game. But at halftime, to just do what we do. We have to defend better. I didn't feel like we were doing a great job defending. I thought we did a solid job rebounding. Offensively, I didn't think we moved the ball well. What happened was they were giving us opportunities to post up deep. Kam and King have to make plays, and what we did was just spread the ball out a little bit and let Charlie work at that point. I feel like we had a major advantage with Charlie working the ball screen, force those big guys to come out and defend him, just letting Charlie make plays."
 
On Roger's impact on offensive rebounds…
"Roger's very aggressive. He's relentless. He's always in attack mode. It's hard for a perimeter guy to keep Roger off the glass, and what happens with a big guy, who might be physically bigger than you – once he gets a step it's tough. He's very aggressive. He's very assertive. I thought he shot the ball more but he only took one shot and I was surprised at that, but Roger's always going to be active because that's what he brings in practice. He helps guys become better basketball players because he puts so much pressure on you."

California Junior Center Kameron Rooks

On missing three starters…
"Especially missing three shooters, we had to find other ways to score, and other guys had to be more aggressive. They did a great job of feeding us inside. We have a lot of talent on this team, and we all work hard. Obviously, we fed the hot hand right here, made sure he got the ball and set him screens so he could get to the basket and be aggressive."
 
On Charlie Moore's record…
"It's unbelievable. Charlie is a great player. You can see it in practice. You can see how hard he works and how scrappy he is. He is an all-around great player."
 
On learning from Marcus Lee…
"Marcus gives us plenty of tips, and sometimes he just kills us at practice because he's a little smaller but a lot quicker than us. We have had to learn to guard a quicker big man who is a lot faster than us."
 

California Freshman Guard Charlie Moore

On difference between first two games…
"I just think I was more comfortable on the court. Last game, I was just pretty much getting a feel as this is all a new thing to me. My teammates helped me out today, just telling me to stay aggressive and not worry about the misses."
 
On now holding Cal's freshman points in a game record…
"I don't think it's sunk in yet. I found out and was like 'Oh wow, that's a pretty big accomplishment.' I am incredibly excited."
 
On how playing big games in high school prepared him…
"It's prepared me a lot. It's getting in the heat of the moment all the time, and it's a little bit different than before, but with my teammates backing me up and giving me help out there, I ended up having a great game. I didn't know I was in any type of run of scoring. I just didn't know. My teammates set me great screens, Kingsley (Okoroh) and Kameron (Rooks), and Roger (Moute a Bidias) and Stephen (Domingo) being in those open spots, and Sam (Singer) just being open on the floor, giving me those open lanes to score.