California So. Forward Ivan Rabb

 
On getting into groove of playing
"I was just really aggressive. But I feel like every game I've played in I've been really aggressive from the start, so my goal today was to put two halves together. Every game it seems like it's just been one half, which has been the second, so I've just been talking to them (the coaches) about that, and they encouraged me to play two halves."
 
On growth of team through non-conference play
"That was a really good team. Can't take anything away from them. They competed. They didn't stop. They didn't let up at all and they continued to push us and we responded. As long as we continue to respond when that pressure hits that's all that matter. But we definitely had some growing pains tonight, but that's a good thing."
 

California Jr. Center Kingsley Okoroh

 
On confidence of continually putting up career-high numbers
"Honestly I still need to get a bit more confident. There were times in the first half where I got the ball and instead of giving help I took one dribble, I used one hand instead of two -- that happened twice. And the one missed layup, I should have dunked it. I just put it up there and I missed. But I have been playing a bit more comfortably, trying to get rebounds. I think rebounding is the biggest key."
 
On playing 40 minutes
"I was surprised on how much I played. I was a bit tired. But when Ivan's not in the game, we don't have other bigs, so we just do our best to step up and reach our goal."
 
On how Ivan is putting up big numbers
"We're feeding him. That's different from last year. We didn't look for him as much last year as this year. But this year we need him to score and need him to step up and even though he's coming off the injury he had 17 points in the first half, so he's doing well what needs to be done."

Louisiana Tech Head Coach Eric Konkol

 
 Thoughts about being able to force the game to overtime
"I was proud of their resolve. Being able to work together and traveling, with our defense, and we did that. We gave a great effort and didn't have a lot of plays go our way in the end to get over the hump."
 
On facing Ivan Rabb
"He's a terrific player who impacts the game in so many ways, offensively and defensively. He was a focal point for sure. A lot of what we were trying to do defensively was to limit his touches, but he's a tough cover and I thought we gave it a great effort and he just made some really nice plays."
 
On team's ability to crash the boards and have an impact on the glass
"We missed a lot of shots so we had a lot of opportunities and again our guys just kept digging and digging and were trying to find a way. We were right there up until the very end, but that was what we wanted to focus on, getting offensive boards and rebounding the basketball and make a couple plays out of it. But overall, I'm really proud of our guys with the effort they had, but we need to build on this so we aren't in the same situation again."