CU-Pitt Post Game Quotes (NCAA Tournament, 2nd Round)

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General
"Well, we're obviously extremely disappointed with our performance today. Credit goes to Pittsburgh. I don't want to take anything away from them. They're a great team. They've had a great year. They're good players and a very good coach. But the Buffaloes for some reason or another did not play the way we're capable of playing. As a coach you take responsibility for that, which I do, but we're just very disappointed. I believe in all of our guys. These two guys sitting to my right, Josh and Xavier, are terrific young men with a high degree of character and they're going to bounce back. The two I feel worst for are Ben Mills and Beau Gamble, our two seniors who don't get a chance to play much. They come to practice every day and battle and they don't get a chance to come back, but these guys do. The Buffaloes are down right now but we're not out. We're disappointed and we're better than the way we played today, but that's water under the bridge."

On It Being Hard To Find Answers
"Yeah. You go in at halftime down 28, there's not a lot you can say to your guys positively. Other than the fact that we had to come out and compete, that's what -- you shouldn't have to ask your guys to do that.

I was proud of our guys in the second half. We never gave up. These guys just kept battling and battling. It just wasn't our day. You look at every statistical category you want to. When you have five assists and 17 turnovers it's hard. You talked about that start they got off to. A lot of that was our own undoing. It was turnovers on offense that led to easy baskets for them, and then they got the juices flowing and the jumpers started going. Young hit that three-pointer, which he doesn't normally do. It was just one of those days for Pittsburgh where they had it going and we didn't. But you look at our defense, you look at our rebounding, we're down 15-8 at halftime on the boards. They're shooting 62 percent and we've got zero assists and 10 turnovers. It's pretty simple. We've got to take care of the ball better and we've got to guard better and we've got to rebound better. We didn't do any of those things today. I don't know what Colorado team it was."

On If Pittsburgh Was Doing Anything Different When They Went On Their Run
"No, they're a great defensive team, and we knew that coming in. They're very well schooled. They're a great rebounding team. They got their hands on a lot of balls. I think the evidence to me was Pittsburgh is night and day better than us passing the basketball. They're really good passers, and we knew that coming in, as well. Coach Rohn did the scouting report. We knew off their ball-screen defense we needed to have high hands, we needed to get some deflections. But they were getting the deflections that turned into steals, we weren't getting the deflections and we weren't rotating on the ball screens, and they're getting lay-ups. I don't know how many they ended up with. I think they had 17 made lay-ups at the last media time-out. I mean, I don't know what -- the defensive effort and focus and intensity we had today was pathetic."

On Xavier Talton Being Considered A Starter Going Forward
"Yeah, Xavier has been a starter for us for the last 10 games, so yeah, I mean, I believe in Xavier. He wasn't the only one battling, but again, he's got a high degree of character. I thought Xavier Johnson battled the second half, I thought Josh battled. We've got battlers on this team. Some of us didn't have our better days, but yeah, I believe in Xavier. He's started for us the last 10 games, so in terms of next year, he's got the opportunity."

On Pitt's Josh Newkirk and James Robinson
"Yeah, like I said, I think Pittsburgh is a great passing team. They really move the ball. They come off those ball screens and they make the right decision and they get the ball moved side to side. They get you in rotations. We guard ball screens like Pitt guards ball screens. Arizona guards ball screens like Pitt. We all show hard and get over the top. The difference is they are very, very consistent in it, and offensively they do a great job of getting in rotations. Robinson is a good player. Zanna is a good player. They've got good players, there's no doubt about it. We thought maybe we'd get into their depth, and shoot, their depth came in and played well. It was Pittsburgh's day today, it wasn't our day. That's for sure."

On The Future
"The future is bright for our program. We doesn't lose one guy. We got to this point because we've got good players. Our program is on the assent, it's not on the descent. We lose two seniors who weren't in the rotation, terrific young men. But if this can't motivate our guys going into the off season, for getting in the weight room, working on their game, whether it's passing, whether it's dribbling, whether it's shooting the ball, whether it's defense, rebounding, toughness, if this can't motivate them, I don't know what does. But I think it will. I know it will me to become a better coach. I've got to help them more offensively so we don't have five assists and 17 turnovers. We've got to keep -- we've shown the defensive aptitude in the past. We didn't have it tonight for whatever reason.

On Adjustments He Was Trying To Make Early In The Game
"I was trying to stem the tide, just get a good shot every time down, guys, and we were trying to go inside early and we knew they were going to double the post. They did double the post. We didn't handle the doubles out of the post. It wasn't just Josh, it was all of our guys. We handled it a couple times, I think Tre'Shaun got fouled going to the bucket. But Dustin Thomas handled it in the second half, finding an open man a couple of times. But that's something we have to work on as a program and as individual post players because going inside is a big part of what we do and getting to the free-throw line is a big part of what we do."

University of Colorado Student-Athletes

So., F, Josh Scott
On The Start Of The Game And Trying To Get The Ball Inside
"Honestly, I wouldn't say it has anything to do with getting the ball inside to me. Defensively we were breaking down. They were getting lay-ups, and we weren't getting the stops, and so yeah, it was a nightmare start."

On Being Double-Teamed
"You know, it's something I've had to work on all year, and they were a good defensive team and they rotated out of it. They covered a lot of space. So credit to them."

On Ever Feeling Hopeless
"We just didn't get stops. There's no helplessness on our team, we're just frustrated with ourselves for not doing what we came here to do."

So., G, Xavier Talton
On How Pitt's Defense Compared To Arizona
"I think they're pretty similar, actually. I know they were getting to the ball. They were getting 50/50 balls, as well. It just seemed like they wanted it more."

On Ever Feeling Hopeless
"I didn't really doubt us. I mean, you've got to believe in each other all the time, and I thought we could get back into it. We just had to get stops, and we didn't do that."

*Quotes contributed by Fastscripts by ASAP Sports

-COLORADO-