Colorado-Hampton Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General

"I wish they could all be like that. It was a good team victory with great numbers. I haven't seen those numbers in quite some time for a Buffs team. I thought we really shared it offensively and hit our defensive and rebounding numbers, I'm really proud of our guys. It was a feel good win as we move to Vegas. We're going to play a good Penn State team coming up, and then either a really good Kansas State team or a really good SMU team the next night. We know what's ahead of us and we're excited about the opportunity."

On the team getting the defensive message
"I think we got everything figured out except for free throw box outs. We continue to give up to many offensive rebounds, and we saw it last night where they're shooting a free throw and they get the rebound. I'm never 100 percent pleased. But with that being said I do think the guys took the defensive challenge that we gave them and really tried to do the right things which are all you can ask for as a coach."

On Wesley Gordon's injury
"I think they took him to get precautionary x-rays. He banged his knee in the same place twice, which is pretty painful. Hopefully it just need ice and rest to get better. But I'll know more in the morning, but we're keeping our fingers crossed."

On Tory Miller
"The one thing we know Tory brings us is energy and effort every night. Recently it's been really positive energy and effort. I think's he's coming into his own. One thing about Tory is he makes things happen out there, he's really active on the boards and has been rebounding the ball unbelievably well. And tonight he had a double-double which I thought was terrific. I thought late in the second half he passed up a 12-foot baseline jumper, which he normally takes, and instead he put in on the floor and attacked and got fouled. He made his free throws, and he did a good job at the line tonight. I thought it was a terrific night for Tory. Wes goes down and doesn't play in the second half, and Tory stepped up. And that's what you like to see from your bench players, of course you don't want anyone to go down but in the long run this will help Tory, he's playing with a lot of confidence right now. To see that from a guy who's worked really hard, and to see that kind of success is heartwarming when you're his coach."

On the play from the guards
"Josh Fortune was diming everyone up tonight. He makes simple post feeds. I thought Dominique Collier and Josh Fortune were really good. Between the two of them we had 12 assists and zero turnovers; I'll take that every single night. I still think that we're capable of shooting the ball better than we are, but I like their floor play and they are aggressive offensively, but selfless at the same time making for a good balance."

On being ready for conference play
"We've taken care of our business. If you ask any coach on our staff, if we were going to Vegas 10-1 would you take that I think the answer would be yes. I think tonight was a step forward, but we're still a team that has room for improvement. Every game from here on in is going to be a big time opponent with a big time atmosphere. WE know that our margin for error goes way down, giving where we are in our schedule. Our guys rise to the occasion and I think their ready for this part of the season."

On possible distractions in Las Vegas
"I'm not worried about them, I trust our guys to make good decisions. I think our players appreciate where they are and know what's at stake. I don't expect there to be any craziness. The thing about Vegas is that these guys have been traveling to Vegas for AAU games since they were 12 years old. So for them Vegas isn't anything new. I trust our guys and we're going there to take care of business, and hopefully we can have a good holiday afterwards by winning those two games."

On starting lineup
"Tre'Shaun Fletcher bumped his head against BYU, so he didn't practice, but got some workouts in going through the concussion protocol. That's the only reason he hasn't started the last two games. We'll just continue the rotation when he gets some practices under his belt."

Colorado Players

Tory Miller, So., F

On Getting Closer to Bringing Consistency to the Floor
"I don't think I'm getting close to it yet, it's only two games. That is a tournament team that we just played, which is something to build off of. I don't think I'm getting there yet. I have to continue to do it for the entire season, only then can I call it consistent. I'm just going to keep working at it, and hopefully it ends up that way."

On the Shoulder Injury in the Second Half
"It feels good. I won't stay off the floor too long."

On his Double-double"This season I've been playing more with a chip on my shoulder. I think we all have. We're just trying to build off last year and play with a chip on our shoulders when we go out every night. Play mad and challenge it the right way. Then let everything else carry itself."

On How to Playing Mad
"Go after every ball."

On Stepping into Wes' Positon if Necessary
"Of course, that's why we came to play basketball at a DI level. Confidence is not something that you should lack."

Josh Scott, Sr., F

On Putting a Full Game Together as a Team
"We defended; we rebounded. That team is probably going to do pretty well in the league. For us to come out, especially after the performance we had last night, speaks volumes for this group, not to come out flat."

On the Message from Coach Boyle after Last Night's Game
"He's defense and rebounding. Obviously he wasn't happy with the defensive effort last night. We watched film on them last night, some of us. It helps us get better; tt is something that we are going to continue to talk about throughout the year. It is going to be a huge emphasis for us."

On What He Learns From Watching Film
"I am making an adjustment to guard perimeter guys, when Tori is in at the five (position). So it's new to me. It is stuff that I have to learn; I just do my best to figure out this new defensive scheme from that position."

On Working on his Spin Move
"I've always had it. Last year, I was hurt and making that juking motion killed my back. This year I feel strong; I feel healthy. It's easier to make that move, especially when post players play me like that. And with double teams, I have to be able to see if I can make a quick move to the baseline or face up and pass out of it."

Hampton Head Coach Edward Joyner, Jr.

On Playing Colorado
"It happens, are we happy with the way that we played? No, but to go battle SMU for a half like that and then here they started making shots. I give Colorado all the credit in the world, they made shots. Again when you go against teams their size versus the teams our size, you have to give up something. We said they have to make shots and I'll give it to them they did and then we looked to step slow. Again, that's no excuse for the game, but it's the reality of it. We have to be able to fight through those things and we'll get better, it's still early. This is again our second nine day road trip. We look a little beat up. We'll go lick our wounds a little bit then were going to Vegas. We might not enjoy Vegas as much after a loss like this, but well get some rest and go play.

Getting a hard game out of the way before the tournament
That's all you can do, we took a tough one, we took it on the chin. It is what it is and now we have to regroup and go get ready for our last few non conference games. See if we can make a little noise out here at this tournament in Vegas and then were in conference and that's what really matters.

Colorado coming out focused today after a game like last night
You know what I could probably find a lot of reason to say why. They shot the hell out of the ball, they did a good job. I don't think we have a bad basketball team and they kicked our butts and I give them all the credit for that.

Take away a positive
Well, I guess. I got to let a lot of my young kids play, because I'm a senior latent team. A lot of the young kids got to play some meaningful minutes in a hostile environment against some kids who can play. They got some valuable experience out of that so the more we have to go to our bench I think this will help them because they can learn some things about themselves.

Bench points
We don't usually go to our bench pool much and we don't usual get that many points off the bench that's not new to us, but again the kids that we did bring off the bench played a lot tonight and they were all freshmen so we got to get them some value minutes.