Jan. 16, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-Utah Postgame Quotes (two pages) in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
From Postgame Radio Interview
On effort and overall play in the second half and overtime:
"(The effort) really was better. (Utah) was 13-for-25 in the first half. I know that at least six of them were easy lay-ups. We said if we want to have a chance then we're going to have to guard. We have to guard, we have to put pressure on them, we have to make it difficult for them and not give them the types of looks we gave them in the first half. It was all predicated on how well we guarded."
On Utah:
"They are a good basketball team. Their offense was executing and they got into a comfort zone. We had a hard time. I think Utah played magnificently early."
On Lorrenzo Wade's dunk igniting the arena:
"I agree that it energized the crowd. He did the same thing last year. We were down 11 with 15 minutes to play. We fought back and tied it at 42-42. He did the exact same thing. He had a magnificent dunk over one of their guys for an and one. It energized everyone and we went on to win the game."
On the team's free-throw shooting down the stretch:
"We stepped up and made free-throws when it mattered."
On Kyle Spain's play in the second half:
"I told him at halftime that I thought he was rushing his shots, he was hurrying. I told him to imagine yourself in slow motion, slow your pace down. He looked so much more comfortable after that and from that point on he was sensational."
From Postgame Press Conference
General Comments:
"We talked at halftime after looking at the statline. If you bypass field goals, everything else was the same. We were 10 points behind because we didn't guard and they scored lay-ups. We rushed ourselves offensively and didn't guard hard, tough and strong enough. We said to win this game we have to do what we do in practice - we have to guard. Our defense was the creator of our offense. We played a really good second half. I was not worried when it went into overtime. We fought hard and beat a very good basketball team. They are going to win a lot of games in this league."
On Ryan Amoroso's play:
"I thought (Ryan) Amoroso did a great job of bumping, pushing and fighting on (Luke) Nevill. He made some shots and rebounded the ball. He played like a man."
On SDSU coming from behind for two straight wins:
"We've won a lot of games this past couple of years. With basketball these days no lead is a safe lead. You turn on any basketball game and you see teams ahead next thing you know they are tied. It happens everywhere. I'd rather be 14 or 15 points ahead rather than having to claw back but that's everywhere. The thing that makes us feel good about this is that we dug in and made plays defensively rather than shooting our way back into the game. That is the attiude you have to have."
SDSU Player Quotes
Junior forward Lorrenzo Wade
On the adjustments made in the second half:
"(Utah) came in here and played us really tough, especially in the first half. They were really using Luke Nevill's size. He is so big that it was difficult to disrupt (their offense). He kind of picked us apart in the first half, but then in the second half we came out and picked up the defensive intensity. We rebounded the ball better which enabled us to get better looks and to get out in transition to make some easy baskets."
On the Aztecs' team play:
"We've always been together, but I think we are starting to gel more on the court. Ryan Amoroso is doing a great job, especially with against the big men in the Mountain West Conference. And, with the absence of Richie Williams, D.J. Gay is really the guy who is helping us get through these basketball games. He had 12 points in the first half to keep us in the game at New Mexico and he limited his turnovers tonight. Matt Thomas has also come back and is playing like his old self. The point guard play is really carrying us right now."
Junior center Ryan Amoroso
On his overall play:
"There have been some things that I have been working on lately. I just tried to stay patient on offense and take what the defense gave me."
On his play in the second half:
"I think the biggest thing was my teammates found me. I give all the credit to my teammates. We are a really unselfish team and I think that is a big reason why we are 3-0 (in conference). Over the last three games I have really seen us come together closer than we have all year. That has really helped us to propel to the top of the Mountain West Conference right now."
Junior guard Kyle Spain
On the team's last two comeback efforts:
"The MWC is a very tough conference, as the people who are affiliated with it know. We have high expectations and we practiced hard these last couple days, especially after our loss to Northern Colorado. After that, we just made it a point to play as hard as we can because you never know what is going to happen."
On the second half adjustments:
"Our biggest adjustment was defensive pressure. We let them run their sets a little too much in the first half. They were too comfortable on offense. We did a great job in the second half of not letting them run their sets as much as they did in the first half."
Utah Head Coach Jim Boylen
On the game:
"We lost the game at the (free throw) line. We had the game under control and then lost the game at the line. I'm very disappointed. We're in the top 10 (in the nation) in three offensive categories. Don't make any mistake about it. We lost the game at the free throw line. We missed two front ends and one-on-ones."
"They made a run on us to start the half. They made some guarded shots.  I thought they would. We talked about them making that run, but we didn't make the plays. I have to give San Diego State credit."
"I had pre-game goals. I wanted to hold them at 39 percent, allow only nine offensive rebounds, and hold them to 55 points. At the end of regulation, they scored 52 points, had nine But I have to give my guys credit. We battled back.  We were down and showed a lot of grit and toughness. We were down five (points) with four minutes to go and came back to tie it. We have to get tougher and stronger. We need to learn to win on the road. "