Feb. 14, 2009

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Head Coach Ed DeChellis

Q: Are you happy to have your point guard back?
A: He made some great plays tonight. In the second half especially, he made some game-winning basketball plays - the steal, big finish and foul. I can't say enough positive things about him.

Q: Battle is barely 20, have you guys tried to say anything to him about what slumps are like and that they happen?
A: No. Jimmy Jackson talked to him last night at the hotel to say everybody goes through it and to have some fun. It's about trying to have fun, play to your strengths, get going defensively and then your shot will be fine. Thursday he was talking about that he went in a slump in high school where he couldn't make baskets and I said, `Would you quit stinking thinking and reverting back to high school, we just got to work on technique and follow-through. You're raising backwards when you're shooting the ball.'

Q: What is Danny Morrissey's status?
A: His knee is really bothering him, with swelling and pain. He tried to practice yesterday and he really couldn't do it. I told him he had to make that decision, if you can play then go practice. If not, let us know so we can get these two young guys ready. I thought the two young kids did a nice job off the bench. He had basically yesterday off, today, tomorrow we have off, so if we could try to get him back Monday or Tuesday, but that will be a day to day thing.

Q: Do you think Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard have kind of proven themselves these last two games? Are we going to see them more in the rotation?
A: Yes, we're going to try. They both did some great things tonight. Cammeron's shots kind of rolled in for us, it wasn't like they were knockdown but I think they built some confidence in him. Chris made a couple shots. So we're going to try to continue to get those guys some more time. That's about practice, they both took good focus in practice yesterday. We gave them a job and counted on them and they came through.

Q: Is confidence what you look for?
A: Yes. Hopefully they played with a little more confidence tonight. They were home, hopefully it will carry over to Wednesday because they're going to play again. We're going to try and get them more time as we go along.

Q: Is the fact that you guys kind of found a way without Jamelle Cornley having his usual performance important?
A: Yes. We're sitting there and Talor is playing better and Stanley is hitting some shots and then Jamelle is struggling a little bit, turning it over and not being crisp with the ball. I thought he made a good kick-out for a shot. I think it's positive when you can win without one of those guys playing well. He didn't have his normal game they way he's been pretty consistent for us, so it was nice that those other guys stepped up. I thought D.J. Jackson was back in terms of making his free throws and getting a rebound here and there for us. It was a total team effort.

Q: Did you feel today that you had to have this?
A: Yes. I thought it was very, very important for our psyche and our confidence. It's just nice to see them leave the locker room with smiles on their faces. We were down - the staff was miserable, they were miserable, so it was important to break out of that. To be honest with you, it's about making a couple shots. We ran the same stuff, we did the same things and they came off and made some shots there, Talor made some big shots.

#12, Talor Battle
Sophomore Guard

Q: Talor, what were you thinking before you started making a couple shots?
A: That hopefully I could make a shot. I was just trying to do whatever it took to win the basketball game. When my shot wasn't falling, I was trying to assist and play defense and do whatever. That shot right at the end of the first half took the weight of the world off my shoulders and let me settle down a little bit.

Q: Did you feel like you were answering back and forth with Devoe Joseph?
A: That kid played a heck of a game. But I wasn't trying to answer him, I was just trying to win the game. He kept hitting some big shots and giving them a lead. I was just trying to keep us in the ball game and give us a chance to win it. I guess it looked like we were going back and forth for threes, but whenever I was open and felt like I could hit, I was just shooting it.

Q: What's the difference between this team and the team that beat you earlier by 20 points?
A: It's the same basketball team. They shot nine for nine from the free throw line. They just beat up on us and coach talked about that all week. They scored the most points in the conference that game, so we kind of had a chip on our shoulder to defend. In the first half we held them to 23, and 10 of those were foul shots. Defensively, they came out and scored in the second half but we just came out ready to play and with more confidence here in front of our home fans.

Q: Talor, how big was it for you guys to get back in the win column?
A: Huge. Losing is not fun. Losing those three in a row, we needed to bounce back and put the pole in the ground. We came out today with a lot of effort early in the game and we kept fighting right on down to the end.

Q: Can you talk about the contributions Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard made today coming off the bench?
A: They hit some big shots and that's what they're supposed to do. Credit those guys for playing a great game, they knew they were going to play a little more today. That's a sign of a good basketball team, to be able to play when your number is called and both of those guys did that. Cammeron had seven points in the first half and Chris helped us out.

#11, Stanley Pringle
Senior Guard

Q: Where was Joseph on the scouting report as far as three point shooting goes?
A: They told me he was struggling during the Big Ten season, but that's how it goes. They could be down one game and then they're on fire the next game.

Q: Stanley, at one point in the second half you hit three 3's, can you talk about how important it is for both of you to get into a rhythm?
A: It feels real good. I try to get my rhythm before practice before every game.

Q: You were playing with four fouls down the stretch but you guys held them scoreless for five minutes until a meaningless three at the end, what was the defensive intensity like? What were you personally trying to do?
A: I had to be a little smarter. In the first half, they were calling a lot of fouls. Coach told me to press off them a little bit and to use my body instead of reaching.

Q: Did you guys feel you had to have this game to remain in position for the NCAA tournament?
A: Yes definitely. That's our goal. We're trying to win every game but we're taking it step by step. We're not looking at everybody else we're just looking at Ohio State now.

Tubby Smith
Minnesota Head Coach

OPENING STATEMENT: I have to commend Ed DeChellis and his team. They did what they had to do to get the win. They got to the free throw line. We fought back in it, but it was a little too little I guess. Then we just were not able to do the things that we used to do and they did things that they hadn't done in games before. We just couldn't do some things like taking care of the ball and making some clutch plays in the stretch. We didn't get the stops that we needed to get and this is what you get. Again, my hat is off to that team [Penn State], they played extremely hard and played extremely well especially without Morrissey who is one of their top players. Pretty impressive with the way they played today.

How disappointing was it for Devoe Joseph to have such a great game and then have the team lose the game?
We found something there. I think it is very positive, I don't know about disappointing. Disappointed that we lost, but we found somebody who wanted to step up and do some things. Now the expectations will be different for him, to come in here and do the job. He is an excellent shooting guard and he does a good job as back-up point. If we can get him to take care of the ball a little better then we will be all right.

Is this game an example of balance in the league for Penn State to be able to turn this losing streak around?
Absolutely, they were right there. They had some tough losses, but we knew that when they went in and beat Michigan State that they were for real. Obviously, with 18 wins they do a lot of things well. You are right, that is a testament to how good the league is and how balanced the league is.

When you scouted for Penn State how much time did you take looking at Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard?
Quite a bit. We knew that they are pretty good shooters. Chris Babb did the same thing to us at our place; made threes down the stretch. That is why they are on scholarship, cause they can play at this level. He is another weapon that alleviates some of the pressure off guys like Pringle and Battle. Those guys came out here and shot the ball well. When you get balanced shooting like that with 11 threes from different people it makes it them pretty good. We didn't get that today. We had three guys that made threes and that is not what we want.

Did Penn State do anything differently defensively down the stretch?
They did a good job on screens and switching it up. I thought they played a very sticky man-to-man defense. We just did a poor job of screening to get guys open. But again, they did a good job of being physical and aggressive by forcing off the screens.