Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Illinois State Post-Game Quotes
December 16, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2007
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Final Stats
BGSU-Illinois State boxscore in PDF Format 
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Post-game quotes following the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team's Sunday (Dec. 16) game vs. Illinois State...
BGSU Head Coach Louis Orr
"I commend our guys for really fighting back in the second half -- being down (as many as they were) and fighting back, against a very good team, to tie the score. We put together some stops and got some key baskets, really giving ourselves a chance to win. That's a credit to our guys."
"We came out ready to play (in the second half), and I thought we played pretty good ball in the second half. But, we've got to keep getting better; that's all there is to it. We've got a lot of basketball to play. We did some good things, and we showed some fortitude and some character in the second half, and that's something that we needed to do."
What was the difference in the game after your team tied the score in the second half?
"Well, I think we had some defensive breakdowns, but I've got to give Illinois State credit. They hit some big 3s, especially (Levi) Dyer. We said we had to stay close to him, and he got some good looks. And, (Osiris) Eldridge got a big offensive rebound and putback. We've got to keep scoring. You have to give yourself a chance to win. At the end of the day, you've got to keep getting stops, and you've got to keep converting at the other end. That's something that comes with growth. But again, I give Illinois State a lot of credit. They're a good, solid basketball team, and their guys made shots."
You team went 7-for-10 from three-point range in the second half. What was the reason for that success?
"I thought we did a good job of playing inside-out. I can remember a play where we passed it in to Otis (Polk), and he kicked it out for an open 3. Darryl (Clements) shot the ball well from there, Chris Knight shot the ball pretty well from three-point range. We haven't been a great three-point shooting team so far, but when you play inside-out basketball, you're going to get open looks, and we want our guys to show confidence. I think they showed a lot of confidence in the second half."
"There were some positives that we can build on, and we've got to continue to grow. We have a team that is a work in progress, but it is a marathon. We play every game to win, and we are disappointed when we don't, but we've got to take the positives and build on them."
You said after the Oakland game that you were playing tag with them. Did you feel that way in the second half today, when you would hit a 3, but they would come downcourt and hit a 3 of their own?
"There were stretches like that, where we maybe didn't contest as hard as we usually do. But, for the most part, when we did make our run, it was because of our play at the defensive end. We put together four, five, six stops in a row, and the key thing is, when you get the stops, you've got to score at the other end. You've got to make up ground. You can get as many stops as you want, but if you don't convert at the other end, if you're down 12, you stay down 12. You want to stop and convert, stop and convert, to give yourself a chance to win."
BGSU junior Darryl Clements
Can you talk about the comeback in the second half?
"Like Coach said, we were talking about trying to play more inside-out basketballs. We wanted to hit the posts, because the wing players were going to be more and more open as they started collapsing in on the posts."
Did you feel like it was your game to win?
"Well, we always feel that it is our game to win. We knew we needed to get some stops; we needed to get some shutdowns, like three or more stops in a row, to come back against them."
