Feb. 13, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The following are quotes pulled from the postgame press conference following Wednesday night's 78-67 Northwestern win over Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
On the team's play ...
"It was just a good team effort, both ends. Offensively, we seemed balanced; defensively, most of the guys played pretty hard and pretty well. There were some big plays to be made, and it seemed like different guys were making them. When we had to make a shot, Blake hit it. When we had to make a shot, Aaron hit it. Overall, it was a good defensive effort even though in the second half it seemed like they never missed. Like I have said, it is tough to win on the road and it is nice to be at home."
On T.J. Parker ...
" I thought he did a pretty nice job. We were playing some kind of a match-up, and he was hooked up with (Willie) Deane a lot and he seemed to be shadowing him pretty well; not that you can guard that guy, but he was there a lot. I thought he pushed the ball up the court and gave us some nice opportunities in the first half, so you don't always have to score to be productive."
On the play of the seniors ...
"It's nice, I have not mentioned (Jason) Burke, but he seemed to play a real good all-around game and he made his foul shots. When that kid is confident he is very good. He does everything-he brought the ball up the court a number of times. It is good to see the seniors (playing well) because I have been giving them a lot of flak about all this leadership stuff. I don't even care about the leadership stuff if they make shots. That shows you are a leader, when you make big plays."
On the team's defensive success ...
"Purdue is a heck of a team and I think we were a little bit fortunate in the first half. Not to take anything away from our guys, but that is what happens sometimes on away courts. They did not seem to have the aggression early on, and then they did pick it up toward the end of the second half. We were not running our stuff very well. We seemed to increase the lead, but they disrupted us. I don't know if it was our defense or they were just a little out of whack. "
Purdue Head Coach Gene Keady
On Northwestern's team effort ...
"Northwestern outexecuted us. They played harder and played smarter and did the things they had to do to win. We were very aware of how they could play. Our big guys didn't come to play and they did. They did a great job of taking the game to us."
On the play of Aaron Jennings ...
"I was cussing Jennings all night. We knew he could do that and we don't understand why our guys leave him. We told them, 'Do not leave 55 open. You can't help on the backdoor cuts. You have to stay out with him.' He is deadly, especially in this gym."
On facing Northwestern's style of offense ...
"It's the nightmare I though it would be. You've got a chance to go into first (place in the Big Ten) and these kids have never learned how to play at the championship level. Man, you've got to be cut in. You've got to be focused. You can't guard that offense with just regular defensive strategies. You've got to be locked in and put pressure on the ball, give help, really be active and have more energy than them. They just had more energy than we did."