COLUMBUS – Ohio State men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann met with the media following the Buckeyes’ 77-70 win against UCLA on Saturday.
Zed Key and Eugene Brown also answered questions from reporters.
Here’s a summary of what was said.
Chris Holtmann
+ He is really proud of the guys, it was their best performance of the year against a really good team. They played with more poise and purpose, they played together more, they weren’t perfect, but they got better efficiency from their back court, C.J. Walker was terrific on both ends, and the freshman were outstanding. Getting E.J. Liddell back certainly helped.
+ He wants to congratulate the football program, he watched it in his hotel room. Like anybody, he was an anxious fan pulling for them but he had great confidence in them. They had poise and toughness. It’s hard to win at a high level, and for them to win another, big congrats to the coaches and players.
+ Had E.J. Liddell not fouled out, the medical staff would have probably had a conversation with him about how many minutes he was playing him. They would have rolled with him. But Zed Key came in ready.
+ They talked about a minutes restriction for Liddell, they felt like he could play, just likely not 35 minutes. He looked good in practice yesterday, and it was a hard practice yesterday.
+ On Seth Towns coming in, Holtmann said they talked about it yesterday, he wasn’t sure, but after shoot around he said he is ready to go. Holtmann said he was so happy to see him out in the floor again, he has come such a long way. He is thrilled for him.
+ On the freshman, Holtmann said they just stayed ready.
+ Kyle Young got popped in the jaw really good, he really got popped. That’s how he plays, that’s why everybody love Kyle Young, he sticks his nose in those spots, that’s why he’s appreciated and he’s a fan favorite. This building has not been really good for him injury-wise. He’s a fighter.
+ He feels good about the way they played. But Rutgers is a tremendous team, they are a legit, sweet 16 conference caliber team. Every night is a challenge in the best league in the country. The biggest thing is how they are playing, the results will take care of themselves, but they are not there yet. They are going to have challenges, but if they play the right way, they will take what comes.
Zed Key
+ The mentality was to come in and play hard, give all of his energy and effort, and make the little plays. That’s what they did as a team and they got the win.
+ It all starts with stops on defense because that translates to offense.
+ He comes in every day and works hard, that’s how you get playing time. When E.J. Liddell fouled out, he just wanted to keep it up, and play together.
Eugene Brown
+ On hitting his shots to turn the game, he said it was a great feeling to have his teammates trust him to get back to back 3s in a tight game like that. It was great to get out there and impact the game. They both felt great leaving his hands.
+ He was expecting to play more, but he talked to coach and he understands his role and does what he can do in the minutes he gets. His main goals are defense and rebounds. On the offensive end he lets it come to him and lets his teammates find him. He does what he can and works really hard in practice, doing the little things.
+ They had a lot of poise late in the game.