COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN -- Some quotes from WSU players and coach Ken Bone after Gonzaga's 71-69 win on Wednesday night.

 

DAVONTE LACY

(On Kevin Pangos' final shot) "That was just a tough shot. There’s two hands, maybe three, I don’t know but he hit it right off the glass and he made it."

(On his shooting night) "For me personally, I wasn’t shooting the greatest going into the second half. My teammates just said keep shooting, keep shooting and I did and they kept falling."

(On battling back) "That’s a testament to our team and the character we want to have as our identity. They got up seven or eight and we could have easily thrown in the towel there. … We hit some big shots down the stretch."

 

(On playing after his injury) "As soon as they said I was going to play I was comfortable. My teammates made me feel comfortable."

"People get in those moods where you shoot it and it goes in and I got in one of those moods where everything went in."

BROCK MOTUM

(On Kelly Olynyk) "He’s a good player and he converted pretty well down the end. He made some big plays. We've got some areas we need  to improve but majority of the game we did agood job."

 

"He’s a good player. I’ve played him three or four times when he played for Canada, back when I played for Australia so we knew him a little from then. I was just playing hard tonight like I do every night. Big battle, I look forward to more."

(On the crowd) "I wish we had more crowds like this because I think we’d win a lot more games."

KEN BONE

(On Pangos' final shot) "It’s a really good player that’s confident that makes a good play when the game’s on the line. Up to that point, he had made one field goal, kind of like when Texas A&M beat us and (Elston) Turner hit the shot at the buzzer."

"I’m just really proud of our guys. I thought we had situations where we could have backed down and maybe thrown in the towel and we would not let up. We battled through some adversity and showed some toughness."

(On Lacy's game) "I didn’t expect that. I thought he might play around 20 minutes. He ended up playing 28 but he looked pretty good and then he was confident in the end."

(On Motum's extra-curricular activity with Olynyk) "We’ve had  those discussions and that’s a tough one because he’s a great kid, but there’s great kids that that’s what gets them fired up but he’s got to manage that. We’ve talked about it. He’ll get better at it."

(On Dexter Kernich-Drew's defense against Pangos) "Dexter’s doing a better job of that. Last year, maybe the last fourth of the season Dexter was getting more and more confident in his ability to guard. ... He’s 6-6, long arms, good anticipation, very similar to the way Klay (Thompson) was. Klay didn’t get his identity because of defense but he had  presence on defensive end. ... He’s quick, he’s fast, he’s long, with his length he can bother some people. Dexter’s length, he does a good job contesting shots."

"It was a great college basketball game, there’s no doubt about it. It wasa fun game to be involved in, a stressful game to coach. It was a good game. Gonzaga’s very good. I don’t want to leave the room without saying that."

"What we’ve done in the last 16 days is very pleasing to our staff. We played Kansas on a neutral court and got blasted. I know we’re home tonight but we played a very very good team in Gonzaga and I think we’re getting better and we’re pruod of that."

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