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Louisville vs. Ohio State Post-Game Quotes
December 15, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2001
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino
(on surprised if Louisville won despite poor free throw shooting) "If the defense was that good, I would. The defense was phenomenal. It's difficult when you miss that many free throws."
(on struggle from the free throw line) "They expended so much energy playing defense, they were tired when they come to the line. Once they learn to play under the influence of fatigue they'll be better."
(On Luke Whitehead) "I knew he couldn't go today but I wanted to get him ready for Monday. I didn't play Derek Anderson when he was hurt even though everyone said he was OK. I watched it on TV and I probably wouldn't have played until 2005. I wanted to get him mentally back in the game."
"Brandon is in good shape and has worked very hard. He is very mature and he deserves all the credit. He was in every play. When you can find a big man that can pass and is not afraid to fail, then you have a good big man."
Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien
"The first thing was that we were doubling their big guys and we were slow in rotating. They stretch you out a bit because they have guys who want to shoot threes. They got two baskets underneath where they gapped our zones. We just needed to do a better job of disallowing those easy passes to the inside."
"This is a very good defensive team (Louisville) and we only got seven three-point attempts because they challenged us on the perimeter. When we were up on the perimeter, they were physical on the inside. There was a lot of hand checking in this game and the ones that weren't called are the ones that hurt us. I don't think we should be talking about the emphasis on hand checking."
"We could have helped our own cause by shooting better from the free throw line. I guess one cancelled out the other."
"This was a winnable game for us but it slipped away. I think you have to give credit to Louisville. It was hard for us to get into our offense and our guys did a good job against their full court pressure but their half court defense was tough."
(On Louisville) "I think they are good but have some rough edges on the offensive end but that's because they are young. They are very aggressive going to the offensive glass. They are good. We didn't get to see them at full speed because Whitehead didn't play much and Gaines didn't play a lot because of the foul trouble."
