Nov. 11, 2012

Recap |  Box Score

Tulsa Post-Game Quotes vs. LSU-Shreveport November 11, 2012

Head Coach Danny Manning Opening Statement:
"I thought we came out with great energy. I thought a lot of that had to do with the outstanding crowd. There were a lot of people, a lot of energy in the building and that really helped our guys out; especially with the start we got off to. We made some shots early and it snowballed from there. We did a pretty good job of sharing the basketball and then it started to stick later on in the first half. It was a nice win for us but we have to continue to get better. There were some times when we were a little bit too sloppy with our play, but it was our first game and we'll continue to tighten those things up."

James Woodard had a nice game last week and it was asked if you thought he had made the move from just a viable freshman to a good player. Seeing his game tonight has it changed your mind at all?
"James has started for us here, and he started for us in Canada. He's a very good player and we're going to put him in situations where he can be aggressive offensively. Tonight he came out and did a good job of making shots and getting in the paint to mix it up, but he's still a freshman. In the freshman season there'll be peaks and valleys, but as long as he continues to go out and put a great amount of effort on the defensive end then the offense will come to him.

From a personal standpoint what was it like to walk out to a gym with a bunch of people in it and knowing the final score was going to count... Was it what you expected it to be?
"I didn't know what to expect. It was good to go out and see all the people that had support for our team. We have to continue to go out and play with effort and energy to get them to come back. That was the best part for me, especially the student section. I thought the student section was great."

What did you think of the tempo?
"I thought it was good. We use every chance we get. Once we secure the rebound we try to push it to get easy buckets and that's our main goal. I think we do a pretty good job of that and we just have to keep it up."

Freshman James Woodard

How did you feel about your stat line?
"I felt pretty good about it. I try to do whatever I can to help my team out. They got me a lot of open shots and I tried to take advantage of them. We try to hang our hats on defense though. I thought overall we did well but we can do much better. I was a bit surprised but I was going out and playing my game. The coaches told me to stay aggressive and that's what I did."