RECAP | POSTGAME VIDEO INTERVIEW | GAME BOOK (PDF)
Overall thoughts on the game
"It was a huge game today and Abilene is such a hard place to play. It seems like every time we come out here, it comes down to a crazy buzzer beater. There were a lot of them today, both in regulation and overtime. I'm very proud of the way the guys came back. They fought back, took the lead several times, but couldn't hold on. They hit a 3 to take the lead right before regulation, we come back and answer with a great 3 to put us into overtime. We just didn't close out the overtime period. We had too many turnovers throughout the course of the game. We made some key mistakes down the stretch where we lost focus and weren't able to get stops when we needed them. It was a great basketball game and a great signature of what this league is all about and how tough it is night in and night out."
On the improved defensive effort in the second half but having trouble scoring
"We just turned it over too much. We were shooting 66 percent at halftime and we're down nine. There were costly turnovers and dumb turnovers. We just weren't playing well or doing the things that we needed to do. It's disappointing. We played at a much higher rate and played much better. We just dug ourselves too big of a hole to be able to come out of this thing and recover. We left ourselves no margin for error."
On the Privateers' free throw shooting
"We didn't get to the line and make them. We struggled today with that. We've been very good for the majority of the year, but tonight it cost us. There were some big ones. [
Christavious Gill] is a 90 percent free throw shooter in conference play. Going into the year, he was a Top 10 free throw percentage guy in school history and misses two big ones, which is uncharacteristic of him. It was just frustrating."
On the performance of Travin Thibodeaux
"He played really well throughout the game. He played with great energy and we've got to keep him rolling on that. The big thing is we've just got to play better across the board. We need to keep grinding and keep working. This is a tough swing with four out of five being on the road. We knew it was going to be. We sure needed this one tonight really bad and we need to put our focus on Saturday now. It made our job a lot tougher."
On the upcoming Homecoming contest against Nicholls
"It's going to be great to be home. This is a key stretch where we don't get to play home much, but it's a big one against a big rival in Nicholls. They're a team that is very, very good this year. They're playing well and have some senior guys in Frye and Thomas that have been really good throughout the year, and throughout their careers. We know we'll have our work cut out for us, but there's a ton of stuff happening with everybody on campus. We know it's going to be a fun day for everybody coming back and all of the student activities involved. It's going to be a huge night."
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