Recap | Final Stats | Notes

Head coach Michael White post-game

Opening Statement:

"I was really pleased. Outside of a handful of possessions, I thought we were really good defensively to be able to limit the amount of three-point attempts from one of the better three-point shooting teams in America and a team that executes extremely well. I thought we were really locked in mentally and we were good enough physically to pressure them and to keep pressure on their actions."

On hitting three-pointers late:

"Rice is not only good offensively, but they are very good defensively. They are a much improved team, not only from last year, but over the course of the last couple of months. They were not only good in their half-court zone and man, but they were also really good early with full-court pressure. They had us rattled early in the game and we had to calm down and settle in a little bit."

On Erik McCree:

"Erik McCree is getting better and better, on the glass and defensively. I know he wishes he had two or three possessions back, but overall it was a very solid game for him on the glass and on defense. Offensively, he hit a couple of big ones for us."

On the halftime message:

"I really challenged our guys about the amount of three-point attempts Rice got off in the first half, regardless of how many they made. The whole game plan was to negate the amount of attempts they get off. They rely on the three more than anyone in college basketball and they got off 14 in the first half which was unacceptable. They had eight offensive rebounds which was also unacceptable. They only had three offensive rebounds in the second half and they only got off five three-point attempts so I thought we did a great job of correcting those issues with a renewed focus. I was proud of that effort."

On the LA Tech crowd:

"It is not only family and friends and former players and it is not only fans and alumni from this area. Some of these people traveled all the way from north Louisiana which is an awesome thing. It speaks to the pride of our fan base and our alumni and also to the direction of our program."