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Texas A&M Basketball Postgame Quotes after loss to Florida

Posted: 8:07 PM Jan 17, 2013
Reporter: Texas A&M Sports Information/KBTX Sports

Ray Turner and Alex Caruso post game press conference after loss to Florida
Billy Kennedy raw press conference after loss to Florida
Billy Donovan raw press conference after win over Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M men's basketball team lost to Florida Thursday night 68-47 at Reed Arena. The Aggies are now 2-1 in SEC play. Florida is 3-0. Below are the postgame quotes.

Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
Opening statement:
“We lost to a very good team. I thought they were more physical than us at every position. They’re extremely well coached at both ends of the court. You’ve got to give them credit. I thought we played well for about 13 or 14 minutes.”

On fatigue:
“Florida has heavy legs too. Their maturity and toughness was evident. We only have eight scholarship guys and they play a lot of minutes, but we’ve got to get tougher.”

On Florida’s defense:
“Their team defense was good and Elston’s had nights like that before. It’s unfortunate, but when you have one primary scorer against a veteran defensive team, they were aware of where he was. They did a good job on him.”

On Erik Murphy:
“Murphy is the X-factor with their team. When you have a four-man who can post up and has a great feel for the game it makes you have to play differently. He’s really good. I was disappointed in the second half. I don’t think our effort was very good. That can’t happen no matter who we are playing again.”

On the fast turnaround between games:
“This is a tough turnaround and everybody in the league’s had it. We were able to take advantage of Kentucky last weekend when they had this situation. Everybody in our league has to play that way. Usually depth and experience will help get you through that. Our upperclassmen have to step up against a very tough Alabama team.”

On how to get the team prepared for Alabama:
“We’ll go to work. Nothing’s special. We’ll put this game behind us. We played our bench some in the last few minutes and tried to rest some guys. This is a new experience for us. We have six guys who haven’t been in this situation before. We can control our effort. That’s one area we need to improve.”

On the crowd:
“I’m disappointed for the crowd. We had great student support. Our fans came out and supported us. I wish we could’ve given them a better effort.”

On Florida containing Elston Turner:
“They did a good job defending him. He had a few looks that he didn’t make so he put some pressure on himself. You’ve got to give Florida credit for their defense and not put it on Elston’s lack of ability to score.”

Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan
On containing Elston Turner:
“I thought Scottie Wilbekin did a terrific job. I think certainly a player in this league has a performance like he had (against Kentucky) he got a lot of peoples’ attention. Obviously, our big guys did a good job providing on screens. He’s got such a great release and is a great shooter. I thought Scottie did a good job of getting there on screens.”

On Mike Rosario:
“He gave us a really good boost to start the game. He had two or three really good days of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. He really played well in practice. I thought our ball movement was very good. We made the extra pass. We found the extra man. We were balanced.”

On playing on the road:
“When you go on the road it’s always difficult. I think our guys are prepared to have to go out and play for 40 minutes. Like us, Texas A&M came into this game 2-0. They’re a good team. We played well. We were able to take away Elston Turner who was such a huge part of their offense in this past game. It’s the process of preparing for games and getting into the game and staying focused on what’s in front of you. I think our guys understand how quickly leads can evaporate and how quickly you can get leads”

On the atmosphere:
“I loved it. I didn’t know what to expect. It’s my first time in College Station. It’s a beautiful facility to play in. Campus looks great. I’m sure with what the football team has done there’s probably a lot of excitement around here with the football program, the basketball program and the rest of the sports. This was a great venue. Texas A&M and Missouri were great additions to our league and they’ve brought tremendous value both academically and athletically. Billy (Kennedy) is a guy that I’ve known for a long time and I have an enormous amount of respect for him as a coach and as a person. I’m impressed with this campus and facility.”