Feb. 2, 2013

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UNM vs. Nevada
February 2, 2013

Coach Alford

Opening statement...

"Well this was a key game. I thought that we played well and Nevada played well and we have had some separation and that is a key. In February, we try to get some separation from other teams and there has been three teams that we have been able to do that from. There are now three teams that are at least four games behind and that is good. When you can get to February and do that you eliminate certain individuals that can win it. I thought that was why this is a key game. We got really good contributions from a lot of people. Tony is a little under the weather so Demetrius came in and did a super job. Sometimes confidence hits because of made shots but I was really impressed by what he did defensively. He got on the glass, blocked out and really guarded the way he is capable of guarding because he is a big physical guy. Chad is still banged up with his knee and I thought that he did a good job coming back even when he got injured. I thought those two guys off the bench did a lot of good things for us. It was a very good team effort and we are pleased to get this win."

On the offensive turnaround...

"Sometimes we make a lot of of one game whether we score 100 points and when you do that you are probably not going to average 100 or do that many times and when you score 34 you probably aren't going to do that a lot. The only thing that we did after that game was really concentrate on getting ball reversals. I thought the thing that we did the poorest in the San Diego State game was keeping the ball on one end of the floor. Other than that we guarded. Their top three guards are their leading scorers and we took all three of them out of the game. We did a lot of good things in that game but San Diego State is picked to win this league. When you have a two game lead going into their place that puts their backs against the wall. I thought that was as well as San Diego State has played in any game that I have seen on tape. We are getting that. That has happened to us the last three games. San Diego State played well against us and I thought Wyoming played really well against us. Wyoming hasn't come close to shooting 12 three's in any other game this year. This is as patient and as well as Nevada has played all year especially through 34 minutes in the tapes that I have been able to watch. We are getting everyone's best shot and I think our guys have really responded well. Our guys really responded well the last 8 minutes of this game."

On Demetrius...

"He has been practicing better. He has had really good practices and we probably should have played him in the Wyoming game but we opted not to because we got in a good rhythm and flow. I was going into this game knowing I was going to play him because he responded very maturely to not playing in Wyoming the last two days in practice to doing that. As I have tried to send as many subtle messages as I can it comes to effort at the defensive end in this program and he gave that to us tonight. I think that opened him up to do a lot of other things and he can be a key if he will play with this kind of energy at a concentrated level."

On shooting the ball...

"It was good and we shot 56% and that is always good to see when shots start falling. We got some guys playing at a high level right now so offensively I thought we executed well. We moved the ball side to side and got the ball going inside out and those are real positives to what our offense did tonight."

On the defensive effort...

"Tonight our defensive looked better in the last 10 minutes but we have had games where the entire 40 minutes has been stifling. Tonight I thought we played a team that made shots. Elliot came off the bench and gets six points and Burton and Story are very talented guards. They made a lot of shots early and the one thing our defense has been good at is patience. In those last 10 minutes we were the fresher team and hopefully our defense had something to do with wearing them down. I thought they played well."

On the difference between the bench production today vs. other games...

"I just think that it is all of those teams that are hard to prepare for because you don't know. You don't know if it is going to be Tony or Walk or Chad. Chad has not been great in the last several games because he has been hampered with the knee problem. He is working hard to get that back and I thought he has terrific tonight. He gave us 10 and 4 and two assists. Hugh is also playing at a high level right now. Kendall and our bigs did some good things late. I thought Alex was much better in the second half. Most of our guys have been consistent and we can go deep into our bench. I think we are a hard team to prepare for."

On opponents and the UNM coaching staff not knowing what is going to happen...

"We know that somebody is going to do something. We have confidence in all of our guys and I wish that we could go twelve deep on the bench. Our guys have all practiced well and played well. This has been a demanding stretch and we have hit February at 19-3 and 6-1 in the league. These guys are doing some special things and we need to continue to stay healthy. We have battled through some sickness and tough travel. We have been able to hold it at home and now we have a crucial week with Air Force and UNLV."

On Hugh Greenwood...

"He has always had a green light. Maybe sometimes in Australia that green light means red light or yellow light. We are still trying to work through that international barrier. We have always given Hugh the green light but it is about Hugh being aggressive and knowing. He has confidence right now from making shots. He is a special player and can beat you a lot of different ways. He can beat you on the backboard or defending. He can beat you in handling the ball or scoring."

Lobos Men's Basketball

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