Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery

UT Arlington Men's Basketball
Post Game Quotes | Nov. 12, 2016
UT Arlington vs. Texas Southern

Head Coach Scott Cross
Opening Statement
"It was a tough, hard fought game tonight. These two guys (Jalen Jones and Kaelon Wilson) were incredible tonight. I felt like our guys played the right way. We played together with the sense of urgency. Defensively we got after them. We made a lot of mistakes, but for the first game I am very proud of these guys. These guys (Jones and Wilson) really put us on their back offensively, we got to the basket. The percentages they shot, Jalen's 9 - 15 and Kaelon's 8 - 8, that's pretty amazing. They're probably the story of the game, They're the reason why we were able to get this victory. Jorge did an awesome job on Derrick Griffin. Then Link (Kabadyundi) and Julian (Harris) when they were in there they did a great job on him, because he's a big tall player, extremely athletic and dunks everything. We did a good job keeping him off the glass."

Q: What did you think about Kevin's first game back?
A: "I felt really good about it, from where he has been from 1st to 2nd scrimmage to where he was tonight. He didn't get the result he wanted shooting the three. I think that's going to come but I felt like he was playing the right way. To have 11 rebounds in 21 minutes off of an ACL tear is pretty amazing. I didn't even realize he had that many (free throws). I felt like throughout the game he was playing well and the right way minus a couple of the turnovers late in the game but his rebounds in especial we needed that tonight"

Q: Was he (Kevin Hervey) alright after that last play?
A: "I think so. They said he was just cramping up. 21 minutes is a lot for him first time. He hadn't been able to condition like the rest of the guys. They've been preparing for months then he has had only about a week and a half where he's really been able to go up and down. It's going to be a really big adjustment for him."

Q: Nine of eight from Faith Pope tonight at the starting point 16 minutes, is it a good bonus to you as you work Kevin back in starting line-up?
A: "Faith brings energy. He's long like Kevin as well, but he's so good at shooting a gap, getting a steal. He had a couple of offensive rebound in the first half that really helped us out. Anytime you can get an off. Rebound, it's a beat down on the opposing team. It just kind of breaks their will a little bit. To have six of them in the game, that's amazing. He was huge for us tonight. I think the combination of him and Hervey at the forward spot to add 19 rebounds between the two of them. I'll take that the rest of the season if we could do that. "

Q: Second Half Defense
A: "What's hard is, coaches, you don't ever want to get scored on so anytime we get scored on we feel we did something wrong, but I remember once Kalen said "Coach I had my hand in his face," which is right and that's what we want so we'll go back and watch film and have to apologize four or five times and say that was great defense but we're competitors we want to pitch a shut-out every single game. When a guy's jumping up and hitting a NBA three with a hand in the face sometimes we over react as coaches but I think for the most part our guys made them shoot tough shots. I didn't feel like they were just getting wide open shots. And that's the main thing you want to prevent. They're good enough players to where they can hit some of those contested shots."

Q: Lofton had 37 points tonight, did you game plan for to have a big night? How did you slow down Derrick Griffin?
"Our game was basically around Griffin, to stop him. Jorge is great a rotational defender. He is really good, if Kaelon is guarding a guy, he gets beat off the dribble, Jorge rotates over and makes it tough for them to score. And this game we said for Jorge, we want you to keep a body on Derrick Griffin, and one of our guards have to rotate. So, a few times they were able to get to the basket uncontested cause our guards didn't rotate because Jorge is usually the guards that does that. But that was our plan, to keep a body him (Derrick Griffin) and keep them off the glass. Jorge, Link, and Julian combined did an awesome job of that."

Q: Hervey minimized his shots, but was very efficient when he took them. How did you feel about his performance?
A: I thought he played great. I know it is hard for him at times because that's what we need him to do. These guys can score. We can throw it in to Jorge and he can create offense. Erick, we need him to be a distributor first. He did a great job of that. I think these guy were able to get easy drives to the basket. We get some open looks and I thought Erick had an outstanding game. Erick is a very capable scorer. I want to get the ball out of his hands, and then get it back in hands and have him go make a play. If he comes down and jacks up a shot, that is probably not what I want. If it leaves his hands, and it comes back to him and he pulls up and shoots a shot, those are shots I can live with because we need to get the team to have ball movement. If nobody touches the ball, they can't get in the flow of the game. So, as a point guard your job is to get everybody else a touch. I thought he did an awesome job of that tonight. And, he was locked in defensively. He did really good creating a little bit of chaos and getting steals and deflections as well."

Kaelon Wilson
Q: How were you able to step up for Drew Charles after committing two early fouls?
A: "Me and drew are pretty much interchangeable, We just give each other breaks and we try not to drop off, whatever he does I try to pick up off of that, then I come off and he does the same thing. It's pretty much routine."

Jalen Jones
Q: Jalen you took over when Texas Southern was making a run. What do you see your role is going to be on this team?
A: "I wasn't really in a rhythm, I just wanted to stay aggressive. Try to penetrate, contribute, any way I can. I felt they (Texas Southern) wasn't really rotating well. I felt they really weren't trying defend, just trying to go score to score to us."

Q: You seem like you were getting any shot you wanted. Did you see anything that got you going?
"I had a lot of opportunities. I saw a lot of gaps and a lot of open space and I attacked. So I just stayed aggressive."

Q: Talk about this being bigger than just a basketball game and what the crowd meant to the team.
A: "It was big for us and the University. We felt butterflies and the excitement for it to come. We just wanted to put on a show our fans to get a win, especially at home, keeping the homecoming weekend perfect cause we got the win. So, we were focused on that first game."

Texas Southern University
Head Coach Mike Davis
Q: Was there anything in your game plan that you feel your team did not successfully implement?
A : "They (UT Arlington) did a really good job in a lot of ways. Defensively, they made us work a lot harder than we were accustomed to. It just took a lot out of us. You have to give them all the credit because of how they played. They played at a really good pace."

Zach Lofton
Q: Did you know you were going to find your stroke offensively? Did your teammates finding you or was that the game plan?
A: "I think with my teammates and coach, I went out there and played my game. They weren't mad about me getting up shots. I think that helped me out a lot. I haven't played in a while."

Q: You were really aggressive. Did you feel encouraged to keep shooting after you got on a hot streak offensively?
A: "That's my game, being aggressive. With these guys they don't mind that and that helps me a lot. Our team is almost brand new, so we just got to get everybody together and figuring out what each other do. We'll get it together."