California Head Coach Wyking Jones

 
Opening Statement:
"To say we needed that one is an understatement. We really needed that one and I'm really happy for all of our guys. Throughout all of the losses and all of the tough breaks, they've been able to continue to fight, stay together and give us energy and effort every day in practice. I'm very happy for my team. Kingsley Okoroh obviously stepped up big for us tonight and he was the difference-maker tonight for us. It felt like everybody who played gave us something and our bench was great. For Kingsley to go 12-for-14 from the free throw line, it means that he was being aggressive. He also blocked five shots, got a double-double and him being as active as he was made the difference for us to get the win tonight."
 
How the team was able to close out the game tonight:
"Our guys stayed together and believed in each other. At all times, I felt like I was comfortable and we were going to win the game even them making that run because everybody was doing his job and following the game plan. We challenged them to run their shooters off the line and we were okay with giving up two-point contested field goals. The threes add up quick so that was the main focus defensively -- it was just to not give up open looks from three. We also made a ton of hustle plays."
 
On going back to the big lineup with Marcus Lee and Kingsley Okoroh:
"As long as Kingsley continues to play with that kind of effort and confidence, then the big lineup works. Marcus is talented and he's always a threat to score and we also had nine blocks tonight as a team, so as long as Kingsley continues to give us what he did tonight then we will continue with the big lineup."
 

California Senior Center Kingsley Okoroh

 
On tonight's win:
"It feels good. It's been tough, but we just stayed positive, and we just knew we would change it. I think we showed today that we can go on a winning streak and win a couple games now."
 
On difference in tonight's play:
"I think we've been getting out of holes. We have just not been able to close games. We struggle in the second half. We have just stayed positive, keep chipping away at the holes as much as we can."
 
On improvement in team's free throw shooting:
"Coach yesterday made us shoot free throws for 30 minutes straight. We just all sat around and shot free throws in silence, and it paid off today."
 

California Freshman Guard Darius McNeill

 
On end to his shooting slump:
"The past few games, I've just been in a slump. Coach says that it is normal for a freshman to go through something like that. My coaches and teammates kept trusting me, telling me to keep shooting and let it fly, and tonight it finally fell in."
 
On difference in tonight's play:
"We didn't turn the ball over, and that was the difference. We usually have 19 turnovers going into the half, and this time they had seven, and we only had six. That was positive. We also only had one turnover in the second half, which is also really good."
 
On pressure defense:
"When we were watching film on Oregon State, we saw they couldn't handle pressure very well. When we were able to pressure them, we were able to get them out of what they were used to, out of their flow. They are used to like just laid back, running offense, and we just wanted to speed them up."