California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin

Opening Statement
“Just from watching I thought that was our best game of our first four games, pretty much from start to finish. They're a really good team in making plays off the dribble, spreading you out and attacking the rim. They put their head down and make a straight line drive. We did a good job of not fouling. They have quick guards and they use their five men to set screens to isolate them on the elbow for a dribble hand-off. I thought we did a good job of preparation and being prepared to play and it showed.”

On breaking away from Sam Houston State
“We just maintained. I know we had two breakdowns where they made threes in the first half, but outside of that we just maintained. I don't think we flowed as well offensively where we had looks. Sometimes it looked so good it might still not be the best option so we move ball and get a better shot. Once we settled down and made a couple shots and got in transition, then the game opened up for us.”

On what he expects to find out about his team in Las Vegas
“I'm excited to play in Las Vegas and I think our guys are excited to play in Las Vegas, but we have a good team and we know that but you still have to win the games. Like you said, there will be equal talent and we'll see what happens. I'm excited and looking forward to it and just doing what we're capable of doing. It's really just our fifth game. It's a long season and we have two very talented young freshmen just 18 and 19 years old with still a lot to be learned. So they'll get a different feel and a different look, and they're going to learn from that. But I just expect our guys to compete.”

On San Diego State
“I watched their game today against Illinois State. I mean I've seen them for years. They're physical, athletic and long and always one of the better defensive team in the country. They play hard. They make you score baskets. They don't give a lot of baskets away. In order to execute your offense you're going to have to score baskets. That's the sign of an elite basketball team.”

California Senior Tyrone Wallace

On getting the win in the Las Vegas Invitational opener
“We're happy to be 4-0. We've been playing really well so far. Tonight it was great to share the ball. Now we go to Las Vegas and have a good challenge against San Diego State. We have to have a good practice and be ready to go Thursday.”

On improved competition as the season progresses
“We'll learn a lot. As you start to play better teams, games get closer. It's more challenging and maybe harder to score on the initial pass. You move the ball and share like we did tonight and we'll be fine.”

On freshmen Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb
“They're both great people. They're not selfish. These guys are highly talented people, top 10 in their class, so when you get guys like that to come in you never know what you'll get. Guys may want to come in and run the show immediately. That's not the case with these guys. They do a good job of playing team ball. They don't complain. I think they're just overall great people. They go out there and play hard and try to learn. It's still early in the season of their freshman year.”

California Freshman Jaylen Brown

On facing San Diego State next
“I'm excited to go to Vegas and see what we're made of. We've been preparing all week and all season. All the suicides, yelling, screaming and encouragement, this is what it's for. This is what it's about.”

On Coach Martin's message when Cal trailed 7-0 to start the game
“Coach Martin didn't say anything about the score. He doesn't look at the score; he looks at how we play the game. A lot of good coaches are happy with the team playing the right way. He didn't say anything about the score, he just said keep playing basketball and things will fall the right way.”

Sam Houston State Head Coach Jason Hooten

On the game
“We did get off to a good start. We made a couple shots early, and we got back and defended well and stopped their pursuit on transition. When you make baskets, it's hard to defend against transition baskets on their end. But, they (Cal) did a good job and really heated up defensively, as they are long and big. We just got into a stretch where it was about 23-20 with seven minutes left in the half and had a couple of really crucial turnovers that turned into baskets for them and got them going. Once they got going, we couldn't really stop them.”

On what can be learned from the team's effort
“A game like this is tough for us, as we have eight new players, really a whole new team, recovering from last year when we won 26 games. Our best player has a broken foot right now, and he's the only senior on our team, so for most of these guys it's their first experience in Division 1 basketball. We have no seniors whatsoever, so we're trying to figure ourselves out right now, and I think the best way to do that is throwing them in the fire a little bit.”