Head Coach Mark Turgeon  

Opening Statement:
"Honestly I was really proud of our group tonight. Started a little slow, they started hot and then we really defended for a long time to about the six-minute mark. We protected the rim well, really grew up, had more depth and don't sleep on this win. I know everyone is going to say, It's Radford' but Radford did win at Notre Dame, they did win at Texas, they should've won at Clemson they had majority of that game. And for us to gain a 20-point lead was great. I think we had great fans today considering it was during the National Championship Semifinal games for football. We need it, we need it Wednesday when we play Nebraska. We would love to have a full building for that. We had a lot of guys play well and we're getting more confident as a group. We're just getting better, we rebounded well again, we executed. Bruno [Fernando] was terrific against the double team, that was really the difference. We have been working on it we just haven't had made teams pay. We have just kind of relaxed and made the extra pass and we made them pay and kind of get some guys going."

On slow starts:
"Yeah you are concerned obviously. But how about the shots they made, are you serious? The kid made the 25-footer, the one kid was 4-for-28, he made one on us [to be] 5-for-29. They made some incredible shots in there and then we just let Polite drive right on us, which we weren't supposed to do. Concerned, but I am more pleased with how we've come back both halves. Radford is a really good second half team and we won the first four minutes. We were plus two, so that was big for us. We talked about that a lot at half time, so we're getting there. We can't do that against really good teams we know that, so hopefully we will start better on Wednesday."

On how Darryl Morsell's playing at forward last season helped his matchup today:
"It allows us to do a lot of different things. When Sticks [Jalen Smith] was down and I knew I wanted to start the big line up were still able to sub more today. We were still able to sub when we were down. I thought we were fresher because of it.  Darryl can do that for us he can play multiple positions. He is tough enough to do it. It allows us to play our guards more. We'll see, it depends on who we're playing. We really couldn't do it against Seton Hall because they were so big, and I wanted to try it this time…it's just from his experience last year that helps him."

On Coach Matt Brady's defensive drill at half and what he brings to the team:
"Matt is a terrific coach. He brings a lot to us. He really helps me during the game. We were trying to guard the ball screen a little different. We didn't in the second half, they were still able to go right every time with it. It was something that we really haven't practiced so we were a little leery of it. Matt is a terrific coach, always has been."
 
On how Ricky Lindo Jr. played in absence of Jalen Smith:
"Ricky [Lindo Jr.] was terrific. I feel like he tried to get every rebound Bruno [Fernando] tries to get every one, but Ricky got 10 today. His body was live and active. He's getting more confident offensively which helps us. It's good to see he played 20-plus minutes, and really played well. He played with confidence which is really what's important."

On ending non-conference play with a 10-3 record:  
"We are going to try not to get into the numbers, the record. What I was pleased about is how we responded to the last game and the things we're trying to do to make our team better. We are who we are. Our record is what it is, but it's really about what lies ahead—that's what's important. I thought we made huge strides today in a lot of areas as a team. Hopefully we can do that again between now and Wednesday. That will help us. We have an unbelievably tough schedule. So we're going to have to bring it every night to be successful."

On the growth of freshmen:
"First of all, the Virginia game, they clearly weren't ready for that one. [Jalen Smith] struggled a little bit in that game. He's gotten a lot better. Eric Ayala was probably the only one that was ready for that game. The rest of them really have grown and then you have the Purdue/Penn State games. From the Virginia game up until then they have really improved from those two games until now. We are all a lot more comfortable with them and they are a lot more comfortable. They have played in enough big games and we feel good about where our young kids are and how well they are playing."

Freshman Forward Ricky Lindo Jr.
 
On how he's grown this season:
"I think I've grown a lot, like I always say - Coach Turgeon and the coaching staff trust me and I am gaining more confidence. Also, my teammates - when they trust me, then I trust myself to play good."
 
On if he knew Freshman Jalen Smith would be unable to play in advance:
"It just happened out of nowhere. Came in and said he wasn't playing so it's just next man up. I found out today."
 
On his approach defensively:
"My approach defensively was to just make sure I was into the right position and make sure I guarded my man correctly. Ed Polite - he's a good player from the area, so I had to make sure I guarded him correctly."
 
On preparing for the game without Stix in the lineup:
"Just be ready. Stix said he wasn't playing, and it is just an opportunity for me to play more and obviously I don't want Stix to be hurt, or not play, but if anything happens just be ready and step up and I just had a good game. Now it's time to keep it going."
 
On what changed from the rough start to later in the game:
"I think just our energy at the start of the game wasn't up to par, but once coach Turgeon made a couple subs, the energy picked up and the starters got back into it and everything was fine."
 
Sophomore Guard Darryl Morsell
On playing out of position in tonight's game and using his experience from last year:
"That experience definitely helped me a lot, just from knowing plays and knowing how to guard different fours, knowing different angles, knowing fours and how they get to the basket and using different angles and stuff like that definitely helped a lot."

On playing without Jalen Smith and more freshmen in the game:
"It was big. We have a lot of talent on this team. Ricky played well today. All the freshman are talented. We kind of had that mindset when Jalen went out, just next man up. We all have confidence in each other. We practice without Jalen, so we knew what we were capable of and that next man up mindset helped us have success today."
 
On freshman Forward Ricky Lindo Jr. coming in without workouts from the previous summer:
"That's definitely tough. You could see it when they first got here. It took him a while to adapt, but now he's adapted. When he came in he was asking questions. He just plays hard so that just makes up for a lot of the stuff he didn't know, but Ricky is a great kid, he's very talented he's still young, he's still learning as well. He has a bright future."
 
Sophomore Forward Bruno Fernando
On how important it was to have the second half that they had now going into conference play:
 "It was extremely important. I think it helped us grow and learn. I also think it helped us to be confident in ourselves, knowing that we are capable of doing anything that we put our minds to. Just being able to come back in the second half and focus on defense and get a lot of stops. I think we got 11 stops in a row, which says a lot about our defense and that we can do great as long as we focus on doing the things coach is asking us to do."

On getting more comfortable being double-teamed:
"Yeah, I think it goes back to what coach said. We split teams apart in practice and we always make sure that we have two different bigs on different teams and every time I touch the ball, I get doubled team every time. So, I think it's helping me getting used to the double team and knowing where my teammates are. I think in the beginning, a couple games earlier in the season, we had a lot of trouble making the rotations and knowing where to be when I get doubled. Now guys do much better job of being in their spots and it makes it easier for me to pass out because I already know where Darryl, Jalen, Anthony or Eric are, so it makes it a lot easier for me."

On if he felt the need to take control in the second half:
"Not necessarily. For me I think it was all about going to the boards. I think that I just had to try to get offensive rebounds. Obviously, on offense they try to not really let me do anything because they were double teaming almost the whole game, so I really just had to try to get to the boards and get to the foul line, which I think I did a good job of. Going to the foul line and just focusing and making our free throws I think was big for us. Obviously having guys like Ricky, Aaron and Eric just stepping up, Josh Tomaic as well and Ivan Bender gave us a lot of great minutes so that was really what it was for us."

On how close to ready or are the young guys ready to play in Big Ten Conference play:
"You have to give them credit. They work extremely hard every day at practice and it's always good to see a guy stepping up when one is down. You know Jalen obviously didn't play for us tonight and having Ricky coming in, I've got to give him a lot of credit being able to rebound and help me on the boards every time and the guards boxing out and making sure their guys are off the board. I think it was extremely important for us. We have good momentum going into the league play, which is huge for us."

On what he has learned about the team with nonconference play behind them and in what areas does the team still need to grow:
"I think it is what I said before, just how confident we are and believing we can do anything we can put our minds to. Just staying confident on the court, doing the things right, following the game plan- I think that was also huge for us. Not really trying to do anything that we're not supposed to and staying connected on the court- I think that was a big thing for us, staying connected. From practice to the games, just going back to what I said, just having guys at practice and knowing where they are in practice makes it easier for me in the game to make a pass or making sure everybody is involved."