TCU men's basketball's JaKobe Coles, Emanuel Miller and Essam Mostafa talk TCU's 75-57 win over Cincinnati on Saturday, February 24.
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00:00 >> All right, now these are E-man.
00:03 Good, question.
00:05 >> E-man, was there any extra motivation from the way that kind of the first time
00:08 you guys saw these guys, how they gameplayed out?
00:11 >> Yeah, the first time we played them, went down to the wire.
00:14 Overtime, nothing but battles.
00:17 We know they're hungry, they're a tournament team.
00:20 We're a good team to get a win against and we know they're gonna come in here hungry.
00:24 So we know we had to fight from the jump.
00:26 We went on a AO run quick from the jump cuz we just knew that this team's hungry and
00:31 we had to pose our will from the jump.
00:33 >> E-man, they took that 23-20 lead, you guys won a 9-0 run,
00:38 you got 76 points, can you just talk about that moment when you were just scoring?
00:43 >> Yeah, got fouled, got to the line, crawling for a three,
00:48 my capacity, I think my teammates just did a great job getting me involved.
00:51 Shots were falling, our spacing was so good,
00:55 our offense well executed throughout the whole game.
00:58 And I think that was just a part to spark our offense.
01:03 >> Cole, you scored double figures in six of the last seven games,
01:07 how good do you just feel physically right now?
01:09 >> I feel good, I feel good.
01:11 Like I said, my team and my coaches always give me confidence to do what I do on
01:15 the offensive end.
01:16 So it's just about coming in and
01:18 making sure we execute each play on offense and defense.
01:21 And when I come in, I'm always just confident, and if you're confident,
01:25 shots gonna win most of the time.
01:26 So I see it.
01:28 >> At least on pitch, you rate the defensive effort today overall?
01:33 >> I think it's a 10.
01:34 I think we did a good job not letting them get to easy layups.
01:38 We didn't foul a lot.
01:40 And so I think it's a 10, and we won by 18.
01:42 So that's good, I didn't see the percentage, but I think we did a great job.
01:46 Took 30 money from us, so it's just good.
01:48 >> Man, as you're coping, Ernest goes down, this guy steps up two games in a row.
01:53 What's it been like just seeing the way he's performed this week?
01:56 >> Man, he's some, we always happy to have him.
01:59 And for Ernest to go down and him to step up like that,
02:02 everybody else might be surprised, but we're not.
02:04 You know what I'm saying?
02:05 We've seen him in practice, he works hard, he comes in, he's ready to work.
02:08 He stepped up and when opportunities happen,
02:10 that's what you're supposed to do, and that's what he did.
02:12 So I'm proud of him, but this isn't a surprise to me.
02:15 This is who he is.
02:16 Even him coming from his last college, we knew he had talent, so
02:20 it's just not about that.
02:21 >> You guys went by 18, that's not usual in the Big 12.
02:26 >> Yeah. >> What do you think about this win and
02:28 how good you guys are playing?
02:31 >> Throughout the year, we struggled on closing out games.
02:36 Down the stretch, rather it be the last media timeout.
02:39 Opposing teams usually somehow find their way back in the game.
02:43 And this game, there was a big emphasis to oppose our will for
02:47 40 minutes from the jump to the finish.
02:49 To this, going into the next game, cuz we have one day off and
02:54 then we play one of the other top teams in the conference in Baylor, right?
02:57 So you just wanna oppose your will for the whole game, finish strong, and
03:01 have a strong start going into the next game.
03:03 >> I kinda asked this earlier in the week, but it's another game,
03:08 play a lot more minutes, actually got a lot more touches,
03:10 so I should post it, how cool is this win?
03:14 >> It's very cool, it's very cool and we won today, so
03:17 it's something that makes me happy, makes my teammates happy,
03:19 makes everyone here happy, that's the point.
03:21 It's not about me getting touched, it's not about me scoring a lot,
03:24 it's about more like what I can do for the team to win.
03:26 So it's been fun, it's been very fun.
03:29 I love that my teammates trust me and give me the ball in the post.
03:31 I love that we play defense, I try to help the team with whatever I can do to win.
03:36 And they do a good job, like all of us.
03:40 >> You guys out rebounded them 33-32, but
03:44 their coach was like it felt like 55.
03:46 >> Yeah. >> Did you guys feel like that too?
03:49 >> It really did feel like that.
03:51 The stat sheet might not show it, but I feel like we were very aggressive,
03:55 crashing the glass and grabbing them defensive rebounding.
03:58 Cincinnati's one of the top rebounding teams in the country, and
04:01 to do that against them, it's huge.
04:03 That's one of our emphasis throughout the game, rebounding.
04:06 Dixon prides himself and our team in not only rebounding, but defending.
04:11 And that's what we did, man.
04:13 >> And then 14-15 in the free throws, that's a lot better than the last game.
04:17 >> A lot better than the last game and the whole year, really.
04:20 It's no secret, we've struggled from the line in previous games, and
04:24 it just shows the work that we're putting in.
04:27 Even if it's during the season, guys coming in, getting extra shots up,
04:31 getting more comfortable to the line, cuz we get fouled.
04:33 So it's a matter of fact of knocking them down and converting.
04:36 >> Any last questions for the players?
04:40 Okay, thanks.
04:40 >> Thank you.
04:41 >> Thank you, guys.
04:42 >> Thank you.
04:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]