Sooners' head coach Porter Moser and forwards Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin speak to the media following OU's loss to Houston.
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00:00 >> What are the mood in the locker room,
00:02 arguably one of your best games of the entire season, but you come up short.
00:07 What's just kind of the vibe?
00:09 >> Tough, it was a tough vibe in there.
00:12 The guys, it wasn't like they were just happy to be close.
00:15 I mean, they fought their tails off.
00:17 I thought they believed their energy level.
00:20 They made big plays, obviously Houston made big plays as well.
00:24 They're hurting, and that's a good sign.
00:30 >> Go Jesse, then James.
00:31 >> They took a 14 point lead in some part of that second half.
00:36 You guys were able to kind of battle back and
00:38 get it close to what you see from your team in those sequences.
00:42 >> I thought they were resilient battling back.
00:44 I mean, I thought they, I mean, Houston, they make tough shots.
00:50 They made open shots, good shots.
00:51 I mean, they do a lot of different things.
00:53 They put so much pressure on you, how hard, strong their guards go downhill.
00:58 Cryer, Sharp, those guys made some high level shots.
01:02 And, but I thought we did too.
01:05 I thought, if you would have told me before the game, I just,
01:09 I really felt good the guys did about some things offensively,
01:12 bouncing back from Iowa State.
01:14 We really had a lot of film on the floor talk about just being way more aggressive.
01:21 Not letting a turnover bother you.
01:23 I thought we came in not wanting to have a lot of turnovers.
01:25 We had eight.
01:26 Our starting five had five.
01:28 I thought we talked about rebounding.
01:32 How good they are at rebounding.
01:33 I think, you know, the rebounding, they had six offensive rebounds.
01:39 I mean, we did, we played the best team in the country, but we fell short.
01:45 And, you know, the room, margin for error when you play a team that good is small.
01:52 And a thing that sticks in my craw is they scored five points
01:59 in the last second of each half.
02:02 We executed a two for one perfectly.
02:04 We went for a two for one.
02:07 That means there was like a 50 some seconds shot clock.
02:10 We went and tried to score and get the ball up there by 42.
02:13 Scored, came down, and then got filed again.
02:16 With three, we subbed, and we should have, we were in our complete shadow.
02:20 Which, and we just let, try to turn right around, drop it, it's inexcusable.
02:24 And we even, we even, I mean, perfect two for one.
02:29 And then we locked up, we subbed on the free throw to stop the clock and
02:34 do it, and we still let Cryer go right by us.
02:37 That 50-50 ball at the end.
02:38 So those are tough, but it's, those are learning things.
02:41 But our guys played with such heart and belief, and we gotta,
02:44 we gotta springboard that and continue to do it.
02:47 Playing a really tough Cincinnati team Tuesday.
02:50 >> Yes?
02:51 >> I mean, Porter, it's such a great offensive game for you.
02:55 You know, in so many different ways.
02:58 What did you think about your overall offensive play today?
03:01 >> I thought we were really strong with the ball.
03:03 I thought we executed.
03:04 I thought we really spaced it.
03:05 We wanted to really space them,
03:06 because we know how much they put pressure and hedge ball screens.
03:09 So I thought our spacing was outstanding to start.
03:12 They changed defenses two or three times.
03:14 They changed ball screen coverage to a drop coverage.
03:15 Then they started switching everything.
03:17 Then they went to a zone.
03:19 And I thought our guys did a good job.
03:21 And, but we, you know, for us,
03:24 there were certain things we didn't have an answer for, you know?
03:26 And, you know, they go downhill so well.
03:30 I mean, I remember one specifically, Shed going left and
03:33 then stopping and kissing it off the glass, low shot clock.
03:36 You know, some of the shots they hit, light shot clock, just high level shots.
03:40 Extremely, extremely well coached on both ends, as you all know.
03:48 And I thought both teams played really physical.
03:52 And I thought both teams played at a high level.
03:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]
04:02 Yeah.
04:02 Yeah, I thought he was really locked in.
04:09 He took that Iowa State game hard.
04:11 He only could play, he played 13 minutes.
04:13 Got a couple fouls.
04:15 We talked about that.
04:16 And I felt, I thought Sam just had played really physical, really good.
04:23 You know, made a couple big baskets down the stretch as well.
04:29 We went to him on a couple actions out of timeouts and he came through.
04:32 >> Well, in the quarter, I have to imagine if someone told you you scored
04:38 85 points today against Houston, you probably aren't thinking you'd lose the game, right?
04:43 >> Right.
04:44 >> It's like, I mean, just kind of a- >> Yeah.
04:46 >> That speaks to how crazy this one was.
04:48 >> Yeah, it's just ironic.
04:50 I mean, we were so good defensively in Aims, we were horrible offensively.
04:53 And I gotta give him credit.
04:54 I mean, there was like those end of the half things just, you know.
04:57 And especially after doing that two for one.
05:01 But, you know, there's a reason why they're number one.
05:06 There's reasons why they've won 12 out of 13 big 12 games,
05:09 which is absolutely unreal.
05:10 But for us, we've been saying it.
05:14 I mean, we're playing the best of the best.
05:15 I mean, tell me anybody who's in a five game stretch like we just played.
05:18 You know, four top 12 teams and your rival on the road in an unbelievable atmosphere.
05:23 For us, we're coming out of that stretch,
05:24 we know we gotta turn right around and play Cincinnati.
05:26 I wanna play again right now.
05:31 I mean, the guys do too, they're crushed.
05:33 And as much as they're crushed, that's a good sign.
05:35 It wasn't just, we came close.
05:37 These guys believed they were gonna win.
05:39 And when we were in the huddles, down double figures, they believed we were gonna win.
05:43 And that's a credit to their resiliency.
05:44 >> [INAUDIBLE]
05:50 >> Yeah.
05:52 >> How big was that?
05:52 >> Huge, huge, huge.
05:54 Just the resiliency with them.
05:55 You know, I thought that Trey was great to see him hit some shots.
05:59 Hit the one in the corner on the zone play.
06:02 When we wheeled him around in the zone, when they went zone.
06:05 Then they flew at him and he shot fake and hit another one.
06:07 To hit five threes, I mean, it makes all the difference in the world for
06:10 us when you got him like that.
06:12 I thought Javion was really, had a pace going.
06:15 I mean, we just gotta keep feeding him into that pace.
06:18 Because when he plays with that kind of toughness and pace, he's really,
06:21 really good.
06:21 >> Dr. James, did you get what you wanted out of it?
06:26 You tied the game defensively, you get the first miss.
06:30 And then, so defensively- >> Yeah, I mean, yeah.
06:33 I mean, the ball's on the ground, and it was like one of those squib fumbles.
06:36 I thought we had it, and then we didn't.
06:38 Shed came into bound and just, I mean.
06:41 Yeah, we gotta stop.
06:43 I mean, I thought we did a lot of good things in the stop.
06:45 I mean, yeah, it was a loose ball, pick it up.
06:49 I mean, it's.
06:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]
06:53 >> Did you see the offense option better?
06:55 Did you see things you can take with you, or was it just guys making shots?
06:59 >> No, we did a lot of good things.
07:01 We spaced it so much better the first time.
07:03 We were ball tough.
07:05 I thought we were so much more ball tough in there.
07:07 And some of the actions that we did, we didn't turn it over.
07:10 I thought we played faster.
07:12 We really talked these last two days about playing with more of a pace than we
07:17 did in Aims.
07:18 And but for sure, we executed way better tonight than we have against the best.
07:25 I mean, their analytics are close to being the best defense in the history
07:28 of defense.
07:28 Sure, I'm not exaggerating.
07:29 Look at the numbers.
07:31 And so I thought we did way better.
07:33 And then obviously it does help if you make some of those shots.
07:37 Waldo had a tough couple shots, and then he hit a big one in the corner.
07:42 That's mental toughness.
07:44 I think he had some bad misses, and then he turns around and
07:46 hits a big one in the corner.
07:47 But I thought we spaced it and executed way better than we did.
07:51 And we obviously weren't happy coming out of the Aims.
07:55 Defensively, we were outstanding.
07:57 Just offensively, we weren't ball tough.
07:58 >> Nice.
08:00 >> According to all the points that you just made about how talented and
08:03 successful Houston is,
08:04 do you use that to help get these guys back going after that?
08:08 Hey, we just played like that against the number one team in the country.
08:10 >> Absolutely, absolutely.
08:12 It's got to fuel us to believe that what we can do in this league and
08:18 what we just went through, and we gotta keep our heads up.
08:24 And we're good, we're good.
08:28 We just, I mean, that's the elite of the elite right there.
08:31 And we've gotta find a way to win that.
08:35 We gotta find a way to win that.
08:36 And that's my job.
08:37 It starts with me.
08:38 And we're gonna break this tape down, and we gotta get this team ready again
08:43 in a couple day turnaround to play a very, very tough Cincinnati team.
08:46 >> I guess, Jalen, I know that's a tough one for you guys, but
08:50 can you talk about, they took a double to defeat you guys around the quality of
08:54 the game, just the resiliency of the team.
08:57 >> Man, I feel like that just shows our growth.
09:01 I remember during the game, I'm just thinking when we tied the game up after
09:04 going down double digits, how in my mind, we just grew.
09:07 Cuz I remember Kansas, or I forgot what game it was here that we were down
09:12 double digits and we just fell apart.
09:14 So I mean, bro, that just shows our resiliency and our growth.
09:19 But we just can't come out with a doubt, bro.
09:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]
09:25 >> Sam, what was working for you tonight, and
09:27 how motivated were you coming off of a disappointing outing?
09:31 >> Yeah, I mean, obviously, tough one against Iowa State.
09:34 So we knew we had a huge opportunity here.
09:36 I mean, that's the big 12, it just never gets easier.
09:38 But the good thing about that is a win like that would have kind of cemented us
09:41 to get us where we wanted to go.
09:42 So obviously, we're upset we didn't get that one done.
09:44 But my mentality was just don't fear anything and
09:47 just play as hard as I can, and it kind of worked for me, so.
09:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]
09:53 >> Hold on, I guess what was kind of going through your guys' minds,
09:58 that final possession, and what did you see?
10:01 And obviously, the shot just happens to go in.
10:06 >> So the final possession, it was like.