Wendell Barnhouse is a nationally-known and respected columnist who has spent over 20 years covering collegiate athletics. He has reported from 24 Final Fours and more than three dozen bowl games and has written about the Big 12 and its schools since the conference's beginning. Barnhouse will be updating the Big 12 Insider on happenings and behind-the-scenes information about the conference.
Some notable quotes from Big 12 basketball coaches.
Texas coach Rick Barnes after his team's 83-57 loss
at Kansas State:
"They come home after losing two in a row, and we know it's going to be a desperate
game for them. Where we are, every game should be a desperate game. They came
out and played great. We certainly helped by not fighting their early
determination."
And more Barnes:
"I told the team, 'The first five minutes of the game, the tone of this game
will be set. We will see right from the beginning.' Think about it. It was.
They (Kansas State) came out and were terrific. I thought they played great tonight. I thought
we helped them, not fighting. Their early determination, their intensity, we
didn't match it."
Baylor coach Scott Drew after his team's 74-71 loss
to Oklahoma:
"In the Big 12, one game you're sitting pretty, the next game, the world's
coming to an end That's why you need the upperclassmen and the experience to
know that this is a grind, a battle, a gauntlet - it's a marathon," Drew said.
"So we're still only in the early stages."
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson on Angel Goodrich
hitting a game-tying 3-pointer that set up the Jayhawks' overtime defeat of
Iowa State:
"We (were) absolutely a train wreck. We're trying to run something without our
timeouts, and then CeCe (Harper) is on the wrong side, so I'm just trying to
yell, and we're all looking at each other because it got busted. But often
times it's not about the play you run, it's about making a play, and (Goodrich)
made a play."
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale on how the Sooners
reacted after leading scorer Aaryn Ellenberg suffered an ankle injury early in
the second half of her team's victory over TCU:
"They just move ahead unfazed. (Ellenberg) goes down in the second half, and
they didn't panic - matter of fact, they just turned up the intensity and
attention to detail - had a tremendous run there in the second half. These guys
are fun to coach because they believe in each other, and they believe they can
win games."
