March 13, 2008
California Coach Ben Braun
"I thought UCLA shot the ball well. We hurt ourselves in the first half with turnovers. To be down against a good defensive team like UCLA at the half is a tough hole. They were rested and they played with great energy. I thought they were very motivated and shot the ball with an extreme amount of confidence."
On Cal's fatigue...
"It's tough on guys. Is fatigue a factor? Absolutely. But you have to give UCLA credit because they came in here with energy. We have to be more emotionally and psychologically ready."
"We just got ourselves in trouble in the first half and didn't get back in transition. We did climb back a little bit in the second half, but it's a pretty tall climb against a great defensive team."
"You have to go out and perform against them [UCLA]. Our energy was good. Our focus was good. Fatigue is a challenge, and you have to overcome that, but it's tough. In preparing for UCLA, you can't lose sight of the team that they are and how well you have to play. They're a good basketball team and they've proven that."
On Cal's post-season aspirations...
"If there's a year that teams in our league that don't make the NCAA Tournament deserve to play in the post-season, this is the year. There's a good argument for teams in this league, including ourselves. We're optimistic. It's not over yet. We might have an opportunity to extend our season."
California Forward, Ryan Anderson
"UCLA is a team that feeds off transition and bad shots. It was really our shot selection that hurt us. They fed off that, and it's how they got their runs."
California Center, DeVon Hardin
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On Cal's fatigue... "I don't want to make excuses. They came out and performed, and we didn't."
One thing I can say about this Cal team is we never put our heads down at any point, even after they got a pretty big lead. We just keep playing."
