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"I worried because I knew that Stinson and Blaylock love playing here. We told our guys before the game that they’d give a great effort here today. Our assistant coaches said that was the most focused group that’s been in here warming up, and they got off to an 8-1 start. We played miserably early, and then got into a groove and went on a 46-24 run. But we still didn’t play great. We still didn’t guard them, in my opinion, the whole game. You allow a team to shoot 46 percent, and the way we take pride in our defense, that isn’t really guarding them. But we rebounded the ball well and we made our free throws, which was huge. "C.J. did a good job coming in there. Our bench was really good. Darnell was really good. Hawk was good. I thought Christian and Jeremy gave us some good minutes. Russell was solid. Those freshmen combined for 52 points, 23 rebounds, and 11 assists. And I was on Mario early because I didn’t think his head was into it at all, then he showed me, which is good. That’s what good players are supposed to do. He played great the second half. "Iowa State is one of the most talented teams we’ll play. Their perimeter is unbelievably talented, and their big guys shot the ball well tonight. But we did good. The crowd was good. It was a good afternoon, and it sets up what is a most pivotal game Monday in Stillwater. Last time we went down there, it was quite a homecoming. I’d already gotten a technical foul and called four timeouts by the 16:00 mark. Hopefully that won’t be the case this time. "We’ve obviously lost a couple of games by not making free throws when the game’s on the line, especially with a lead. But guys stepped up and made them. And we had just enough distance the whole time that, even though they cut it to four, we didn’t really feel like we were in serious jeopardy the last five or six minutes. Those young kids really played today. "A double technical foul. A lot to do about nothing. Taggert had already fouled out. It didn’t count against him. It gave C.J. his third foul, so that wasn’t a factor. There were no free throws exchanged. I think that was just the way the officials tried to get control of it, so they called something. But tempers were flaring, but when Blaylock got Russell pretty good going out of bounds, that’s when you’re supposed to bow up. I’d be disappointed in my guys if they didn’t stand up for each other under certain situations. Nobody ever needs to throw a punch, but that bothers me when guys don’t stand up for each other, and our guys did that today. "They like each other, and they like playing together. This was a tougher game last year and the year before. These guys are playmakers. And when you play a team that traps and spreads the floor, you need guys to get in there and make plays. We hung about 50 on these guys last year before it went overtime, in our own building. We just scored so much easier (today) because I feel like we’ve got some guys who can get in there and get their noses dirty and make plays, and they’re sure fun to watch when they play well."