Bill Self, Darryn Peterson, Flory Bidunga

Bill Self (opening statement): It was a hard game. I don’t think we played our best by any stretch, but we were pretty good early and then kind of let it get away from us. But TCU’s good and they did some good things. The thing that we did best obviously was get fouled and shoot free throws, so that was great to see. We have to be better tomorrow night, but it was kind of one of those survive-and-advance games. So it’s good it ended up the way it did.

Q: Coach Self, as you walked off the floor you said “ugly.” What about tonight made it feel that way?

Self: You’ve got the game won and then make it interesting late. We didn’t shoot the ball well. Usually when you don’t shoot the ball well it tends to look that way a lot. Then we went through stretches where we didn’t rebound it defensively. But all in all, I’ve had a lot of losses in which we probably visually looked better, and I’d certainly prefer the result tonight than those games.

Q: Darryn, it seems like the last couple games you’ve been driving the ball more. Is that a sign you’re feeling better physically?

Peterson: Probably both. Feeling better and watching film. I saw I was taking threes instead of getting downhill, and getting downhill helps the team. So I’m trying to do that more.

Self: People are going to try to take away his shots off the catch. With that being said, a lot of stuff he’s got to do is off the bounce. Tonight from my vantage point, in one-on-one situations he was far better getting his shoulders past people and going to score. That tells me his body is feeling better, so that’s a very positive sign.

Q: The Big 12 announced it will go back to a hardwood floor for the rest of the tournament. What are your thoughts?

Self: I personally didn’t have any involvement in any decision that goes on. If the other coaches are doing it and have juice, they’ve got more than I’ve got, because I didn’t have any involvement at all.

I think it’s the right thing to do though. It didn’t bother us that much tonight. I didn’t notice us slipping as much, but if you study it and watch games throughout the day, it seemed like there were a lot of steps that slid one or two inches that didn’t look quite as clean. It’s a cool-looking floor, but I’m excited that the talk tomorrow will be about the semifinals instead of the court.

Q: Coach, what kind of impact did Flory have tonight?

Self: He was plus-31 in a close game. When he came out we just weren’t as good, bottom line. To me he’s the best defender in the league. To me he’s the best defender in the country. I don’t know that he really had a chance to show that tonight because it’s hard to play like that when you’ve got two fouls with 12 minutes left in the half. But yeah, I thought he was really good.

Q: Flory, you were just named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Do you think about that much?

Bidunga: I don’t really think about it. I’m appreciative — it’s a big deal. But thinking about it won’t really help me right now. We’ve got a lot of games to worry about. Just next play, next game.

Self (joking): You know, I’ve coached him now for two years and sometimes with his dialect I have a hard time understanding every word. We might need subtitles.

Q: Coach, quick turnaround with Houston tomorrow. What do you expect?

Self:That game earlier in the season doesn’t really mean anything moving forward. I’m sure Kelvin would want to play Kansas — I would if I were him. We love the opportunity to play the best in our league, and they’ve certainly been right there over the last three years in the league.

We’ll get back, have dinner around 12:30 and start to scout tomorrow. But tomorrow’s game probably won’t be as much about scouting as it will be about who wants the ball more.

Q: Darryn, you played 37 minutes tonight. How did you feel playing that much?

Peterson:I feel good. It’s been like a test every game, and I feel like toward the end of the year I’ve been feeling way better. So I’m happy.

Self: I didn’t even think of taking him out tonight. A month ago you might try to limit his minutes so he could feel good down the stretch, but over the last two or three weeks his body has felt a lot better.

Q: Darryn, how important were your free throws tonight?

Peterson: Missed three, but I feel like I’m pretty hard to guard so they’ve got to foul me sometimes. I’ve just got to make them.

Self: It’s important when you can manufacture points when you don’t shoot the ball well. He got fouled a lot, so it was vital.

Q: Darryn, you didn’t shoot particularly well but you stayed aggressive. Why?

Peterson: My teammates and coaches telling me to stay aggressive the whole game.

Self: Best players have to be aggressive all the time, and he’s a best player. Same with Flo. We’ll be a lot better when these two are aggressive all the time. Sometimes aggressiveness leads to missed shots, but at least you put yourself in position to make plays.

Q: How excited are you to finally feel healthy entering the postseason?

Peterson: Super excited. Throughout the year my body was holding me back, but to finally feel free out there feels great.

Q: What happened with your shoulder tonight?

Peterson: Just a little tweak. Nothing serious.

Self: He’s been through enough stuff this year. I don’t think a shoulder tweak would knock him out unless it was separated.

Q: There were moments where the energy didn’t seem to be there. What was your message to the team?

Self: I’d agree with you. Tonight felt more like a “we’ve got to win, play not to lose” type game. That mindset won’t get you very far. It won’t be like that tomorrow night. Who knows how well we’ll play, but we’ll play more consistently with our energy.

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