Postgame Quotes
LSU vs New Orleans Men’s Basketball
November 10, 2025
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon Quotes
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon
Opening Statement
“I was really proud of our players and their presentation. We have tremendous respect for Coach (Stacy) Hollowell and what he’s building there at New Orleans. Their win last week at TCU was fantastic. They dominated the glass and have two all-league guards in (Jakevion) Buckley and (Coleton) Benson. I thought our guys were really dialed in to the plan of attack. I loved our unselfishness. We really wanted to cut down on the turnovers. Our first game we either scored or turned it over. This game we had 21 assists and only seven turnovers. I thought we had a great advantage of physicality and size in the post, and all our frontcourt guys were terrific.”
On the connection between (DJ) Thomas and (Michael) Nwoko…
“I think Mike (Nwoko) does a great job of screening, and he’s such a good athlete, he puts a lot of pressure on the rim as a roller. As you’ve seen, DJ (Thomas) will find you. He’s very unselfish and has phenomenal floor vison. He sees things we as coaches don’t see. Having the floor properly spaced, we just let him operate. It’s been fun to watch them grow. They spend a lot of time together off the floor. You see the trust they have in each other, and I know they’ll just keep getting better. Jaylen Reece was fantastic at the point. Our point guards had 12 assists and only one turnover tonight. That’s great to see.”
On Marquel Sutton’s growth …
“Marquel played at the four and the five last year at Omaha. He was the Summit League Player of the Year and took his team to the NCAA Tournament. We brought him here with the idea of moving him to the wing to play the three. He lives in the gym. He only knows one speed on the floor. He plays hard. I don’t know that I’ve seen a +45 (plus/minus). The amount of time he has spent, we’re talking tens of thousands of threes he’s made since walking on campus. It’s a testament to his work, but we’ve also challenged him. We don’t want him to lose what he’s really good at, which is around that bucket. He got 15 rebounds tonight. He was just relentless in his effort.”
Forward Mike Nwoko
On the emphasis on dominating in the paint early on this season…
“I truly feel like we’ve got the best frontcourt in the nation. Why would we not abuse that? I feel like we’re bigger and more skilled than most teams, from the wings to the bigs. Big shoutout to the guards today as well. At the end of the day, they’re the ones getting us the ball, so props to them.”
On the chemistry between him and DJ Thomas…
“It started with day one. Coming into the gym and just having regular conversations showed me I like this guy. The point guard/big man connection has to be important. We worked on it, obviously, we got some things to still work on because we’re not perfect, but big shout out to him. He’s an elite point guard and an elite player.”
On the offensive attack and the success it has produced…
“The main thing is trusting each other. We have no one on our team who’s selfish. We’ll give up a good shot for an even greater shot. Playing inside-out allows us to kick it out for a three, and we have great shooters on our team. They’ll keep shooting the ball, and us Bigs want them to keep shooting the ball.”
Forward Marquel Sutton
The emphasis on his improved three-point shooting during the offseason…
“It was a big thing, Coach told me it was something I needed to work on. I put a lot of time into it, and if I keep repping it, I show it out there on the court.”
On where he gets his motivation for getting rebounds…
“That’s just who I am. I’ve always been a go-get-it kind of player. Whatever I need to do for the team to win, that’s what I’m going to do. If I need to rebound, defend, or knock down shots, I just go out there with my high motor and do what I do.”
On not overlooking an opponent like UNO…
“We shouldn’t underestimate any team that comes in here. We can’t take anybody lightly; it’s basketball, and anything can happen. Throughout the week, we emphasized stopping their best players and their role players, and I feel like we did that tonight.”
—
UNO Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
On the LSU Tigers and their physicality…
I think the more physical team won tonight. They beat us in the paint, 42 points in the paint and 21 at the free-throw line. That is a good recipe for a victory for them. In the second half, they got out and transitioned and got their field goal percentage up big there. We were trying to hold them under 41% FG for the game and they were 44%. I think they did a great job with our guards because we ran all the stuff that they have brought in their exhibition games.
On the loss and what to do moving forward to the next game vs. Tulane…
Tough loss but again the focus for us is to be great in March and we are going to keep our eye on the prize. For us, in these road games, you want to take what you learn from it at the end of the day; that is what we are going to do.”