Behind hot shooting from Ryan Taylor and Vic Law, Northwestern capitalized on an offensive surge in the second half to pull away and dispatch New Orleans 82-52 in the team’s regular season opener at the newly-renovated Welsh-Ryan Arena. Here’s what head coach Chris Collins, Taylor, Law and New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger had to say after the game.

Chris Collins

On the game: “Overall, I’m really pleased with the win tonight...I thought we set the tone early...I thought our defense was really locked in...Defense is our calling card. We’re a work in progress on the other end...To be able to win, while learning and growing, is a very positive thing.”

On the team’s offense: “We’re a by-committee team...It’s a multiple-guard offense...I’d like for us to play with a little more pace...Although at times it looked disjointed, we only had nine turnovers...If we keep playing this hard...we’ll continue to improve on the offensive end.”

On the team’s shot distribution: “We’ve got to get the ball to Dererk more...We can’t forget that we have an elite big man.”

On Vic Law’s performance: “I’ve always viewed him as a jack-of-all-trades guy...When he’s at his best, he’s impacting the games in every way.”

On shooting 30 three-pointers: “All my guys have green lights...You’re not getting yelled at for shooting the ball.”

Vic Law

On Ryan Taylor: “He’s fantastic. I’m really happy to have Ryan out there...He makes the game a lot easier.”

On surpassing the 1,000-point mark: “I knew it. I wasn’t really going for it, though...It’s cool. I’m more happy that we won...It’s a special achievement.”

On defensive adjustments: “I just guard whoever coach Collins tells me to guard.”

On his reputation as a two-way player: “Whatever you guys want to call me, I’m just gonna try to do my best.”

On the team’s expectations: “I think this team could be really special...This team has a lot of different pieces...We have a lot of length on the perimeter and a lot of tenacious defenders...Our offense is very good with all those cuts.”

On his physical health: “I feel good...I don’t get tired as easily.”

Ryan Taylor

On his performance: “I hope to honestly shoot better.”

On his adjustment to Northwestern: “It took awhile to get used to the offense...From a basketball standpoint, it’s been a struggle.”

On the team’s offense: “There’s a lot of movement...There’s more structure...Now I have to be in a certain place at a certain time.”

Mark Slessinger

On tonight’s game: “I’ve got so much respect for Coach Collins, Coach James...Really proud of how our team competed...Our program is making tremendous strides...My hat goes off to coach.”

On Taylor’s performance: “He was really special tonight...We didn’t have a defensive answer for him...A lot of that goes to what coach Collins and coach James are doing.”

On his team’s offense: “I wanted to get out and run a little bit more...There was a lot of stop and start. There wasn’t a lot of flow to the game.”

On his team’s defense: “We want to push them out off the three...We were much slower in our closeouts.”