“We missed more dunks tonight that we attempted all last year.”

“Obviously that was not the highest offensive output anybody’s gonna go through this season at Marquette or Indiana.

But we were right at home with that kind of score, based on the last few years. But, we had great repect for their team

coming in and we still do. They play very hard, they play very tough, what they do is they can play a lot of different

styles and a lot of different paces. And we proved tonight that this year we can do the same thing. It was a great victory

for us, as Wednesday night’s victory over Tennessee was. I thought it was a complete team effort, and we don’t win the

game without Oluoma Nnamaka’s defense on Jared Jeffries.”

“In the second half of the game we played much better. We played much more sure of ourselves. We kind of got rid of

those heavy boots that we had on and put our tennis shoes back on...”

On the missed layups in the first half: “We were not going to the basket the way we could, and we were trying to

finesse shots rather than go strong, and use the glass. I was not upset with the missed dunks at all. I was happy to see

Scott Merritt trying to punch it through. And he’s been doing that the last few weeks....That was one of the better

games he’s played for us- I know he didn’t score many points but he came with an aggressive attitude. We just needed

to have that in the second half. I wasn’t as worried about our offense. Once we started finishing better around the rim,

once we started just trying to power it up and not shy away from the contact, and you know, play over the adversity of

the first half- of not scoring many points, of not getting to the free throw line, of having a few calls not go our way.”

On beating Indiana: “That’s a huge victory obviously. Not just because they’re ranked, not just because they have a very

good team, but they have a great tradition. Marquette has a great tradition, it’s just on it’s way back. Indiana has been

there for a long time, and to match up against people like that is very special for us. That’s why it was so important and

such a great deal for us to be able to come to this Shootout- to have an opportunity to come and play people like that.

It’s a neutral floor, and it gives you a chance to measure yourself against what I think is a very good team, I think

desrving of their rankings, a team that is one of the better teams in that conference. And I think the Tennessee win

helped spearhead this win. The players went through that game, went through some tough times and found a way to

come back and win the game...”

“They challenged us well, we challenged them well. Our whole key was to not to give them open shots. They connected

on quite a few open looks the other night. They’re too good players not to. But I think they key to the game was the

way our players defended Jeffries and didn’t allow him to get into a comfort zone, because he is a great player.”

On the Gonzaga game: “Well, I think what’s going to happen is there’s going to be a lot of late-night masses tomorrow

night and a lot of Jesuits are going to get home and watch the two of us go at it, but everybody should go to mass first. I

think it’s going to be great. We have got...Mark Few I consider a friend, we’re family friends my family and his family, I

have tremendous respect for him- he’s one of the best coaches in the game, regardless of age or experience, it makes no

difference. They execute as well as anybody in the nation. My assistants have done a great job getting that tuned in,

we’ll start watching that tonight...Saw Dan Dickau at the U.S. Olympic Basketball, and all he did was be the first one

to them gym and the last one to leave of 90 kids or so or whatever it was. To me, that speaks volumes of their program.

That’s a great test for us. I mean, they’re deserving of their accolades. They’re deserving of what they’ve done over the

last few years. I think it’s going to be another great battle, hopefully because we’re going to do our part to make it a

great battle.”