Dec. 1, 2004

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes

Head Coach Stan Joplin

(opening comments)

"It hurts when you fall behind like we did. For some reason our first three games have been like that and you can't do that on the road. We wanted to have a shot at the end and we did but it just didn't fall. I thought there was a travel on their go-ahead basket but you're not going to get that call on the road. That one play didn't lose the game for us just like that last shot didn't either. We were in a position to win and we're disappointed that we didn't get our first win."

(on the turnaround in the second half)

"We didn't turn the ball over and our defense picked up. We started to get back better in our transition defense and they didn't shoot as well in the second half. We got some energy off our defense and kept them off the boards and started to play basketball the way we should. But when you dig yourself a hole like we did you get hurt.

(on Keonta Howell's play)

"Keonta has been playing pretty well for us and he has a decent upside and is only going to get better. He made some plays for us and he gives us a little more depth."

(on the play of Moussa Badiane)

"We started shotfaking too much when we had opportunities to shoot the ball. He (Badiane) altered some shots or made us think about it and that hurt us. In the second half we went at him and that made a big difference."

Senior guard Keith Triplett

(on the team's slow start)

We're not shooting the ball well right now. If we start shooting like we can we'll get back on track."

(on coming back in the second half)

"That's how we need to play all the time. We picked up our defense and got some stops, started going to the free-throw line and started getting some offensive rebounds. Our main focus was to get on the offensive glass and force turnovers and get back in the game."