Jan. 10, 2006

Recap |  Final Stats

Head Coach Stan Joplin

"I don't know if we can play better basketball than we did in the first half. I thought our defense was pretty good. We got after them, we rebounded, we shared the basketball and we were aggressive. When you hold a team like Buffalo to 16 points in a half that's pretty good and it shows you the type of defense we're capable of playing. We needed a win and Buffalo's a pretty good team."

(on the team's shot selection)

"I thought for the most part it was pretty good. We were trying to get to the basket and make the extra pass. We wanted to swing the ball around the perimeter and get better shots. We did that for the most part."

(on the importance of getting the first MAC win and ending two-game losing streak)

"We needed a win for the player's confidence and the only way you can help that is to win a game. We feel better about ourselves right now and hopefully that gives us some momentum going into the Bowling Green game.

Junior guard Keonta Howell

(on starting out strong in the first half)

"The last couple of games we got down early and didn't come out with enough energy. We made it an emphasis tonight to come out strong and have a lot of defensive pressure. We were going over their offense all week in practice so we were really prepared for tonight. That helped us get a big lead even though we didn't finish it off the way we wanted to."

(on letting Buffalo back into the game)

"We got kind of complacent after getting a big lead and our defensive pressure eased off a little. They were being a lot more aggressive on offense and hit some shots. We're going to take care of that in practice."

(on the importance of getting the first MAC win and ending two-game losing streak)

"It feels great. The 0-3 start hit us hard but to get this win against a good team shows us how well we can play when we play the right way."