Jan. 31, 2007

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

Head Coach Stan Joplin

"I have to give Ohio a lot of credit. They played much better than we did. It's a shame when you score 80 points and give up 91. We couldn't check a dead person tonight. I thought Ohio competed more than we did and our guys need to learn how to handle success better."

"We've played a lot better defensively in other games and I'm very disappointed. Defense has been a strength for us for a while and tonight it wasn't there. We were trying to trade baskets with them and didn't get into a defensive flow. You can't do that and win on the road. We have to get back to the basics again and learn from this."

Senior forward Keonta Howell

"We usually are able to get our offense from our defense. Tonight we just never could get that energy going. We didn't play with the same intensity that we have been. In the future we have to find a way to get stops because we're the type of team that needs to get our energy from our defense."

Ohio Head Coach Tim O'Shea

"The biggest difference from recent games is that we shot the ball so well. It was great to see [Jerome] Tillman hit those first couple of threes. It gave the whole team confidence as far as scoring the ball. That has been the struggle of late, shooting the basketball. We've defended well enough, we were just in a terrible slump."

(On the first half)

"Tonight it seemed like our confidence was back and the shots were falling. It made all the difference in the world. I think Toledo is outstanding. They are coming off a seven-game winning streak and I thought they played really well. I thought both teams played well. At halftime I said to the assistants and my team, that was a great half, both teams played well. Both teams were making shots and it was a one-point game."

On Toledo:

"I knew we had to play well to beat [Toledo]. I had watched enough tape to know that they were legit. They played a tough non-conference schedule...but they are a terrific team. Basically they are the same team that went to the championship game last year in the tournament. They have three outstanding seniors and we were coming off a very disappointing loss on the road. This was really a must-win for us."