March 20, 2004

On being in the NCAA Tournament…
“I’ve really been happy with the way we’ve been practicing the last two days. We’ve played as well as we have all season long. This team is really hitting their stride and we are starting to peak. We are seeing a lot of great things from a lot of different people. Our intensity has been high, the effort has been tremendous and we’re excited about playing a game. It’s been a long time since we played-we are definitely ready to get out on the court again.”

On their tough schedule being a factor in the tournament…
“Our schedule has really prepared us for what we are going to face and when you look at the teams we’ve played in the tournament we have seen a lot of different styles of play. The Big East has really prepared us because we have a great conference. “

On the advantage of playing at home…
“We have a pretty good win streak going and our fans are responsible for that—they do a great job for us. Basketball is a game of runs. Each team is going to make their run, and you have to be able to sustain it and then make your own run. When we are on the road, when a team makes a run, we get down a little bit. Playing at home, we have the crowd to help pick us up and it is just a little bit easier.”

On SMS being a 12-seed…
“I was real surprised that they were a 12-seed. I thought they had a great year. They spent some time in the Top 25, and with their record being 27-3. They probably deserved a much higher seed. It was similar to us last year when we received an 11-seed-we thought we could have been a little bit higher.”