March 1, 2011

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Cleveland State Head Coach Gary Waters:
(Opening statement) "It's two back-to-back games where we played a very strong first half and then let a team come back. Beyond that, I thought our kids played very hard and did some good things."

(On UIC) "It could be a trap game if you're not ready, and I made sure they understood they had to play with some intensity. The funny thing about that team is, they ended coming in last place, but they're the best last-place team I've seen in a long time. They're better than what their record is, and I know they're disappointed about that, because they lost a lot of close games. I give them credit, they played hard in the second half."

(On what led to UIC coming back in the second half) "You can't miss layups. That's college basketball. I want to give you something fantastic, but I can't - you just gotta make your layups. What we did in the second half is we didn't rebound the basketball very well. We got outrebounded today, and our bench got outscored."

(On how the Vikings retook control of the game) "I thought Jeremy really came at it hard for a two minute stretch that really helped us take control of the team. One thing I know about this team is that when you foul us, we're going to make our free throws. And when Aaron is making free throws, watch out!"

(On his defense) "We had two players make the all-defensive team. There's no other team that had two players, so that tells you we're good defensively."

(On playing Wright State next) "The first game was great because they were missing some guys. But at their place it was a tough game. And they've got a chip on their shoulder, so we know they're going to come at us. But everyone knows that, at this point in the season you're going to get everything they've got."

Cleveland State's Norris Cole:
(On the second half) "We let them come back in the second half. They came back strong on us. That's my job, to not let it get to us. If a guard is rattled, the whole team is rattled, and I knew we had to make three or four plays to get the game back."

(On guarding Robo Kreps) "That's what we do is play pressure defense. I had good help coming off those screens with Tim and Luda helping me out. I knew I had to make him work as hard as possible, and that's what I tried to do."

(On Wright State, CSU's next opponent) "It should be a good game. We played them strong here and then we went down there and played a great game. We know they'll be ready, but we'll be ready too."

Cleveland State's Trevon Harmon:
(On the second half) "We came out a little relaxed and it messed up out momentum. We need to come out with a focused mindset so we can finish games strong.

UIC Head Coach Howard Moore:
(Opening statement) "I just told my team its amazing how we love to get in these holes and then play our best basketball. It's like we relish being the underdog. I don't for the life of me know why we do that. I gotta give Cleveland State credit for taking advantage of us being without tow of our players. They played a really good ball game."

(On why his team was unable to complete the comeback in the second half) "Like our team always does, we turn the ball over three or four times in a row. It's tough, because if you play with that energy in the first half it's different, but we haven't been able to put together a full 40 minutes this season."

(On his expectations for the rest of the Horizon League Championship) "This entire season hasn't played out according to seed. Who really could have seen Milwaukee taking the No. 1 seed? I think Cleveland State has a chance, I think Detroit has a chance. It will be interesting to see how things play out when the games move to Milwaukee."