Feb. 12, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Post-Game Quotes

Cleveland State Head Coach Mike Garland: "Tonight we didn't come out with the mental or physical toughens in a champiosnhp level game like we played in tonight. You hae to be ready to sell out on every singel play. This was a steet fight. It didn't come down to X's and O's. It came down to a match of wills, and the toughest team was going to win the basketball game. Our kids hung in there, and they hung in against a very tough basketball team."

"This is a learning process. This is our first time in this kind of situation, playing for all the marbles. But there is a whole lot of basketball left to play."

"This is a different level of intensty from what we have played in before. It's not the same intesity that it would be in November or December. This is playoff-level intensity. It's a whole different ballgame. And, not only do you have to be intense physically, you have to be in tune and intense mentally. And we had some lapses. Our kids have to learn from that."

On the play of Cedric Banks: "Tonight, he showed why he is the pre-season player of the year. Big-time players show up for big-time games. He showed up tonight. But you control guys like Banks, you dont stop them."

Cleveland State forward Omari Westley: "We lost the game because we didn't come out with any intensity. We just didn't come to play tonight, and when you don't come to play, you lose ball games."

Cleveland State forward Raheem Moss: "It was lost at the start of the game. They came out aggressive and it carried over to the second half. We tried to make a late run, but it was a little too late. But we can't do that every game."

UIC Head Coach Jimmy Collins: "We're very lucky to get out of here [with a win]. I think Mike [Garland] has done a tremendous job improving his team. I think it was a very hard-fought, defensive battle for a while."

"It was a physical game. In a game like that, there's going to be a lot of emotions flying. Had the refs not gotten involved, I think somebody could have gotten hurt, and neither Mike nor myself wants to see that."