BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 13, 2003

John Allen

Louis Orr

LOUIS ORR: First off I would just give honor and praise to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ for his presence. He's been awful good to us this season, good to me. Connecticut I think for us today we had to have our A-game to beat this team. Transition basketball, and they have been -- Evanovich could have got into a little bit of foul trouble to get him off the court but he's tough when he is in the middle. Our turnovers really hurt us in the first half. But we didn't quit, we cut it to 6 and they hit a big 3 in the second half. But our guys played hard and I thought we fought. I don't think we played as well as we needed to play to beat a team like Connecticut tonight. But you know, just was a tough game for us.

LOUIS ORR: Yeah, they out-rebounded us by 15 and they had 16 offensive rebounds; that's always a factor. One of our goals was to out-rebound the opposing team and keep their offensive boards under double figures, and with Okafor, one guy getting 18 rebounds, I mean, nobody else had over 4. I mean, it's just tough. He's a great force in the middle. I don't think we played anybody as dominating in the middle as he is all the way around but I thought defensively we did a real good job with him. I don't think he hurt us offensively. Kelly Whitney and our big guys did a real good job. They got so many weapons on the perimeter to Ben Gordon and Tony Robertson. Taliek Brown, he's very efficient, they just -- they just have good balance. But if we could have kept them half court I think we would have had a better chance but the transition game and offensive rebounds hurt us.

JOHN ALLEN: Yes, definitely. We came into this tournament wanting to win every game, wanting to win the whole tournament but one win is better than none and we'll take one win and hopefully Sunday the committee will see it our way and we'll move on from there.

LOUIS ORR: We deserve it. I mean, from top to bottom what league is more competitive? Every night is a war. We had 10 conference wins and they were all wars. I think it is the toughest league to play in. A lot of times we beat each other up, but I try to be objective. I may be a little biased, but in my opinion, we definitely could easily get 6 teams in. It's been a very, very competitive season and some very good teams in this league.

LOUIS ORR: Yeah. Well, he did a very good job. He made a big shot for them. We tried to sag off their four men. He made a big shot and he did some hustle plays around the basket. Coach Calhoun kept shifting guys in and out of that spot until he found what he wanted. Mike Hayes gave it to him. Those guys do a lot of the dirty work. They scrap. I have got to give him credit. He was a thorn in our side today.

LOUIS ORR: Well, for our guys it's spring break at least until Monday. Take a couple of days off, but I do a lot of praying, but I have been doing a lot of praying, but I think these guys need a rest. They need a few days off to rest their bodies and get ready for post-season but I am very optimistic. I am going to stay prayerfully optimistic and just leave it in the Lord's hands.

JOHN ALLEN: I think for me and the rest of my teammates we just, like coach said, we're going to have a couple of days off for the first time in a while so we usually get one day off; hopefully we'll have two. But you know I think for me, I am just going to go home and enjoy the time with my family, and you know, if our name comes up on Sunday, then it comes up. If not, then I am sure we'll be somewhere playing and we'll have the opportunity to show ourselves again.

JOHN ALLEN: He's just -- it's tough when you got a big guy in the middle and you beat one guy and you see the big guy stepping up. Kelly did a great job, Okafor changed a lot of shots. He changed a lot of shots, and he changed the way you go into the lane. You go into the lane sometimes thinking you know, if he step up, who am I going to pass it to instead of you know, shooting the ball first, and Kelly did a great job on him. He's tough in the middle. He's a great player. My hat goes off to him.

LOUIS ORR: I have got to commend Kelly Whitney, he kept going at him. He took a tough shot to the face, he probably got -- hopefully doesn't have a concussion or anything but he got really dazed and he came back as a warrior. For a freshman playing against Okafor he really didn't get to the foul line too much. Okafor got a chance to play almost the whole game. But Kelly kept going at him. So I commend him. Kelly was a warrior tonight. He showed a lot of courage bouncing back. He didn't stop going at him.

LOUIS ORR: Tough game. I think if you want to I mean, Connecticut is going to run, so they beat them once at their place. I think the transition game is something that could be a throw-off for Syracuse but their zone, you have got to make shots against their zone, and I think it's going to be a battle. Both teams have different styles, but they both have a lot of talent. I think whoever style wins out that's the team that's going to win.