BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 13, 2004

Jaron Brown

Jamie Dixon

Carl Krauser

COACH JAMIE DIXON: Obviously, it was a very good basketball game between two very good teams. I thought we played very well throughout, and it was a great game. Two teams played very well. Someone had to lose. I'd like to congratulate the University of Connecticut on winning the championship. I'm very proud of our guys. I thought we played with tremendous heart and desire, as always. I'd like to congratulate UCONN again. We responded and did everything we wanted to do. We just came out short. But I was really happy with our effort in what we tried to do today.

COACH JAMIE DIXON: Well, I mean, any time you lose, it hurts. You think about different things. But, I mean, I have a lot of confidence in him the next game and next shot. So, I mean, he's the reason why we have 29 wins and just like all of our guys, and everybody has a lot of confidence in him. That's pretty much how we feel, as always.

COACH JAMIE DIXON: I mean, our guys, we've played a lot of tough games. We won a lot of games. Obviously, this was a game that just didn't turn out. It was a back-and-forth game. It would have been nice to have been on the winning side. They got the loose ball at the end and got a three. Just didn't seem like we got the loose balls at the end. We'd block a shot, they'd get it back. I guess those things happen. You just hope you're in a position to get those loose balls the next time.

COACH JAMIE DIXON: I mean, Gordon is going to -- with the amount of shots, stuff they run for him, he's going to get his points. We try to make it as difficult as we can, get as low a percentage as we can. I thought Julius did a great job, our whole team defense did a good job on him. I think it was a one-point game, they got a loose ball. They got a couple loose balls. Really that was the biggest thing, I thought, that they got shots -- they missed some shots, we didn't get the rebounds and the loose balls at the end. I'm very proud of how our guys responded. We played great. We knew it was going to come down to a close game, two good teams were playing. Not a surprise it was a close game till the end. Just didn't turn out the way we had hoped.

JARON BROWN: I don't want to use it as an excuse. If it was hurt, I wouldn't go on the court. It was tender. It didn't stop me from playing. I did everything the same. It didn't have an effect on me in the game today.

CARL KRAUSER: I just think we made some mistakes. I just credit the UCONN team for getting the loose balls and rebounding the ball well down the stretch.

CARL KRAUSER: Just wanted to get to the basket and try to get a foul call, get to the line, you know. We wanted to wind up as a bonus, I guess. Get to the line to make free throws. That didn't happen. The ball bounced around, like you said. Mark came up with a shot. He missed.

CARL KRAUSER: No, it doesn't affect us. We're just going to go back to Pittsburgh, practice, get great preparation for the game and find out where we're going to be seeded and just go out there and play hard the next game.

JARON BROWN: Yeah, I know we will. We took some losses before, we came back, practiced hard and won again. That's what we plan on doing.