BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2005

Brandon Bowman

Darrel Owens

John Thompson III

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: We could have caved in tonight. We had a lot of games, particularly early on, when we were in this same position and this group fought back and found a way to win. I'm glad they remembered what that felt like, because we're playing against a team that's playing very well and we were not. But we had some guys who made plays when we needed it. Questions?

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: Sitting here now, sure feels like it. And just as important, I just told the guys in there, you know, Darrel did some things tonight that don't show up in -- a couple of possessions where we got fouls just because he was boxing out hard. Couple loose balls that his teammates were able to run down because he was keeping guys off the boards and boxing out. That's important. I mean, that's important to win games in this league, that's important to win games in this tournament. I've said before with our team, you know, Brandon has gotten a lot of attention, Jeff has gotten a lot of attention, but we have guys that when given the opportunity, can step up and have stepped up as the year's gone on. I'm glad Darrel did tonight.

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: Without a doubt. Both winning and losing is contagious. We went through a stretch there, you know, where we were losing. We were trying different things. The kids continued to work hard. I was glad that we responded the way we did. This was a game where - I don't know whether I already said this - where we could have packed it in. I mean, it was easy. We were down 11 or 12 or something with what seemed like in my head, as I was looking around, not enough time. Seven or eight minutes to go. I don't have the time line in front of me. You think about that. We thought about that. But the guys have continued to work hard. It showed up again today. We stuck with our stuff and they stuck with each other. I think that this, as I've said all year with this team, it's a growth process. You got to take baby steps. We had some success early, then late in the year you go through a down phase, and it's good to see -- it's progress for this team to be able to fight through it and five games later get a win.

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: I'm not sure. This conference is terrific. This conference is terrific. We go through the conference with a .500 record. I think that the committee is looking at -- they know what they're doing. They know what they're looking at. They'll look at some of the wins we've had, and not just wins but wins on the road. I think they're looking at road wins a little bit this year. Hopefully, it helps us. But we're showing up to play tomorrow.

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: That definitely -- I'm not sure. Maybe these guys. Darrel hitting those shots obviously made us feel good. But down the other end, we got stops. I mean, there was a phase there where it felt like they were scoring every time down the court. Then all of a sudden we had two or three possessions where Jeff came over and blocked his shot, I think Ray calls a kid to take a tough shot that didn't go in. We got the rebounds. I felt if we could get defensive stops, we could figure out the offensive end, and the guys were able to get stops.

BRANDON BOWMAN: Well, with the fact that the BIG EAST Conference championship tournament, it's a new beginning. It's like going 0-0. We're coming into this game knowing we have a good chance to, you know, make some noise, I guess you can say. In the end, second half, with about 10 minutes to go or whatever, we got stops. We always could make stops, but when we made it up in our mind tonight, it was to get the ball after we stopped, and we didn't allow that many second-chance points in the second half. We came in with the ball. When we come in with the ball, I mean, good things happen. We got to the ball faster, quicker. Darrel hit some shots in the second half that really sparked us. You know, we made our free throws down the stretch besides like, one, I think. It's just the little things that we've been lacking the last five games, I guess you can say that. We decided to do it tonight, and it really paid off.

BRANDON BOWMAN: I mean, I guess I feel the same way as I did before, you know: We always want to come out and win, bottom line. Whatever happens, like Coach says, whatever happens, happens with the committee. They're going to look at our wins, look at our losses, look at our wins on the road. I'm worried about it to a certain extent. But most importantly I want to win this game. I'm worried about this BIG EAST tournament right here. My team and the coaches feel like we can win it, so...

DARREL OWENS: Well, in practice, Coach always puts emphasis on shooting the ball. We do a lot of shooting drills. Throughout it all, he always gives us confidence, making you feel you can hit a shot no matter what time of the game it is. Tonight, when I was on the bench, it seems like once we get it in and kick it out, it would make it a lot easier to shoot. That's we did. They have to worry about Jeff down low. Once Jeff kicks it out, we have to be ready to shoot. Coach Thompson has been saying that all year round. Bang shots, we can be a pretty good team and it kind of paid off tonight.

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: Make shots and guard our guy. It's a simple game. Simple game. As Brandon is whispering in my ear, which I've been whispering to them five games now, rebound. Obviously, we're playing against a very good team. A team that is playing very well right now. What do we have to do? We have to execute. We cannot have any lapses. We played them, this is the second time we would have played them in a week, 10 days, something like that. We had a few stretches in that first game where we had some lapses, and we have to eliminate those, eliminate the length of those. We have to play well. There's no two ways about it. We have to play very well at the offensive end, we have to play very well at the defensive end, and we have to come down with the ball.

COACH JOHN THOMPSON III: Yeah, but their exterior tuned us up pretty good. I mean, I think that it just was a decision on their part. I mean, we were not playing good perimeter defense, so they decided to get perimeter shots as opposed to going inside. I think our guys were working pretty hard at helping each other, trying to keep them out of the post. But their perimeter guys, you know, played very well.