BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2005

Jared Dudley

Al Skinner

Craig Smith

COACH AL SKINNER: Yeah, I mean, the thing about it is that, you know, I mean, give credit to West Virginia. We got to within four. The big fella steps out and bangs a three. I think if I remember correctly. I think that gave them the separation that they needed. There's just no way that you can afford to give up that many points and allow a team to shoot that well and really expect to come back and win. You can make every effort, but it was -- we were just playing for pride at that point in time and just trying to make it a little more of a game. They were just way too comfortable in the first half. There was no real defensive energy for us. Any time a team shoots that well, 65 percent, 70 percent from the three-point line, you're not making them feel at all uncomfortable. Everything's in rhythm and they're feeling good about themselves.

COACH AL SKINNER: Because we really didn't defend. I mean, the difference in the first half and the second half was how much harder we worked. Regardless of what our offense was -- what was occurring on the offensive end, I just think defensively, we really did not respond as far as our execution and what we wanted to do defensively, wasn't there in the first half. They just kept -- they were aggressive and kept taking it to us. But, again, I think they felt very comfortable running their offense, as they showed this afternoon, they showed yesterday. Given that comfort level, they're going to shoot the ball very well.

COACH AL SKINNER: I'm not going to say we played man-to-man defense in the first 20 minutes. We were attempting, but we didn't play it. Believe me, if we're playing man-to-man defense, no one shoots 65%.

COACH AL SKINNER: No magic button. Guys have to take a little pride with themselves and with their team and go out and work a little harder. It's just that simple. Our preparation, our focus has got to be there. It's lacking. We're talking about the team. Individuals may be ready, but before everybody was ready. Now all of a sudden maybe we're getting distracted; I don't know what it is. Now we're at a point it's one and done, and guys have to get themselves prepared to play. As soon as the whistle goes up, we have to be ready to play. Again, I can't say it enough, a credit to West Virginia how well they played. When you allow a team to shoot that well, I don't think that you're giving the defensive effort you're capable of, not when you turn around in the second half and allow them to shoot only 35%.

CRAIG SMITH: Yeah, it does. Just the way guys come out at us, us being the top seed in the BIG EAST. They came out and were aggressive. When you're top dog, people are gonna come for you. You know, this is a wakeup call for us. We still got one more chance to do something special.

CRAIG SMITH: I still think we're the underdogs at times. It obviously showed, you know, tonight, who wanted it more.

JARED DUDLEY: I don't even know. You know, right now we didn't come out and play the way we're capable of playing. West Virginia, you know, came out, were more aggressive today, executed their offense. We didn't defend them at all. People have to suck it up, get back to work. You know, we didn't accomplish our goal in the BIG EAST tournament. Still got another goal. It's right here at hand. We have to wait till Sunday to see who we play and then get ready to execute. I'm really confident the next time we play we'll come out with a better effort.

CRAIG SMITH: Like I said, in the games we lost in the regular season, we were able to start to close things out. I think when it came down to crunch time, we kind of let things go. Obviously, you know, today we just came out, we weren't really focused on what was at hand. We weren't hungry enough.

JARED DUDLEY: You could. I don't know if we could do that. I think people are down just losing this game right here. High hopes, high expectations for us to play, to come in this tournament, make it to the championship game and win it. So, you know, with this loss, it's a setback. But, you know, that's all it is. We're going to bounce back. Start practice tomorrow and then we work from there, you know. West Virginia had a real good game plan. They executed real well. They shot the ball real well. We helped them out a lot. Hopefully next time we play, especially for our seniors, we'll come a lot more hungry and ready to play from the jump.

COACH AL SKINNER: I hate to say it but I really haven't thought about it. There's other things on my mind right now. I can't worry about what I'm going to miss. I'm still worried about what I'm trying to achieve. I'm not missing anything right now. What we're trying to accomplish is really what's on my mind.