BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2005

Jim Boeheim

Gerry McNamara

Hakim Warrick

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: First half, we knocked down some shots. We were aggressive on defense, better than we were obviously the first time we played them. We got out on their shooters better. You know, Hak had a tremendous start in the game, got us going. So, you know, was just a real good effort. We had such a tough game down with Rutgers the first time that, you know, I thought we learned a lot from that. Did a much better job inside against an inside screen and then we got out on their shooters and made them take it a step back further out. It was a real good effort for us.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I think that was the other way around. No, that thought never entered my mind, no.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, there's no close that when you're playing back-to-back, it's a lot better to be able to rest people and, you know, not have to go all-out for 40 minutes, no question about that. That's something that is of tremendous value for us, I think.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I think it was fortunate we didn't have to go 40 minutes and come down to the last play. That would have been a lot tougher. We should be fine tomorrow and got lots of time to recover. Connecticut is playing the best of anybody in the league right now. They've won, I think, what, 10 straight games in the league. They're just playing very, very well. Tremendous challenge for us. We're looking forward to it. It will be a tremendous challenge.

GERRY McNAMARA: You just said it, make shots, you know. Just be a playmaker, be aggressive. I think I picked my spots a lot better tonight than I have been. I just stayed patient, and when it came, I just took it. I didn't force anything up; I didn't have to. Hakim, like Coach said, just got us started so well that, you know, when he opened it up for me. When I got open looks, I had good rhythm and I just knocked them down. That's what I'm going to have to do tomorrow, get those same type of looks and have my good legs. In the second half, it was fortunate for us that, you know, we didn't have to, like Coach said, go down to the wire. We're going to rest tonight and hope for the best tomorrow.

HAKIM WARRICK: We know it's going to be a challenge. They got us last two games. We definitely know what to expect. We have to go out there and execute, hit some outside shots. It's tough to beat any team if you're not hitting outside shots. If we can shoot the ball the way we shot the ball tonight, then we have a real good shot.

HAKIM WARRICK: Yeah, you definitely want to go out there and be aggressive right from the start, don't want them to get any confidence. We knew coming out there, they had nothing to lose and they were going to come out and take a lot of outside shots. I thought if we could jump on them early, put that pressure on them, it would really benefit us.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I think when it comes to tournament play, if you look at the scores around the country, there is no such thing as a team you're supposed to beat. You look at every tournament that was played today, I don't know how many there were, Texas A & M got beat, they were favored, Kansas State got beat and they were favored. Memphis beat Charlotte. Here today, you know, Georgetown plays, gets it to two. Maryland gets beat. If you look closely at tournament play now, I don't think there's any such thing as a game that you're supposed to win anymore. I think everybody's good enough and you get into a tournament situation, anything can happen. West Virginia beat the No. 1 seed here today. I just think that it's very difficult knowing what's going to happen in tournament play. That's true throughout the country right now.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I think there's no question. Hakim got us started. Gerry, Hakim and Josh have great tournament experience. That's something that's helped us, obviously, in the NCAA tournament, getting there to the Sweet 16 last year, winning it. We rely on these guys to make plays and know what to do in tournament situations. That's a big luxury to have. Certainly, it's something that obviously helped us tonight and hopefully something that will help us as we keep playing in the tournaments.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, I think these guys are young guys. They make some plays, they're learning about what needs to be done. They struggle with the game a lot in different situations, but their effort's good. They're thinking about what to do. I think they're getting better. I think they're both going to be real good players, we just got to keep working at the game. I think our sophomores are all getting better. I think it's just they're still fighting. It's very difficult when you're coming off the bench and not getting a lot of time to be able to go in there and play. They're still struggling with that a little bit. But they're getting better, getting much better in practice. We see big improvements from them. We certainly -- Terrence has helped us rebounding. We were getting outrebounded for five or six games. Since he's been starting, we're well ahead on the boards over the games he's started. So that's a very positive thing.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, they have to play for us at a high level. Teams know that, and teams cheat to them. That's something that we all have to understand and other guys have to take advantage. Josh Pace does that. The other guys have to find their openings and get their shots when they're there. That's what determines just how well we play night in, night out. There's teams that dedicate guys just to Gerry, and he's not going to get a lot of good looks in those situations. Other guys have to take advantage of that. Gerry has gotten much better this year at penetrating, finding people, making plays. Our other guys have got to get better at finishing those plays. That's something that we've worked on hard all year, Gerry has worked hard on it. I think he's become a much better playmaker in getting the ball to people. Sometimes he gets it to them, we just don't finish it very well. Doesn't necessarily show up, but I think he's fourth in the league in assists and I think he's really improved in that area, and that's an area where he can continue to improve, I think, and that's very important for us. Teams are going to double-team either him or Hakim, and the other guys have to take advantage of that.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: It's a tremendous game, tremendous challenge. Like I said, they're as good as anybody we'll play in the NCAA tournament. I think that that kind of experience this week is very good for us. The BIG EAST tournament is a tremendous experience for us. We've come out of here three times and have not won it three times and we've gone to the final game three times. So the experience I think you get here can really help you, because there will be nobody tougher that we play in the NCAA tournament than Connecticut is. That's all good.