BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 4, 1998

Antonio Granger

Al Skinner

COACH SKINNER: I will just take some questions, if there are any.

COACH SKINNER: Well, it is something that we can definitely put in the history books, that is for sure. But it was a real fine effort by us to come out with a win. Seton Hall just continued to battle back and, you know, you got to give them a lot of credit, Holloway goes down and they take the lead, and we, you know -- and fortunately we were able to kind of come back and get the lead back. It was a tough game. They played extremely well. We are very fortunate to win.

COACH SKINNER: Well, yeah, it keeps us alive. It presents us with the opportunity. So, I mean, we got it tough -- when you lose, it is going to be tough. We knew that. But the week off that we have had prior to this, I think is going to be -- really was a great benefit for us in this game. And I like to think that we are rested enough that tomorrow we will be ready to go and continue to give another fine effort. But, you know, we keep our hopes alive.

COACH SKINNER: We thought we had some mismatches and some advantages. And especially particularly with Kostas, you know, if he got the ball, that created -- it was going to create some opportunities for us because, you know, he was just big and strong. And when they -- they started to collapse on him and he still was able to draw some fouls. And Antonio really got his in a -- he is obviously shooting the ball well tonight and came up with some big points. As you well know, he clearly has been our most consistent player the second half of the season.

ANTONIO GRANGER: Yeah. That was pretty much our thought throughout the whole second half. We came out, they made their run and they took a lead. And when Shaheen got hurt and me, Duane, Mickey, we looked at each other and decided we weren't going home so soon. We have fun in New York every time we come down. So we didn't want to make this a short trip. That is basically what we said.

COACH SKINNER: Again, I think our senior leadership had a lot to do with that. They have been here before. I think we were disappointed. But, as I told them in the huddle, all they can do is tie. That is not all bad. We can't lose. I think that is important. And that, okay, so, if they tie it, we just have to take another five minutes to try to win it. But I wasn't going to allow an overtime game to take the heart from this team. So we -- if they tied the game, yeah, we are disappointed. But still, we have got another five minutes to go ahead and win it. But I didn't make it essential that we win the game in regulation. Because they had some -- they just got such fine shooters, you knew that they were going to have a good look and there was a good possibility they could score a basket.

COACH SKINNER: He wants to be a Nick, yeah.

ANTONIO GRANGER: I just pretty much like playing in NBA arenas. It is just something about the atmosphere, I guess. I don't know.

COACH SKINNER: I really haven't had much time to think about them. We are focusing on Seton Hall. We all know that they are extremely talented. They are an extremely quick team. They get you down the floor, they score a lot of points. We got to be prepared for that. We got to get back on defense and be prepared for that quickness. I haven't really decided exactly what we were going to do. They definitely present us with a great challenge. I think they are really playing well now, even though against Connecticut they didn't play particularly well. But other than that game, they have been playing extremely well the second half of the season. And so I am hoping that we will be prepared and be able to match the level of play that they are going to bring tomorrow night.

COACH SKINNER: Again I think because we had a lot of time off this week prior to this. I don't think that we are tired. Playing a late game tomorrow night, I think we have plenty enough time to get a good night rest and get ourselves prepared. So, I think we will be fine. Again, if you can't -- if young people can't be prepared to play under these conditions in this environment, then you don't deserve to win or participate. I think they are excited about being here. I think they are excited about the opportunity that is present in front of them. Because of that excitement and enthusiasm I think they will be more and ready to play.