|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS & FINALS: ST. LOUISMarch 26, 2010Kwadzo AhelegbeJordan EglsederAli FarokhmaneshBen JacobsonAdam KochST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Michigan State – 59 MODERATOR: Northern Iowa Panthers are with us. We'll have an opening statement from Coach Ben Jacobson, and then we'll go to questions for the student-athletes. COACH JACOBSON: First, I want to congratulate Michigan State on a good win, and continuing to advance and into the tournament. We knew this was going to be a tremendous challenge. And they played exactly how we thought they were going to as we watched them on film, and just want to congratulate Coach Izzo and his team on advancing in the tournament. Obviously very proud of our guys tonight. I thought we played great. We had one stretch in the second half where I didn't have us running the right stuff for a few minutes. Our execution wasn't quite good enough for a few minutes. Other than that three or four minutes, I thought we played great and really fought. So very proud of these guys. MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Adam, if you could, talk about that sequence at the start of the second half and kind of getting that third foul, did that take you out of a rhythm a little bit? ADAM KOCH: I don't know. It's disappointing to pick up your third foul so quickly in the second half. You gotta come out. Then you kind of -- it's in your head a little bit, you've got that foul trouble. I don't know. It's just disappointing, I guess. Q. Ali, you guys went the final ten minutes of the game without making a free throw. I could just tell by the look on your face, after you missed that one free throw with about four minutes to go -- or not free throw, layup with about four minutes to go, you were just so frustrated. How frustrating was that last ten minutes where you guys just couldn't seem to buy a bucket? ALI FAROKHMANESH: It was frustrating. Whenever you're not shooting the ball well, it's frustrating. When you take shots that we normally make and you miss them, it's always going to be frustrating. But at the same time you have to give them credit. They made us take some tough shots, and they played great defense in the second half. We missed some shots we normally make, but you have to give them some credit also. Q. Jordan, people always talk about how physical Michigan State is, is that something that you noticed throughout the game, and, if so, how did that play a part in how the game unfolded? JORDAN EGLSEDER: Yeah, well, they did a great job of being physical down low. The second half they started fronting a little bit. And that kind of just took me out of my rhythm a little bit. But they were a really physical team, and they played well. Q. Kwadzo, you hit the two free throws to give your team the lead. And when you come right down, Summers, a guy that had a good game, gets a key shot and gets them back on top. Could you talk about that sequence and how big that was? KWADZO AHELEGBE: That was a defensive error on my part. I did the wrong thing, and as a great player does, he made a great play. Q. Can any of you guys -- I know it's obviously coming off a loss here, but can any of you put this season into context, 30 and 5, a run to the Sweet 16, and probably the biggest win in school history? Can any of you talk about just what this season has been like? ALI FAROKHMANESH: I think just for all of us we just didn't want it to end, that's the biggest thing. I think we enjoyed playing with each other so much that, yeah, we just didn't want this to end. Later on we'll probably think of it and look back on it, but right now it's just hard because we never wanted this to end. ADAM KOCH: Yeah, I guess it's kind of tough to appreciate some of the things that happened this year, after this loss. We had a pretty good year. It's just tough right now, I guess. Q. Adam, you guys come out. You have a great start. And you just feel the electricity from the Panther fans. Did you know there were so many Panther fans out there? I guess seeing now in the last week, and just how important is that to you guys? ADAM KOCH: That means a lot to us. There were a lot of people cheering for us today, showing support, all week long, all season long we've had a lot of support from our fans, from our community. And we really appreciate that. I think that's one of the best things for playing for Northern Iowa, is the support we get from everybody in our community. MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Questions for Coach. Q. Coach, can you talk a little, maybe in the last few minutes there, probably some shots that you guys have made a lot, free throws and whatnot through the year, is fatigue a factor on that, or could you take me through -- was there anything that contributed outside? COACH JACOBSON: No, I don't think so. I think our guys have done such a good job of playing well up and down our lineup. Our bench has been so good. And in particular, late in the season, in the Valley tournament, obviously, you saw Andrew playing ten guys against Bradley and Wichita and being able to play a lot of guys last weekend. I think our guys have done a great job up and down our lineup, and that's helped keep guys fresh for that part of the basketball game. And we've really played well, all year long, the last three, three and a half minutes, that's been really good to us all year long. And we defended well enough. We just missed on a couple of opportunities. Q. Ben, I know probably takes a little time to sink in, three seniors just walked off the platform. Could you talk about what they did for Northern Iowa basketball? COACH JACOBSON: In addition to Ali and Jordan and Adam, Brian Haak has been with us for five years and Adam Rodenberg transferred and has been with us for a couple of years. And those five guys have -- they've done a lot. They've done a lot in so many areas. The obvious is the championship last year and the run that we were able to make this year because of their leadership and the importance that they put on being unselfish, the importance that they put on relationships. I mean, they've done such a good job in those areas that we won a lot of basketball games. But their impact is far-reaching. Our community really rallied around us. Our student body rallied around these guys because of their personalities, and that starts with our seniors. So they did a terrific job with their leadership. And because of that we were able to have some success and a lot of fun. Q. Coach, what are some of the key things that you learned having your team play in the Sweet 16? COACH JACOBSON: The first one, it's a blast. For our guys -- and at the hotel today, the number of people that are here coming out of that tunnel and seeing our fans everywhere. They were on all sides of that thing, and they were loud. I think that's the thing that -- at least at this moment, jumps out is how much fun this has been. And it's been that way because of the guys. They've just done a terrific job. And because of that it's been fun. Q. Just building upon what you just said, you've pretty much captivated NCAA basketball for a week and it's just been unbelievable. Just looking back on that now, does that really sink in, like how big this has been for the University of Northern Iowa? COACH JACOBSON: You know, I don't know if it -- well, it hasn't. It will at some point, for these guys, obviously, in some time they'll have a lot to look back on and a lot to be proud of. But not yet. I'm just so proud of their effort tonight. As things continued to get bigger going to the Valley tournament we played great. Obviously last weekend. Things kept getting bigger. And this is the biggest stage they've been on, and they came out fighting and swinging and doing everything they've done all year, in position to win another game. And I just think that's a tremendous compliment to these guys. And to their toughness and how much they stick up for each other. MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|