Quotebook: December 3 – December 9
“We’re all about mental toughness,” he said. “We’re trying to be the toughest team in America. And the smartest. So far, we’ve proved that this year.”
– Butler coach Darnell Archey
“They didn’t take us lightly in the least. I’m really sorry we couldn’t play harder or better. I don’t know what Tom [Izzo] got out of this.”
– Nicholls State coach Ricky Broussard, after a 92-38 loss to Michigan State where he had to start three freshmen because four players were academically ineligible.
“That was just unbelievable. I’ve never seen anybody do that. He was possessed. If I’m sitting on the North Carolina bench at that point, I’m wondering what’s going on.”
– Kentucky coach Tubby Smith after witnessing Tayshaun Prince nail seven 3-pointers in the first half of their 79-59 win over North Carolina.
“Frank shot more free throws than my whole team.”
– Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson on Illinois’ Frank Williams after an 18-of-24 performance from the line
“I’m just upset nobody told me I had eight turnovers. Two more and I could have had a triple-double.”
– Arizona Wildcat Luke Walton, after scoring 17 points and 13 boards against Purdue
“This team was pretty good and we didn’t exactly grab them by the throat. We kind of picked them up by the ear toward the end.”
– New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla after an 87-80 win over Tennessee Tech
“We knew we were going to run into a buzzsaw. I didn’t tell my guys. They might not have gotten on the bus. You don’t play an Eddie Sutton team the week after they get a scare. I knew they were going to come out and make a statement.”
– Jackson State coach Andy Stoglin after a 90-41 loss to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys beat Wichita State by 2 points two days previous.
“He made a couple of NBA moves out there, and we just shook our heads.”
– IUPU-Ft. Wayne Mastodons coach Doug Noll on Theron Smith of Ball State after a 113-89 loss.
“While I disdain losing worse than death, I just think there’s so many positive things that happened that it would be wrong on my part to be highly critical of anything that happened.”
– South Carolina coach Dave Odom after a 70-68 loss to Georgetown
“I think it shows in stretches that it’s made great improvement, and then I think it shows in stretches that it’s made no improvement. So you take your choice.”
– Texas Tech’s Bobby Knight on his team’s performance so far this season
“Clearly, I haven’t done a good job of coaching in November. When you’re 2-2 and down to Riverside at Pauley, there’s a lot you’re worried about.”
– UCLA’s Steve Lavin, after having to rally to beat UC Riverside 65-60
“We identified the enemy, and it’s us.”
– Akron coach Dan Hipsher after a 78-68 loss to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, the 11th straight loss to a ranked team
“Very seldom do you have the opportunity to go from the outhouse to the penthouse. It’s a great win for our program. We were very fortunate to win tonight.”
– NC Wilmington’s Jerry Wainright after the Seahawks’ 58-50 win against Minnesota – the schools first win over a Big Ten school
“I’m not sure what that gets you, maybe a cup of coffee. The neat thing about it for me is my family can check our boxscores out and watch SportsCenter and see highlights. Other than that, I don’t have much use for it.”
– Missouri coach Quin Snyder on his team’s highest ranking since 1989-90
Life in Lawrence
“I’m going recruiting tomorrow. And if I were you, I’d be in a gym with a ball shooting free throws.”
– Kansas’ Roy Williams message to his team after an 83-76 victory over Wake Forest
“I thought it was going to be a workmanlike game. Our guys are not going to be as fired-up as we were. We just played Arizona and then turned around and played Wake Forest. I knew it wasn’t going to be one of those rah-rah, jump-up-and-bang-your-head-on-the-ceiling kind of games.”
– Williams after a lackluster effort – though still a victory – against Missouri-Kansas City
“They’re players just like us. They’re just ranked a little higher than we are. All right, a lot higher.”
– UMKC Kangaroo’s Michael Jackson, after their 79-68 loss to Kansas
From Lefty, with Love
“Here we are at the Georgia Dome, just had a great ballgame. What did we have, 5,000 people? We should have had 25,000. People in this state have got to forget football and start thinking about basketball.”
– Georgia States’ Lefty Driesell, after having moved the Georgia-Georgia State game to the cheaper Georgia Dome from the more expensive Phillips Arena. Attendance was 5,102 compared to a capacity of 30,000
“I know Lefty has run a lot of different programs, but I’m making the decisions that are best for Georgia Tech. I appreciate Lefty’s advice about running my program. Right now, I like what I’m doing. You can tell Lefty that I’ve checked my manhood, it’s going just fine.”
– Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt on Driesell, who has been pressuring Georgia Tech to schedule games with Driesell’s Georgia State Panthers. Driesell had previously thanked Georgia head coach Jim Harrick for being “Man Enough” to schedule a Georgia-Georgia State game.
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