I was on him because I didn't think he played a real good game, but I've got to put him in down the stretch because he's Mr. Clutch. |
I was scared to death. C.J. had a double-double against them the first game, but I knew we weren't the same team and they hadn't lost on he road in the conference. It was the ultimate underdog situation. |
I'm not saying just because we won 10 straight games that we're definitely going to go to the postseason. But let me tell you something: It's a good sign for us. |
I've paid my dues and I feel like I belong here and I'm ready. |
It took 25 years to get here. You can believe I'm not going to take it lightly. |
It was a great win for us. This was monumental, and a national win. |
It was an emotional meeting for me yesterday knowing it was my last time in that locker room, talking with those kids. It was time for me. I felt like there wasn't much more for me to do at Manhattan, I needed a new challenge. I paid my dues. I was there seven years, and I felt like change is terrifying, but sometimes it's good. And that's kind of what I told the kids. |
It was fitting that Jason Wingate was on the line there at the end. That kid has been Mr. Clutch. For him to take us home at the end was fitting. |
My father was a big boxing fan, and he used to say the best fighters are the ones who come through the ranks and pay their dues. I'm here today because I came up through the ranks. My dream was always to be a head coach in the Big East. That's all I ever aspired to do. |
Our seniors were crying and ... thinking their careers are over. I reminded them, 'Look, we're going to play in postseason.' I've got to get us back up to play a game. We're Manhattan. Manhattan was part of the NIT for all those years. We can't act like we're too good. |
Our young inside people just dominated the game. Any time we get four guys in double figures and get 89 points, we usually come out on top. |
That's one of the things about our style of play, we try to run it up-tempo. So if we get momentum, we get steals, we get a positive play or a run-out, we can score in a hurry. We can score quickly in bunches. |
There are too many things going wrong for us to win this game. |
There was so much electricity in the air, and it was so heated to start the game, (the officials) knew if they didn't calm things down, things could explode. That whistle determined a lot. |
This was monumental, and a national win. Maryland is a powerful program. We would kill for their eighth man. But I'm sure they had a letdown because they didn't get into the NCAA tournament. We didn't get their A-game. |