It was probably the toughest game I've ever played in. |
It was slippery out there. I had to go to the trusty grip shoes. |
It would be the same if we were No. 4 or No. 24. Connecticut is Connecticut. They're going to want to take our heads off as soon as we get out there. They're going to be aggressive. It may be the best game they have all season. Everyone seems to have their best game against us. |
It's a big deal, especially with us being from the West Coast. They get a lot of love in the ACC and all that stuff. It's a big statement game for us. |
It's a game we need to win. We're not focusing on winning the Big East, the Big East standings, the NCAA standings, whatever. They beat us the first time, so we have to get this win. |
It's going to be a grind-out game. It's going to be a Big East game. It's not going to be a walk in the park. With No. 1 on our chests, a lot of teams are coming for us, especially Pitt. With their gritty attitude, it's going to be an intense game...This is like a fight. It's more like 1-on-1-on-1-on-1-on-1. |
It's good to be home. Maybe we can feed off our crowd's energy. |
It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a big gut-check for us. But we've got some momentum going in and we've got some confidence. I think we'll be fine. |
It's real big for someone like me. I write it down every day. Everything that he writes down, I write down every day. I think some of us take it to heart, some of us just think of it as, like ... the freshmen haven't been here yet, so they don't know the meaning of Big East champs. I don't think they take it for granted. They just don't know yet. |
It's tough playing catch-up, especially on the road. |
Just kept my hands in his face. Just staying on his hip, not letting him get any open looks. |
Kirk came in and was great on the boards. He made shots. He was a good sixth man off the bench. He definitely helped me out (being in foul trouble). |
Like I've said time and time again, we lost focus. |
Most importantly, ... I want to apologize to my teammates for the difficult position that I have put them through. |
No one has been able to stop him. We obviously didn't want to give up 30 points to him. It's everyone's job to get in there to do what we need to to stop him. He has phenomenal talent. |