This was a game we had to have. But you know what, so is the next one. So we just have to keep working.

We got more pressure on them, got in their face and disrupted their offense.

I really don’t know how the freshmen are reacting. They don’t really understand right now how the tournament is and how we’re in last place.

We just want to keep playing. We know the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted maybe, but we also know there’s still a chance to win a championship.

I’ve never felt this way. I never lost this many games in my two years here. We’re just a young team. We’ve got to get tougher.

It comes with practice. I just take the ball to the middle of the floor. Coach says to take it to the E in the Big East sign (in the lane) or I can make...

It lets them know we can be in there and we can win close games. Don’t be scared, just get in there with confidence.

Coach wanted us to have a game like this, to get out and get after people at the defensive end. We did that in the first half, but we kind of slacked off in the...

We’re getting real tired of almost.

This will show us where we’re at. If we can go down there and beat Miami, we’re going to be a pretty good team.

I think a lot of guys on this team learned a whole lot this season. There’s a lot of guys in here ready to go to work this summer and make it a much different...

We wanted them to do that. We’d rather have them run the time down and let us play solid defense.

It’s been a long time. I don’t want to be a selfish guy. I’ve been a point guard most of my life and I like to pass a lot. This is new to me.

This is the best we’re playing all year. We’re peaking at the right time. We’re so together. We’re all brothers out there.

They’re still the same old Cincinnati. Tough, hard-nosed kids. They push the ball a little more, but they still get on the glass and bump every cutter going through. They’re just tough guys.

It really wasn’t a big deal to me, but I guess those guys wanted to see it so I took it hard to the basket.

We go to Rutgers (Saturday). Coach told us their arena is a mini-Kentucky, that Rutgers and Pittsburgh are the two toughest places to play in the Big East. We’ll have to go in there and...

Coach told us not to worry about our shots not falling. He wanted us to win this game on defense, and that’s what we did.

It’s a little pressure, but the freshmen really don’t understand yet. I’m not sure they realize we’re in last place in the Big East (actually tied for 12th) and we really need to win some...

We made him take some tough shots that usually would fall for him. They just didn’t fall this time. He was aggressive but he still left with a doughnut.

That was my assignment not making it so comfortable for him.

Our first half was great. We did everything Coach wanted us to do. We had 28 deflections in the first half; we had 50 total in the game. Our pressure was going good for us...

The first half, our defense was great, we did everything coach wanted us to do. It was definitely fun turning guys over, pressing and getting out on the fast break. It’s the way coach wanted...