Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes

Jan. 28, 2004

Louisville Coach Kevin Willard

"No it wasn't pretty, but it was a win. I am happy with the guys. There were a lot of distractions the last couple days, but they came out focused. I'm real happy."

"You have to give them a lot of credit. They hit some tough shots. Andre Owens is a heck of a player and you can see why he is an all-conference player. I think when they made their shots we were fatigued from running up and down."

"I did not get nervous until I got out there. Brad (Gianini) had a few turnovers and he came over and I told him I was just as nervous as he was. The only difference was I wasn't kicking the ball all over the gym."

(on Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean) "They are great leaders and that is what they are here for."

"He (Coach Pitino) talked to the guys by speaker phone just before the game. He said he had a lot of confidence in them and to get them. He also said 'don't lose.'"

"I think we are in good shape, but not great shape. We'll have to work on that starting tomorrow."

(on what Coach Pitino told him before the game) "The last thing he told me was that he had one more test and to call him after the game."

"Marquette is a heck of a team and Tom Crean is a heck of a coach. We need to stop Diener and Novack. Hopefully we won't turn the ball over as much as we did tonight. It will be a heck of a basketball game."

Houston Coach Ray McCallum

"We thought we were in position in the second half, but some turnovers really hurt us. That is what Louisville has the ability to do. We thought we could guard their sets, but they had the ability to make shots. For us we have had trouble scoring all year long and that is a credit to them tonight. They're halfcourt defense makes it very difficult to score. They only had four blocks, but they were timely blocks to end our run."

"I thought our bench gave us a lift. Not so much from scoring, but they helped us out."

University of Louisville Athletics

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