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Louisville-USF Postgame Quotes
February 29, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 29, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement)
“It was a tough loss on senior night; they (USF) were the better basketball team tonight in that style. They're bigger, stronger; you got to give them credit. They've been waiting a long time to get into the (NCAA) tournament. You have to give them a lot of credit; they were the better basketball team.”
(On pace of the game)
“You're not going to get them to play fast; nobody has been able to. We did everything we could, except we didn't rebound.”
(On late game time out)
“It was a bad call. There were a lot of bad calls in the game. Nobody says we were going to win the game, but it definitely was a poor call. Just ask the other two officials; they saw the play, ask them for help. The ref heard the coach call a timeout, so he blew the whistle. Just ask the other two guys, it was a complete loose ball; nobody had possession. The other thing, Peyton (Siva) was worried about Anthony Collins and gave up a 3 from the corner; that was just as big a play.”
(On lack of points off turnovers)
“They're a really good basketball team, they were better than us. There's no strategy I can give you, they were just better than us on this given night.”
(On positives from the game)
“It's senior night so it hurts. Chane (Behanan) started doing some really good things; he went to his crab dribble. Gorgui (Dieng) had the same offensive foul that they called on USF. I thought they were both charges - the one that Gorgui did and the one they other guy did. If it's called one way, then it has to be called the other way. South Florida slumps off, and they do it to everybody. They just say go ahead and shoot the ball. I'm going to try to get Angel (Nunez) ready, even though he makes a lot of mistakes. I've got to get him ready for this tournament. I've got to teach Kyle (Kuric) how to play the two and I've got to get Angel ready mentally.”
(On allowing mid range shots in zone defense)
“It's not what we were trying to do. The way you play that is you stay off (Anthony) Collins; we kept worrying about Collins. Kyle had to play the guy inside and Peyton was just standing there guarding Collins and he had to guard the guy on the corner three. That was just as bad as the call on the floor.”
(On style of play being advantageous for South Florida)
“I don't think so; I just think they (officials) made some poor calls down the stretch. We missed a wide open dunk when we were only down by three. Nobody was there and it was a two handed, wide open dunk. We would have only been down by one.”
(On increasing scoring)
“In these slow down games, every possession is fundamentals. They had guys who made shots and we had guys, other than Chris Smith, who didn't make shots. It's always been that way if you have shooters on the perimeter. They knock down the shots. If you don't have shooters on the perimeter, it's going to be difficult to make shots. Russ Smith is good in a wide open game. He's not a good spot up shooter or 3-point shooter. If it's a fast game, you play Russ; if it's not, you play Angel.”
(On South Florida's recent games)
“If you look at the last five out of six games, they've all been low scoring. Even on the road and at home, they're a bunch of veterans. They have a freshman point guard (Anthony Collins), who's a very good thinker; he doesn't play like a freshman. He's the best freshman point guard I've seen mentally in some time. He doesn't rattle; he knows what to do.”
South Florida Head Coach Stan Heath
(On reaction after win)
“I wanted to give my wife a kiss. We had our athletic director and a bunch of people who are unbelievably supportive. We have a new practice facility, the Muma Center, and Les and Pam Muma were both here. I'd just like to thank them for coming out here and giving us support.”
(On if it's biggest win in program history)
“I think so; on the road against Louisville with so much on the line. I don't know history that well, but I know for me personally, it is.
(Biggest win since Elite Eight with Kent State)
“Yeah, I would say that too. This game meant a lot. It was a hostile environment. Great team and our guys really stepped up and I'm really proud the guys in the locker room. They showed resiliency and they could have cracked so many times. So many guys played big. Jawanza Poland hit big shots at key times and Anthony Collins handled the pressure so well. I've got to check his birth certificate. He cannot be a freshman doing what he's doing out here. He's unbelievable.”
(On last three minutes of game)
“Whew, it was an eternity. I kept checking to make sure that the timer was pushing the right button. We did what we're supposed to do. We closed extremely well, made free throws, got the ball to the right guys, and I thought between Anthony Collins getting that huge rebound in traffic, I thought that was the final thing. Once he stepped up to the line, I felt pretty good.”
(On a 12-win Big East team not making the NCAA Tournament)
“Can they? I don't know. I hope not. It would be a little disservice to our league with how strong it is. We just have to keep winning and not think about it. We want to play great basketball down the stretch. We are starting to get better and we still have room for improvement.”
(On what was said in the locker room)
“We just had some fun in the locker room. We were talking about being road warriors and how much fun it is to win on the road and about how tough we played and our defense. We take a lot of pride in our defense. It was just a lot of positive emotions in the locker room.”
(On defensive stand)
“We got off to a great start and we set the tone defensively. In the second half, they started off 6-for-6 and we were talking about it in the huddle about how we had to step it up. Finally, we settled down and made some plays. (Kyle) Kuric really came out on fire in the second half. We finally switched Hugh Robertson over there and I think he did a little better job as time went on.”
(On wanting it more)
“I don't know about who wants it more. I think we played well. They played well. We just grinded out a tough win.”
(On chance for double bye in BIG EAST Tournament)
“I hadn't really even thought about it. I don't know the math right now. It'd be great if we can get that. We've just got to keep winning and see what happens.”
(On last game vs. WVU)
“We do what we do. We enjoy the night and those guys will go right back to work. We'll go in and watch film, see what we need to do against West Virginia. We've got four seniors, Hugh Robertson, Ron Anderson, Augustus Gilchrist and Alberto Damour; we want to send those guys off right for the way they've helped our program.”
