Louisville vs. Mississippi State Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach David Padgett
(Opening statement) Well, we just ran into a bus tonight. That's a heck of a basketball team. They're the epitome of a team that's even more impressive in person after you watch them on film. That's a big time basketball team. They're extremely athletic and very skilled at every position, shot the ball well and we just couldn't find it offensively tonight. Nonetheless, this loss won't define this season. The way these- I've said it before and I'll say it until the day I die, the way these players conducted themselves on the court and off the court with all the external distractions we had to deal with has been nothing short of remarkable. I hope everybody, not only in this university and this program, but in this city and this state appreciates that because everybody in this room has been a college kid at one point and it's easy to not handle yourself in the right way, and these guys have done that day in and day out. I will love these guys until the day I die, and you only get as a coach, no matter what sport you're in, one 'first team,' so I'll always remember this one. I'm going to need some time to reflect on this year, I haven't had a chance to yet. We had a good year. We had a very, very good year. We didn't accomplish quite what maybe we had hoped for, but nonetheless, I think all things considered we had a heck of a year. Tough finish, but sometimes the other team is just better."

(On the fans over the past three NIT games) Padgett: "The fans that we've had all season, and especially these last three games, are the reason why putting this uniform on is so special. You look at some of the attendance from some of the other teams playing in the NIT and it's 2-3,000 people. We've had 12,000 people or whatever it may be for three straight games, and it's why I came to school here, it's why these guys came to play here, and it's why this place is so special. The fans make it what it is, and we owe an extreme debt of gratitude to them for everything that they did to support these guys through a very difficult season."
(On what the fans chanting his name at the end of the game meant to him) Padgett: "It meant a lot. Like I said from day one, it's never been about me. I was glad they gave these guys the ovation they did because they deserved it. We didn't get a chance to end it right on senior night, obviously, but it just goes to show what this fan base is all about. It's the best in the country, I firmly believe that. I'm very biased obviously, but show me another fan base that would have turned out for these guys these last three games. It's a special, special place."

(On the message to the team after the game) Padgett: "I just told them this loss isn't going to define us, but they need to be proud of the way they handled themselves as people throughout the season. Like I said, there's just a lot of external distractions that everybody is obviously aware of. Three days before the season starts, the coach that they came here to play for gets relieved of his duties. Foreshadowing the season was the way they responded in that day's conditioning workout that afternoon, it was just energy and everything. All I can say is I really hope everyone appreciates what these players have been through and how they've handled themselves because sometimes in life when adversity hits, it's easy to just throw in the towel and get through it with minimal effort, but these guys did the opposite of that and they never quit. That alone character wise as people will take them much farther in life than basketball."

(On the feeling of this being the last game as a Louisville player) Anas Mahmoud: "I've said it multiple times this year, I am always going to remember the position that I was put in since the first day that I came here. I was 7 foot, 184 pounds when I walked in the door. Just to see the transformation that the past four years have done, not just on the basketball court, but for me as a person is something that I will always be grateful for. Walking out today with my guys is a feeling that I will never forget. It's the last home game. I thought a couple weeks ago was my last home game, but I had the chance to play three more home games, and I couldn't be happier to do that. The crowd today was terrific, the last three games was terrific. The fans carried us through all the things that we had to deal with through the season, even though it wasn't the ending that we hoped At the end of the day, there is so much that you can't control in your life, and at the end of the day that's our situation, and we made the most out of it."

(On checking out of the game at the same time as Quentin Snider) Mahmoud: "Me and Q are so much alike. He's a lot quieter than me, I was quiet when I first came here, but I had to change a little bit. For me and him to go out together is something at the end of our time that I will never forget. We had to go through everything together, and it meant so much to me for both of us to go out together at the same time because we had to carry a lot of people throughout the season. At the end of the day, people came to us to keep them together. Q is always going to be one of my favorite teammates out of any team that I have played with. He has great character, he's a great guy, funny, sarcastic and he's going to be one of my favorites for the rest of the time. Our fans appreciated us and we appreciated their attendance today. I mean it's a Tuesday night at 9 o'clock, and its snowing outside. For everyone to be here and supporting us the way that they did is something that I will remember forever."

(On feeling tired after a long season) Padgett: "You know, I'm not sure that I have an answer to that question just yet. It takes a while to decompress after a season, even as an assistant coach you realize that. You need some time. It's late, but I'll probably just go home, sit on the couch and probably have a glass of red wine and just think about what the hell I just went through for the last six months. Like I said, I'll only have one, hopefully I'm in this profession for a long time, but I'll always just have one first team, and I couldn't have picked a better one."

(On if he has any idea about what his future at Louisville will be) Padgett: "No, I don't. I haven't spoken a word to anybody about it. I haven't thought about it because that wouldn't have been fair to these guys, to take away from what we were trying to accomplish. Tomorrow I guess I've got to start giving some thought to that. We've just been trying to play basketball, and now that it's over I guess we'll get ready for whatever the next chapter is."

(On Malik Williams' lack of playing time in the past few games) Padgett: "When you get deeper into the year you got to shrink your rotation and Dwayne was playing well. It wasn't a thing that Malik wasn't playing well, it was just Dwayne gave us a big boost. At Virginia Tech he obviously played very well, and moving forward we just seemed to have more success with that "smaller lineup." So, we just kind of stuck with it. Malik's future, just like the rest of these younger guys, is extremely bright. I just want them to keep their confidence and just continue to work because they're going to be great players."

(On his future at Louisville) Padgett: "I have not spoken one word with anybody about the future of this program or myself."

Mississippi State Head Coach Ben Howland
(Opening statement) "Well that was a phenomenal win for us. This is so exciting for our team. The way they came out here prepared. The way they prepared for this. Remember, we played Sunday, just like they did. They played Sunday night, we played Sunday morning. We had to travel. So to travel that much and show up with that kind of effort is really gratifying for me as their coach and I can't say enough about our entire team. How hard they worked and prepared for this, because we wanted to go to New York City and go to the (Madison Square) Garden badly and they displayed that in how they played today. To get 14 rebounds in a game in 26 minutes is pretty impressive. I thought Lamar Peters handled their pressure early really well, really distributed the ball, did a great job of taking that pressure off of us. He's hard to press, he's pretty quick. I thought we really shared the ball well, exceptionally tonight offensively. First quarter they only had 12 points, that's impressive defense and that's where it ends, defense. For us, we shot 47 percent, they only shot 35 percent. We won the battle of the boards, handled the pressure, only 11 turnovers, seven blocks. I was really excited for Aric Holman and Eli Wright to come back to their home state and win here in Louisville."
(Aric being from Owensboro, Kentucky. Talk about your experience coming back home and getting this big win and advancing to Madison Square Garden.)"

Aric Holman: "Obviously it's a great feeling to come back home. My teammates helped me prepare and we also prepared really well for this game. We all came into this game very confident. And it just happy it went the way it went."

(Did you put any extra pressure on yourself?) Aric Holman: "I wouldn't say I put any pressure, I was thinking too much. Like I said my teammates are great at encouraging each other and especially me, to keep me up and things just started falling in the second half."

(How big of a cheering section did you personally have tonight?) Aric Holman: "I had a big one."

(On Mississippi State's effort) Howland: "I'm just excited about how we passed the ball. There were a lot of extra passes tonight that were fantastic. Aric (Holman) was the recipient of a couple of them, and he made a couple great ones. To see where we started, and where we've come from in terms of making the extra pass, is just so exciting, because we really looked good tonight at both ends of the floor. This is one of our best games of the year and it's good to be playing that way at the end of the season. And this is going to really be positive for us to get another opportunity to play a postseason game against a very good Penn State team in New York City. So, we're really excited about it and looking forward to the trip. To play in the (Madison Square) Garden again is just like an incredible thing. I've been blessed, being in the Big East, and also in my stop at UCLA, I've played a number of games in the Garden. There's just nothing that is like that, and being in the city, you come down Fifth Avenue right to the Garden, it's just really special."

(On playing in front of 10,000 fans on the road) Quinndary Weatherspoon: "We just stand together. We just stand together as a team. The other team is going to make their run, so we just try to stand together. This team has come a long way from the summertime. We really have gelled together. We do a lot of things on and off the court together, so I think it's just helped us on the court as much as possible. So, when those teams go on their runs, it's just easy for us to come down and make our own run."

(On playing in Madison Square Garden) Nick Weatherspoon: "It's going to be pretty fun. I've played in a couple of big arenas, including this one, but I don't think it's going to be nothing like playing in an NBA arena that a lot of great players have played in. So, it's going to be my first time playing there and I hope I play well."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Anas Mahmoud

Quentin Snider

Malik Williams

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