Gary Waters Game Quotations

Like I told them in the locker room, I'm getting tired of telling them that. We lost our game at Syracuse where we played hard, were right there with a chance to win, and we didn't win it. We need to find a way to get over that hump. And that's the whole ballgame right there.

Remember, we lost two of our last three games, and that stopped us from getting to the NCAA. We're actually playing better, but (playing) on the road is a different case. Now we're playing game by game.

It hurts because this was a game you gotta win and we didn't. But we got Louisville coming in and they got the same (Big East) record as we got. They're fighting for their lives so they're coming in ready to play.

I thought our kids followed the game plan extremely well. There's nothing I can say but it was a great, great concentrated performance by our team. Our guys worked extremely hard. I thought we rebounded the ball well. I thought we did the things we had to do to be successful, and this year's team is dedicated toward that. They followed what we told them to do. They did everything to a tee.

That was paramount. We had talked, going into the first half, that this team was on (its) last legs. They felt there was one game that they (had a chance to win) and it was our game. I told our team to go out and take them (Bulls' legs) away. Once you do that, they'll feel like there's nothing else left. I think that's what happened.

We played a bad game (against Providence) but do you know with four minutes to go we're down seven and they're shooting 60 percent and we're shooting in the 30s? That tells you if we shoot 60 percent we're up 20 points. That's what I had to tell our kids -- we're not that far off. But we can't afford to go and have a half like that ever.

We played a game down three starters and your sixth man. It's hard to play like that.

You don't know how much of a relief (it was). I thought our kids came out and relaxed. We lost a game (to St. John's) the other day when there was too much other crap running around out there. This time, they could just play basketball and not worry about other things.

We had a great game plan of who we wanted to shut down. But the one we didn't have room for in our equation was Lowry. He had a phenomenal game. A phenomenal game.

Without taking him away you don't have an opportunity. Our game plan, to take Whitney away, gave us an opportunity with this team.

That's going to be a tough game here Saturday. Home court is going to be a major, major issue in this league.

There's nothing to say. We played a game where we were down three starters. I give Quincy credit for trying to fight, but when you're missing your third- and fourth-leading scorers, it's hard to play like that. There was a point where we had three walk-ons on the court. It just makes it hard.

This game was about intensity and toughness, and I knew Ollie would bring that to the table. I just thought our kids did a great job playing with emotion and intensity. That's something we didn't do in the first half against Providence, but understand, that was an oddity. This team plays hard.

I have to give DePaul a great deal of credit because they could have backed down in that game when we were up by eight in the last four minutes of the game. But they kept fighting.

He's the best defender in the Big East. Everybody he plays against he shuts down. The game you saw Mejia have wasn't an off-day - that young man makes people have off-days.

Their maturity and experience took over. I thought that was the difference in the game. We had every opportunity to take advantage of that game and we just didn't do it.

That (run) was paramount. We talked about, going into the game, that this team was on their last leg. They felt if there was one game they had a chance, it was against us. I told our team to go out and take them away, because then there's nothing else left. And that's what happened.

We lost a game the other day because we couldn't focus. There was too much other (stuff) going around out there. This time they could relax and just play basketball and not worry about things.