Tommy Amaker Game Quotations

One possession here or there was going to determine this game for either team. Dee's three-point play late was somewhat of a dagger, but he's done that a few times.

Obviously it was a disappointing ending and loss. You can certainly look at a lot of different stats and reasons but none more telling than 24 turnovers. That was our undoing and it was unfortunate for us. I thought our kids gave great effort, especially our seniors, and I'm very disappointed for them to end their career home game with something like this.

Getting to this point is such a significant accomplishment for any program, with the history and tradition of the NIT. It really is a big thrill - particularly for our seniors. It has been well documented how much they have done for our program, and it is very fitting that we have an opportunity to compete for a championship in their final game in their final year.

For us, we know the rivalry, the proximity and that we hadn't won this game in a long time, so we're pleased. The focus for us was to try to stay in the hunt for the conference title.

It happened (against Minnesota), and it was an incredible turning point. It was also very deflating, but it's also part of the game and was bad timing for us. ? I'm not sure you can really explain it. We just did a poor job. There's no excuse or explanation. I wish we had an opportunity to do it over again.

I thought Chris Hunter's play for us coming off the bench was a big difference for our production and our ability to win this basketball game this evening.

We haven't won this game in a long time. Thinking anything beyond this ... we have a game coming up Saturday. ... This is a step in (the right) direction. We're climbing the ladder. I feel like we're moving our program in the direction that we're all very proud.

There are things in this game that are contagious. And you saw that today.

We have no choice and it's going to be a tough game. It's going to be a competitive game and I'll be very disappointed if we don't bring the fight and spirit that we had here tonight.

We're pleased - we're pleased for our school, pleased for our fans and our alums. I'm really pleased for our players. Thinking anything beyond that, it's a game for us right now. ... We have a game coming up here on Saturday (against Wisconsin). We always know a follow-up of an emotional win or loss is always critical. We're happy about the win tonight, but we certainly know there's a lot of basketball to be played.

We need to get back to our order. I'm hoping we can do that the next couple days prior to our game on Wednesday.

Both teams struggled offensively. It wasn't a pretty game from an offensive standpoint. The difference was they were able to get to the foul line and they knocked in a decent percentage.

Sometimes he doesn't get enough credit. I thought his floor game was outstanding.

This game can be fragile, and kids can play well sometimes and raise their confidence level.

I really believe the way we've played on the offensive end has really taken the life out of us defensively. This has been my biggest pet peeve about basketball in today's time. It seems to be when players aren't scoring, their energy and life to play the total game isn't there. I think that has hurt us defensively.

He's such a threat out there. Sometimes confidence can waver game to game and moment to moment, but certainly for us to have a chance on Saturday, he's got to play well for us.

It is tough to win with some many turnovers. Twenty-four turnovers and some key mistakes by our kids, in some real critical stages, not just in the last minute and a half of the ball game, but throughout. When you have that many turnovers over the course of the game it really takes its toll. They turn it over 20 times, we turn it over 24. It wasn't a pretty game from that stand point. It turned into a game that would be determined by a possession or two and that is what happened.

They made the game interesting and put some fear into us down the stretch.

We're very fortunate. We're very happy to win this game and walk out of here with a win in double-overtime.

I told him prior to (the Northwestern) game - in front of the team - that it was important for him to stay aggressive, and I wanted him to listen to me and not worry about anything or anybody else, to be aggressive on the floor. Whether or not he listened to me, he looked like he was playing pretty well.

I don't think that we were sluggish. I thought they played an exceptional basketball game early and that put us on our heels.