March 12, 2000
On being a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region:
“Well I think it’s justifiable. In the SEC Tournament, we had a tough first outing against a good Arkansas team which proved to be better than people thought by winning the SEC Tournament. With the four co-champions losing in the league tournament — LSU, Tennessee, Florida and us — it hurt us all to some degree as far as the seeding is concerned. I was disappointed that Vanderbilt did not get it. They had beaten Tennessee twice, a No. 4 seed, and Florida. Kevin Stallings has done an outstanding job there and they were rated in the Top 25 for most of the year. It was like they didn’t want to put a seventh team in there from the nation’s toughest conference and I feel like we deserved to have seven teams.”
On a tough region:
“When you get to this level, you don’t overlook anybody. Certainly, at this moment, we feel like the toughest team in this region is St. Bonaventure. But the region is strong when you look at the other teams — Maryland, Syracuse and Michigan State, which started the year as the nation’s favorite until Mateen Cleaves was hurt. Then there’s Auburn, which was rated as high as fourth nationally and showed this weekend that they’ve bounced back from the loss of Chris Porter by advancing to the finals of our league tournament. And certainly Iowa State, who’s top player Marcus Fizer has taken the country by surprise in leading the Cyclones to the top of the Big 12. With six league championship teams in this bracket, it’s just an incredible, incredible region.”
On St. Bonaventure:
“They beat Temple earlier in the year and they beat Dayton this past weekend in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, a team that beat us in December. So you know their capabilities. They have an outstanding talent in Tim Winn and are very well coached by Jim Baron. But we’ll be collecting all their information tonight and begin preparing for the Bonnies tomorrow.”
On entering the tournament without Desmond Allison:
“You never want to be shorthanded. It’s always a disruption and distraction. But we’ve been shorthanded most of the year with only 10 players eligible and healthy to play. Now, without Desmond Allison, a starter all season, it hurts our ballhandling and our perimeter play. He was an athletic swing player who also was one of our better defenders. It’s disappointing, but he’s made a mistake and it has cost him and this team.”
