J. Horton Tough Quotations

We were tough at the end, tougher than we've been late in games. We've been through the struggles, and we feel we have the experience to battle through it now.

We did everything we could to try and prevent it. But in that situation, it's tough when a person challenges you. It's an iffy situation.

We're in the midst of a very difficult time in the telecom industry. Demand has been very week, particularly among the telecom-intensive sectors such as travel and financial services, ... We think 2003 will be another tough year in the telecom industry.

Going through a tough time a lot of people turn to God and Jesus for salvation, ... I feel like football is the salvation the Lord blessed me with to take my mind off a lot of things. It helps me a whole lot when I'm out there. I don't think about anything but football.

He's been there and done that. He won some big games, he lost some tough games. He made some big plays, he missed some plays.

Regardless of what you all were told, when you basically tell somebody with six games left that they?re not going to be here next year, I think it?s pretty tough to finish the year out.

You almost have to be in the room to see the respect they have for him, the love. I have never been around anything like that. These guys will do anything for Coach LeBeau. It's not tough love. It's soft love. He says: 'I'm going to show you that I care about you. I'm going to ask what I want. I don't have to beat it out of you. I expect it.' It's different, but it shows you can treat (players) like men, if you have the right group.

We knew we had to make a commitment to play defense and that's what we talked about at our meeting. If we play defense like we played tonight we're very tough to beat.

We have to do a better job defending. We haven't defended for three games. We haven't been tough enough lately. But we have to give them (Buckeyes credit).

To be honest, I think I shot the ball well, but I don't think I was in a zone. A lot of those shots weren't really tough shots. I was wide open a lot of times. I thought I was supposed to make it.

It was tough to practice the day after we found out that we didn't make it the NCAA Tournament. But as we practiced and practiced, though, guys' spirits got up and we were just happy to be able to wear this jersey again and to be able to compete.

They had energy at home and they made some tough shots. They made some step-back jumpers when we were right on them. Give them credit. They deserved to win.

It's going to be another tough game. They're another team that's probably as athletic as we are, and they have really good guards, too, so we'll have to come out ready to play.

It's tough to put it into words, but I know we battled, we battled as a team. The one thing I do know is that despite losing tonight, after everything we've been through as a program, no matter what people say and no matter what people do, this program is going to continue to move forward. I feel that in my heart.

They've had some great No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers in the past, but they're deeper in quality and with their bullpen. There used to be a few hitters in the lineup, that if you got them out, you'd be successful. One through nine now is a tough out. They have better speed, play better defense, all across the board there's improvement.

I just wanted to do what it took to win. I gotta give my teammates all the credit. I shot well but I never really felt in a groove because there weren't any tough shots. I was open most of the time.

He's another tough guy who really guards, he helps us become a better defensive team and he knocks down open shots. That's one thing we're going to need when we go on the road against a team like Illinois.