Justin Cage Quotations

My freshman year, we could really depend on three players that kind of carried us. We could screen or do whatever we were asked. Now, we have to try to lead and put some points on the board. It's changed a lot since our freshman year.

Going into the tournament, knowing what's at stake, we were going to do our best and try to play harder than we had. In that tournament, we showed a lot of heart.

He's a lot bigger, so he can get in there for the rebound. B.J. is not going to back off anybody. Him coming into the game, he's gong to be aggressive. That's what we need.

We may have gotten a little winded at times. But I don't think we really got tired.

I was a freshman; I didn't know anything about that tournament. I didn't really know how hard it would be until it was over. Really hard.

I respect him, but everybody talks about the fear factor. There's nothing like that. If he gives me 50 (points), and we win, it's whatever. If he gives me 50, and we lose, I'm still going to be giving my best.

I think so, because he's such an important coach and he's known everywhere. It's going to seem a little different.

I think I did cool. He ended up with 35. I mean, it's not 40.

You always had those battles in high school and we've talked about the old days. It was fun. I knew both before I came here and it was good to build those relationships.

We wanted to let him know we hadn't forgotten about him. We'll keep it moving for him.

We had a tough season -- we had a lot of ups and downs -- but at the end, it was memorable for us.

We've been working hard the whole year just to get our name out there. But we're staying focused and keeping it one game at a time.

We'd be hurting if we didn't have Keenan. Keenan is the kind of person that will always keep you honest. He'll try to catch you sleeping on a play or try to expose you. That's the kind of thing that will happen in a game. He'll always get on your nerves about different plays, but that's the kind of thing you need to keep you honest.

We're thinking about it too much. When it starts getting mental, that's when you miss shots. I don't think we're struggling; we shoot every day in practice, and we knock them down. It's just a mental thing.

We're thinking about it too much. We just have to stay with it and trust each (other), and eventually shots will start knocking down. It's not a big deal. We've got a lot of really talented players who have been shooting all their life, so they'll come back around.

Tonight it kind of did, but I don't want to say too much unless we win (the championship). I think if we actually get it, it will, but not yet, not now.

We got a chance, 40 minutes away from actually making it to the Tournament. We'll need even more effort (tonight).

With him being on the floor, he's a lot bigger, a guy that can get in there and rebound. B.J.'s ... going to be aggressive. That's what we need ... off the bench.

Coach Miller takes it so hard. I've never seen a person take a loss so hard. I've never seen anybody take it so hard.

That's just me. I didn't know what to say. But I really did appreciate it.

You're not going to shut him out. You have to play your heart out and hopefully, he misses some shots.

You're not going to shut a person like that out, so I just tried to make things hard for him.

It was rough, but he was speaking truly about how we were playing. I think personally when you get back and you've got a charter plane and you get $30,000 a year for your education, he's got a right to yell at us.

It's a funny feeling without him being there. He sits in the same spot every day, and he's not there. It's kind of awkward for us now.

It's pretty low. But we've got the A-10 Tournament coming up. We can't just walk in there with our heads down.

That's real big. It was pretty bad. If we could have knocked those down, the game would have been a lot closer.

That's the big plan. Keep in my mind, we're taking it one game at a time. But still, we're wanting to get a bye.

That helps a lot. We have to make up points for Thornton.

It was a big change. It's a whole lot more open now. Brian averaged 16 points for us, and losing that, we have to make up for it. Everybody was looking to be more aggressive.

They've got three really solid guards. Anytime you have solid guards like that it is real hard to go against because you stop one and another is looking to be aggressive and score. I think we did a decent job on them. They shot a lot of shots. Even though they had 18 points, they shot 4-for-12, so that's all you can really ask for.

They've got a savage inside with Withers. He's a man. He's a man amongst boys. We'll have a tough time dealing with him.

I just did whatever I had to do to get my hand on it.

Him being here today really showed us he still cares. He's our team captain. ... He's such a big part of our team.

I don't think we ever lost trust in each other. We just forgot how to play hard.