Kevin Bettencourt Quotations

Last year wasn't as big an upset as people thought it was. But it's been a great ride.

One thing we've been talking about all year is having no regrets. The seniors, this is our last chance, and we don't want to leave anything to chance and walk out of a gym knowing we could have done this or could have done that. We just keep fighting and keep getting better.

(My teammates) do a good job of finding me and getting me open. In terms of when they come, I just shoot them when I'm open. If they happen to come at a time when we need it, then it's just a bonus. If I'm open, I'm going to shoot it, that's my role on the team.

I think it just helped us solidify last season, show that maybe wasn't as big a fluke as people thought it was.

I think we'll be more prepared this year. Last year, we didn't get back to the hotel until well after midnight and had a hard time getting to sleep with the emotions of beating Kansas.

I think we saw more of Kansas last year because they were on TV more. The coaches have assured us they have tape on everybody and they've already gone through it.

It gets very tiring to answer questions about (Kansas). It'll be nice to play Arkansas and worry about them. Kansas is a long time ago.

Last year obviously helped us and more than just the game. A game is a game. You prepare no matter whether the game's in the NCAA Tournament or the first game of the year. You really approach it the same way, at least we do. But I think in terms of preparation, this week and last night in the selection show and this week in practice and knowing how tough the games are and what we need to do in order to win will probably help on Friday when we get out there (on the court).

Sure, I?d like to get revenge for him. But he told me to just go out and enjoy the moment.

When teams focus on McNaughton, we try to make them pay outside.

We haven't snuck up on anybody this year and we still had a pretty successful season.

We haven't seen that kind of speed for a while. They throw so many guys at you.

We had great recognition at the end of the game. Donald got a rebound, looked for a good free throw shooter and found Abe. We came in expecting to beat Arkansas. I don't think this was too big an upset.

We came here for a two-game tournament. That's the mind-set we took. I don't think it's too big of an upset.

We all buy into it. We all realize that gives us our best opportunity to win.

We were thinking, talking amongst ourselves we'd be an 11-seed, maybe a 10. It's just a great sign of respect and we're really happy to be seeded that high in the tournament.

We expected to beat Arkansas. I don't think this is too big of an upset.

To be honest with you, amongst ourselves, we don't talk about the GPA. That's the coach's thing, and you don't pry into someone else's business. But I know some of the younger guys who've struggled a little bit, and Charles is the example we use for them.

There's obviously individuals on our team who aren't the best defenders, me being one of them. One-on-one, if I'm playing against somebody, they are going to score on me often. But I have great teammates who play good help-side defense.

That shows the kind of team we have. It shows that we were no fluke last year. We were seeded in an 8-9 game for a reason.

They don't even talk about basketball. It's telling you straight out: Obviously, you have to make time for basketball. But academics come first. You have to take care of business in the classroom to even have a chance to play. If you don't succeed in the classroom, you aren't getting on the court.

They're fun to watch the way they get up and down and attack. We can do it here and there, but to do it for 40 minutes will not give us our best chance to win. We have to slow it down to our pace.

It shows how much the committee respects what we did not only out of conference but in conference.

You think you see something there for a second, make a pass and there will be three (Memphis) guys there.

Each one of us wanted it really bad. We all wanted it really bad and we told each other, 'let's keep each other in check and look out for each other,' we always we do that.

It's definitely a style that they're good at. We haven't seen that type of speed in a while. They throw so many guys at you.

It's amazing. It's definitely frustrating because they shut everything down.

It seemed like they (Arkansas) were getting momentum. And then it just went dead quiet after Donald made that great pass.

It was a great win for our program. It was a tremendous experience for us, but it was last year.

I turned to Abe with about 16 minutes left, when we were down by about 15, and I said, we can still win this game. He looked in my eyes, and you could just tell he believed it. We believed it, we all believed it. We've been in those positions before.

That's as good a job as somebody's done guarding the three against us all year. They're so long and athletic. And the pressure, they get you going so fast. Even when you do get a second to get a shot up, maybe you're rushing a little bit here and there.

I'm sure they're going to come after us, just like we did last year.

It helps solidify what happened last year. It shows it wasn't a fluke.

He?s so intense during competition that he?s not going to change.

I don't think there's any team that necessarily scares us. But you don't really want to play them either. But that's part of the tournament. You play only good teams. We'll be ready if we get there, but we have a long way to go.

I don't think any of us ever dreamed of being nationally ranked or getting some of the attention we've gotten. We just keep fighting and it keeps getting better. Hopefully we continue it, but we've still got a long way to go.

He's not going to put any added pressure on me. He just told me to go out and enjoy the moment, because the NCAA Tournament doesn't happen every day. But I'm sure he would like it if we got a little bit of revenge for him.

The first half was tough. There were so many fouls called, it was tough to get into a rhythm. Obviously it's good to go into halftime ahead. Charles made a great play. He drove and I just found an open spot and knocked it down. It gave us good momentum.