Dion Harris Quotations

I can't explain. It's just bad luck, I guess.

We looked at the stats and came in to talk to Coach about it. He said keep our shoulders up, and we have to have a better mentality about things.

He just told me to go out there and just play, don't think about whether you're going to have a good game. Just don't worry about your shot, just do the things he knows I can do ... He says I'm an all-around player and I shouldn't worry about my game.

I think early in the year, it was real bad for me to find my role because last year, I handled the ball and did pretty much everything. It was hard for me to adjust at just running the wing this season, but I think it will come. I just have to stay aggressive like coach wants me to do, and I think I'll be all right.

That would be great for our team. Les is a veteran guy who's been here for four years. It always helps to get a veteran guy back, as far as leadership and experience on the court.

I was ready to shoot it if he made the pass. And on that last shot, I just put it up real high. I knew it had a chance, and I knew I got it off in time.

I wasn't 100 percent and I didn't feel I could move laterally well enough to give a strong defensive effort. But I'm definitely going to play Saturday.

We really went at it. I thought it was going to be hard for us to get back into team things. ... We played today how we practiced all week. We got in the mode of competing all the time, and it carried over into today.

We said from Selection Sunday, from that day on, whatever happens, we're going to come out to play to win.

We just kept fighting. We just kept on fighting no matter what. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but we didn't want to come that far and then lose the game.

We had the game within two or something, and then they pulled away. It's hard in there watching the game and knowing that you can't go out there and help.

We don't want any more morale victories. We don't want to just come close. We've come close too many times. We want to win. We played hard, but down the stretch Illinois made more plays.

I've been trying to come out and be a consistent player for the most part, and when it doesn't happen for you, of course it's frustrating.

After I missed the first shot, I think I started rushing. I never did get a rhythm offensively in the game, so that's all that happened. It wasn't anything the defense was doing.

This is a big turnaround from last year. We didn't even come this close last year to being in the top position of the Big Ten. We said coming into this game that we had a chance to be in first place.

They've been setting the tone every game. We just want to go out and match their intensity, play as hard as they're playing.

It's just getting back into the flow of things. When I first went out there, I thought I was fine. I practiced yesterday. I thought it was going to feel good. Regardless of what it looked like, I think I'm ready to go ... I should be all right for Tuesday.

I tried to run the land, spot up and Daniel kept on finding me. We have a lot of good shooters and Daniel has been great at getting us the ball.

It just felt good. I'm glad our seniors are going to have another game.

It's going to be a great game. We beat them on their home court so I know they're going to come here and compete real hard and try to get us back for that. We're ready.

It's great having him back, because he plays so hard and brings a contagious kind of energy. We've found our rhythm again as a team, and the chemistry is back, and I think he's a big part of that. He's a big part of our success in this tournament.

I just came out and give it everything I had, but it (ankle) did limit me a little.

I knew the time was running out and I just tried to get it high and give it a chance to go in. I knew they (Irish) were going to collapse on Daniel and I was waiting for the pass.

I couldn't sleep that night. Going 1-for-12 and putting so much into it as far as working on your shot, coming out with that performance, even though we got the win, you have certain standards for yourself.

All week I've been practicing well and it carried over. I've been shooting well in practice and I've played well on defense.