David McLaughlin Quotations

What he did in the second half is a result of him simply being a great player. You can only stop a great player like him for so long.

Obviously, being a league opponent, that's great for the Northeast-10. They're a well-coached team that's talented inside and out. They get good guard play and they've got very good post players. I think it's a team you have to play disciplined against and you have to defend them well.

I'd like to apologize for the first five minutes of the game. After both teams settled down, I thought we made some really good defensive stops -- we were able to hold that team to 30 percent in the first half.

He is not even close to the same player he was as a freshman. To his credit, he has put the time in and become a better player. His body has changed. He's much stronger. He's in much better shape and he's much better with the basketball.

I think that's a credit to the guys. They can go. They can play. If they just continue to execute and play together, they can pretty much play either style.

I thought the experienced guys, the leaders, the seniors and Lance (Clarke, a junior) did a great job of playing through adversity, getting great shots and getting the lead back up.

That's what it's all about. That's how you get here with that kind of experience.

You kind of say once the ball goes up, it won't be important, but that was a huge crowd for us. We filled up one whole side of the gym. It was family, students, faculty, staff and alumni support. Everywhere I turned, it was one of those groups.

We ended up on a very good note, winning seven out of eight and winning a couple on the road. That is very good in this league. Now we've put it behind us and we're focusing on the next step.

We really came out ready to play, especially on the offensive end. I thought we got some great ? not good, great looks early and we were stepping into our shots. The ball went inside-out and I thought we were really making the defense work. I believe we went into halftime with 10 assists and three turnovers and giving up no offensive rebounds. When you do that, it's usually a recipe for success.

We made a commitment to listen more closely to the families affected and to our own donors, ... With this plan, we are keeping our promise and responding directly to the needs and desires of both.

They should be proud of that record. They deserve it. They earned it. But I think they won't settle.

They're a very up-tempo team and very aggressive with their man defense. They've got a very experienced backcourt. They know how to win and they've very good at what they do. They can cause chaos.

It wasn't really chaos because we had games to play and you had a goal right in front of you. You had to get ready for the game and let's do it. It really didn't allow you to even realize what's going on.

It was a tough pill to swallow. AIC was a team we had handled twice during the season (by 34 and 26 points), and for them to take that game from us on our home floor was tough.

It was a take of two halves. We played great defense in the first half and I think we ran out of gas a little bit there in the second half.

It's incredibly disappointing. You feel for the guys who have worked so hard for it. The difficult thing you have to do is let it sting for a little bit and be ready to move on for next week.

They bring it up themselves. They've put up things on the board in the locker room. I think they know they can't take anyone for granted.

I'm just really happy for the guys getting this experience. Right now, it's a matter of getting them some rest and getting ready for (tonight).

I'm very lucky to have coached this group. I don't think I'll ever get a chance to coach a group of kids like this, and if I do, I'll be very lucky.

I can still remember going down there and not being allowed past the gate. One of the coaches had to bring the tape out to me.

You can't give them easy baskets because they're going to get tough ones. You have to make them earn their baskets.