I thought we had a great finish to the first half both defensively and offensively. But they just kept coming at us.

I think a lot of people thought we'd get to play closer to home. Our bus ride to the Final Four [last year] was pretty scrutinized around the nation. I'm not saying it had an effect on [this year], but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. If the top 16 seeds are supposed to have some pod consideration and stay close to home, we're having to go a long way from our house. I don't think the pod is working in that case.

Michigan State is the favorite. After that, there's a lump of teams.

We held our poise and found a way to win it.

We made plays at gut-check times.

Now we'll move onto the next phase of conditioning that we call explosion. We'll do some 200s and some hills.