The positive was our team play was further ahead. I thought our guards played the way they should have. They played like I expected since they're the veterans.

I thought for our first practice we looked solid,

It's a real advantage to be able to practice where you play. The players are very positive about it. It has been nothing but a positive experience at this point.

I was happy with our up front play both offensively and defensively. For early on, I thought we picked up on most, if not 70 to 80 percent, of our line blocking assignments so I have to be pretty pleased with that after one week.

We came out and I thought we were ready to play. After that 17-3 lead, we made some substitutions and our energy level completely dropped. We were gambling too much defensively, which allowed them to get some easy baskets.

We've got to finish strong, because of the strength of schedule, and 17 and 18 wins gets us in the tournament. The committee needs to treat [the MWC] like some of the bigger conferences and make sure we get some teams in the tournament. This has been one of the strongest years in the Mountain West Conference's history.