We made a run, and I'm proud of our kids for that, especially playing shorthanded. They could have packed it up after we got behind by 18 points, but they didn't. They're disappointed with the outcome, but they shouldn't be disappointed with their effort.

Steve Merfeld

Related Quotes

In the first half, we probably caught them off-guard with our zone defense, and out shooters matched theirs. But in the second half, UNI got more second-half opportunities. They turned missed shots into offensive rebounds and then three-pointers.

— Steve Merfeld

We answered the first run, but the next one floored us. We didn't have a good enough defensive effort at that point and we didn't have any poise at the offensive end.

— Steve Merfeld

That's Southern Illinois basketball at its finest. That's what they do. They certainly took us out of any offense in the first half.

— Steve Merfeld

Drake does a great job with its defensive system. But we were only 5-for-19 on three-pointers and I don't remember many of those being tough shots. Basically, they hit shots and we didn't.

— Steve Merfeld

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Jason is such a talented player. He keeps getting better, and he hates to lose. He is such a joy to coach. In the second half, fatigue caught up to him a little bit. He played a lot of minutes (37) today.

— Steve Merfeld