Louisville vs. USF - Post-Game Coaches' Quotes

[Brad]

USF Head Coach Robert McCullum

"I was extremely pleased with the way we started the game. I thought our effort and focus was outstanding on both ends of the floor. Our guys came out and played with toughness in terms of things we had to do to execute. We turned the ball over way to much in the first half, but we only turned the ball over once against their press."

"Louisville did a good job at taking the ball out of Soloman Jones' hands, but we finally started taking care of the ball better in the second half. I thought we missed so many golden opportunities in the first half. You have to take advantage of opportunities when you play a team as talented and as deep as they are."

"We managed to score the first point of the second half, but it seems like the start of the second half of the game was officiated differently. I know we were fouling some of those times, but they were in the bonus before the first media timeout, and I think that put us on our heels a little bit. It certainly affected the way we defended in the second half."

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

"Well, we needed a win because our confidence was a little shaken after the Memphis game, Francisco had a deep thigh bruise and had to play through it, but we're happy with the victory. We didn't run our offense very well tonight, but when we did at the end of the game, we got wide open shots with player movement and ball movement. South Florida played terrific defense all night long."

(on the offensive struggles today) "It's a lack of running our offense. Three weeks ago you saw cutting, passing, driving and spacing, and now we're trying to do the look-away, back-door pass when other guys are wide open. We're not doing a very good job of making simples passes. We've just got to get back to the basics and the fundamentals and we'll be fine."    

"They thought it was their one-on-one game and that's the problem in a nut-shell. The worst thing that has happened to us over the past few years, and believe it or not I've tried to not let it happen, but it's those 40- and 50-point blowouts. It actually hurts a team because it's fool's gold in so many ways because you have easy shots and then a team gets in your face and the shots don't come easy. Tonight was a good lesson and it's good to learn your lesson and still come away with a victory."

(on having the team stay on the floor for the halftime ceremony honoring the 1980 NCAA championship team) "I wanted them to see the difference in how a team is loved when they win a championship because it goes down forever. I wanted our guys to realize that all of the players are special and that they're all apart of the Louisville family, but when you win a championship, you'll always be remembered. That basketball team (1980 U of L team) could win a championship in this era, and there's very few times when you can look at a team 25 years later that athletically could still win a championship."

"It was a very good victory for us and we needed a victory. We're 21-4 and we've just got to keep our attitude upbeat and positive. We're still in the championship hunt, although it's not going to be an easy road for us. We're always going to have difficult times in February. So, unless you see this building fall down, it's always going to be tough in February and that's not going to change next year in the BIG EAST."

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