Dec. 14, 2008
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
Do you think the senior experience that Illinois-Chicago has helped them down the stretch? How do you think your team was coming off the exams break?
“I thought we were pretty good defensively overall, but just missed too many open looks around the basket early on and we started to press a little bit after that.”
Did you have any trouble trying to adjust to their zone defense?
“We did have some pretty good looks around the rim, especially early, but I think their offensive rebounding and second-chance points hurt us. The missed shots did as well. By our calculation, it could have been a 16-point lead at the half. It was disappointing that after tying the game and getting the ball back we thought we got the timeout called, but they obviously didn’t see it that way. We ended up turning the ball over and they went down and hit the three.”
Now, you have a good Georgia State team coming in here on Wednesday night that never gave up and nearly erased a 19-point deficit against Florida State yesterday. What do you need to do between now and then to get ready?
“Bottom line — we just need to get to work. There really is no secret formula. We’ll have Lewis Clinch back so that will be a plus. We just weren’t able to get him certified today. That should give our offense a bit of a shot in the arm. I liked what we did defensively today. I didn’t like all of the offensive boards we gave up and the 17 second-chance points, but that’s just something we need to clean up. There is no secret formula. We just need to get ready to play Georgia State.”
UIC HEAD COACH JIMMY COLLINS
Comment on getting win No. 200
“The team just did a great job of playing hard today against a team on the road.”
Comment on recording wins against both an ACC and SEC team in same season.
“It’s a great win for us. The team deserved it, our university deserved it, and it’s just a great, great win for our program.”
Comment on what was said to the team with 1:21 on the clock and the score tied.
“What we wanted to do was we wanted to have active hands and we wanted to get the ball to the shooters. We wanted to be patient because they were at home and in the larger conference, so the pressure was really on them. If we are patient and we move the ball, and we can get the ball in the right hands, then we knew we had a chance.”
On what got into Jeremy Buttell today.
“He got more playing time, and we talked to him. We told him that, no matter what, don’t be afraid to shoot the basketball. He has to shoot if he’s open, and if he misses, then he misses. I haven’t seen anybody yet that makes every shot that he takes.”
