TOLEDO-WESTERN MICHIGAN QUOTES

Toledo head coach Gene Cross

(On the game) "We knew it was going to be about toughness and physicality. Mental toughness and physical toughness. Western Michigan came out and displayed the level of toughness in the first four minutes of the game and we did not and they really jumped us. We couldn't dig ourselves out of that hole."

Western Michigan guard Demetrius Ward

(On his performance) "Coach always asks me to be aggressive in practice and look to score in the game and I've always been passive. It's time for me to step up and stop being a baby. We're no longer freshmen anymore. Just play and have fun and whatever happens, happens."

(On the play of the entire second unit) "We practice a lot together and work on bonding together on and off the court and know what each of us like to do." 

Western Michigan guard Andre Ricks

(On Demetrius Ward) "Demetrius Ward is a tough player. I've been playing against him all my life. We grew up in the same area. I can walk from my house to his house. He's a great player. That's why we recruited him to get buckets and play defense. He's an awesome rebounder and we knew he could do it. He came out at the right time in conference play.

"He's the best player most of the time in practice. I've been cracking jokes on him that's he just a practice player, but today he took it upon himself. I can't call him that no more."

(On the second unit) "When we get in we know we need to be really scrappy. The second unit is the scrappiest unit. Our job is to draw blood and today shots was falling and (Ward) was doing a good job and LaMarcus Lowe. It helped us."

(On LaMarcus Lowe) "All summer I've been telling LaMarcus that he's a pro. I always tell him that. Today when we walked into the training room I told him that today was going to be his day. I looked him in the eye and he looked back with a smile on his face. After that I knew it was time. He came out today and took the floor with energy and played his hardest. We need that out of him."

Western Michigan guard David Kool

(On his hot shooting at the beginning of the game) "When you come out of the gates and knock three down like that you feel like it's one of those days where you don't want to get pulled out of the game. (Redell) did a great job, especially pushing the ball up the floor early and getting some open looks and just knock them down with confidence."

(On Demetrius Ward) "He'd been doing that for a couple of weeks in practice and he's just trying to find his way being a freshman and not try to force things. I think he's taking the right approach and he needs to keep doing it in practice. I think that was big for him to come out today and do it in a game and see what it feels like."

(On LaMarcus Lowe) "We know that we're not going to be able to get away with 6-5 and under all year, so LaMarcus is going to be a big part of things. For now, he's going to be our big guy and he's our rock down there. He's been showing that in practice and it's just another thing for him to come out and show the people and let him excel at what he does best, which is block shots, rebound, get quick outlets for us and get the occassional highlight dunk like he did tonight. He really played hard."

(On seeing young guys play well) "It's really exciting to see these guys come into their own here. We battled through a tough stretch earlier in the year and now with some guys coming into their own it's nice to see because we know what they can do. It's nice for them to put it together and give them confidence to come out with a little bit more a swagger."

Western Michigan center LaMarcus Lowe

(On his performance) "The difference today was that I spoke with my mom earlier and we were talking about taking things for granted. One of the guys I played high school ball with got into some trouble at home and it could've messed up his whole future. We were talking about that today and I just realized that this whole season ... the next day's not promised in basketball or in life.

"I just came out today and had the mindset that from now on I wasn't going to take things for granted. I had used the earlier part of the season to try and get my feet wet because I haven't played that much basketball before and my teammates kept encouraging me and knew I was a better player than that. I felt now that we are in conference play, I've got my feet wet and now it's time for me to step up and help my team and be an impact player for my team so we can have success and get to our ultimate goal."

(On missing time with a concussion) "It's really frustrating. It's three and a half weeks sitting on the sidelines, you watching your teammates play. When they win, you think I wish I could've helped and when we lose you really say 'I wish I could've helped.' It's frustrating as an athlete at any time to sit on the sideline and just have to watch."

(On his teammates) "It's all my teammates. I have very, very encouraging teammates. Even when you're out they still encourage you and at the same time I encourage them. It's more of an encouragement coming from my teammates. I feel if somebody believes in you that much, like my teammates, then I should have the confidence in myself to do the same things.

Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins

(On the game) "It was good on a number of levels for us. The thing I was probably most pleased with is we were able in a conference game to get as many kids as many minutes as we could. You add to that, they didn't just get minutes, they contributed. It really should serve us well relative to confidence as we progress from here. The balance that was there from a minutes standpoint and from a scoring standpoint was the thing I was most pleased with tonight."

(On the second unit) "Best I've seen them look, too. We've known they're capable. We can see it every day. Whether or not they do it everyday is a whole different thing and that is the essence of a freshman, inconsistency. I do think they are getting better and better at it and the bouts of inconsistency are becoming shorter and shorter. I would extend that down to all of our guys. It's been coming and it's great to see these kids get a little reward."