EASTERN ILLINOIS-WESTERN MICHIGAN QUOTES

Western Michigan guard Andre Ricks

(On the game and Eastern Illinois) "That's a great team. The guards are real good and even the bigs. I knew it was going to take a little more (than Kool getting hot). For a minute, I was psyched. David started hitting shots and this might wrap it up, but those guys fought back. They played hard, we played hard and sometimes the game ends like that, but both teams played a hard game."

(On David Kool's last shot to tie the game) "I would rather have the ball in David's hands than anyone. Anytime David puts the ball up, I think it's going in."

Western Michigan center Donald Lawson

(On his attempt for a follow dunk at the end of regulation) "I actually didn't (know how much time was left). All I could see was Kool attack the basket and get to the other side and if he missed get the ball in the basket as fast as possible. I actually wanted to tip it, but when I went up I tried to dunk it instead of tipping it in. I was grabbing for control of (the ball) and it slipped out of my hand."

(On getting his conditioning back after missing nine games) "A lot better than I was when I came back for the Ohio game. It's been a slow start and you could see it in the Miami game and the Eastern (Michigan) game. It's getting progressively better."

Western Michigan guard David Kool

(On the last play of regulation) "We were going to run a set play, but after he missed the one (free throw), we knew we only needed a two so coach said just get the ball up fast and try to get to the basket. I tried to go down the left side, try to push it, made a little spin move and I got the shot I wanted. Can't complain with a little floater in the lane. You can't get much better than that when you have seven seconds and you have to try the game."

(On the team's shooting) "We were getting open shots and we just weren't knocking them down. We knew we were going to get more open shots and you can't ever let it get in your head as a shooter. You've just got to keep going out there and firing them."

(On going to the bench after his run in the second half) "At that point in time I was a little winded, so I told coach I needed a little bit of a break."

(On moving forward from this game) "We're going to have to learn from our mistakes and that our bread and butter is going to be the defensive side of the ball, especially in these next two weeks. Next week is championship week for us, no doubt about it. We're going to have to come in Monday with a great sense or urgency and have a great week of practice getting ready for Wednesday and hit the road to Northern and try to get one there.

"We're right where we want to be, tied for first in the MAC West. Can't ask for much more than that going into the final two weeks. We're going to be positive."

Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins

(On the game) "I thought the game came down to our poor shooting. We went 3-of-20 from the three-point line in the first half. We warmed it up a little bit more in the second half, but even then it was just David. It allowed Eastern to stay in their zone. They packed it in the entire night. When we did throw the ball inside or drive it inside, they collapsed in on it and made you throw it back out and we had a lot of wide open shots from three, but just didn't knock them down. We had some good guys shooting them that have been shooting the ball well from three. We executed and we had wide open looks. If we had shot the ball today, just decent, not even great, just decent, we're probably talking about a 10-point win.

"We had bad luck on top of bad shooting as well and we missed some free throws, not many, but it seemed like every miss was huge when we missed them."

(On substitutions made with 9:40 to play in the game) "They were gassed. Everybody had tapped their head before that. That's when David said 'Coach, I need a blow.' There were several that we knew needed a blow. A minute and a half till the media timeout. We can get them back under the media timeout. When they came back in we had a one-point deficit and those kids finished up the rest of the game."

(On going back to Michael Redell and Mike Douglas at point guard) "After coming off a couple of ball games where we only score in the 40s and having David at the point guard spot, the one thing we weren't running. It just completely stalled our fast break by going to the bigger lineup that had Drews at the three. Also, Drews wasn't able to do as much damage at the three because he had quicker players on him. Even though we posted him up, the quickness bothered him in the post and he's not as good of a passer from there. Drews gets a little bit more looks from the four spot. 

"We just weren't getting any easy shots at all in that lineup because we couldn't get out and run. When we go back to Mike (Redell), it gives us our best opportunity to run. When (David) is bringing the ball up the court all game long and plays 35, 36 minutes ... he's really dog-tired at the end of the game and when that happens, you're losing your best offensive weapon at the end of a ball game."

(On looking ahead to the last four games) "We control our own destiny. We can't ask for anything more than that as we go into the final two weeks. I think we need better defensive rebounding. We'll come back and play a heavy emphasis on rebounding. 

"Just got to get consistent. We have not been able to get consistent performances from game to game out of everybody. We have to have everybody playing their best game. Not just execution, but playing their best individual game as well. We can't work towards (consistency) because that part of things is over. We've got two weeks left. We've got to do it."