CENTRAL MICHIGAN - WESTERN MICHIGAN QUOTES

WMU Head Coach Steve Hawkins

Thoughts on the game-

"I thought this was a real hard fought basketball game, typical Western/Central game. I thought both teams really went at eachother hard, and in the first half, it was kind of ours. We were able to get some things going in our favor. In the second half, they came back, and climbed back into it and set the pace for a few minutes. All of a sudden, we started making some pretty shaky decisions with the basketball. We really didn't play that good of basketball in the last 12 minutes of the game. We just kind of grinded it out, and got some big stops when we needed it."

On CMU's zone-

"I thought we had some good execution. We went into the game, and we thought we had a little bit of a quickness advantage on the perimeter. We thought if we could get their big guys out, we could set a lot of ball screens for our guards. It worked fairly well until they went to their zone, which they played a lot more in the second half.  It came down to people making plays, and you really play more conceptually against a zone. You have to fake a pass to make a pass, and we had a few problems trying to attack the zone too early. After we got the ball moving side to side, went in and came out, the zone becomes disorganized, and thats when we had some success."

Senior Center Donald Lawson

Thoughts on the game-

"It's just about keeping the fight. We play hard, and practice hard every day. We put the effort out there so we can be better. The game today was amazing.  It was quick and early."

On Centrals forwards-

"They had great players down low. We just had to keep to our principals and stop them, and limit them touching the ball."

On Nate's dunk-

"That was funny. He has done that in practice, dunked the ball and made the clock fall. It was a strong move, and I was really impressed. But I never expected that to happen in a game."

Senior Guard David Kool

On Central's second half run-

"We came out and jumped on them after halftime. That was big for us, but once again, we let up a little bit.  Any time you take your foot off the gas pedal, the other team is going to exploit it. We knew they were going to make a run, so we tried to stay calm and patient out there."

On Central's shooting-

"Whenever you see them get a shot up, you get a little gasp. Anytime you play against good shooters, you try to contest every shot, and make every shot difficult, and they're going to make some, but you can't get discouraged."

"It's definitely two different seasons, no doubt about it. I put last year behind me and I don't even think about it anymore. For me personally, for my senior year I wouldn't ask for any other group of guys. The sky's the limit and we just need to keep pushing forward."

On being pumped up before the game-

"It was a lot of fun out there, and you could feel the energy and the buzz beforehand. It makes us want to put our effort forward and show the fans what we've been working for."

On breaking Joe's record-

"I talk to Joe weekly, sometimes daily. We were wishing each other good luck today. He was my best friend when he was on my team here. I know he couldn't be happier for me passing him, and I'm going to root him on tonight and hope they get the W too."

Sophomore Guard Mike Douglas

On pressuring CMU-

"It's kind of hard. Every time you give them space, it's going up. So we had to try our best to stay in front and make it difficult. Good players are going to make good plays."

On the intensity of the game-

"Everything was kind of new. I haven't ever played like that before. It was really my first time feeling this kind of situation. I didn't want to think about it at the free throw line, I just wanted to help my team win."

CMU Head Coach Ernie Zeigler

Thoughts on the game-

"I'd like to congratulate Coach Hawkins and his guys. I thought they really came out with a sense of purpose. We really came into this game thinking the pressure was on them to defend their home court. They really knocked us on our behinds from the start. I'm really pleased that our guys continued to battle. Unfortunately, our inability down the stretch to not knock down some shots hurt us."

On the games physicality-

"Without question. It's part of the process. You talk about two years ago, we were totally out toughed. It was part of us and building our program.  We know tonight would be a physical brawl and  rivalry, but Western came out and played hard, and that's what you need to do if you want to compete in this division. For us, we have to go back home and protect our house, and hold our position to compete at the top of the division."

On Lawson-

"I think Lawson played an excellent game. He did a great job of detouring guys to the side, and played well offensively and defensively. I think they did a great job of pressuring the ball, particularly in the first half.  Hopefully we can learn from it, and get back in the gym and get better."

CMU Senior Guard Jordan Bitzer

Thoughts on the game-

"They picked up their defensive pressure. They came right at us, and were always getting into us when we were starting our offense. They closed the gaps well, and we didn't hit our open shots today."

On shooting 3's-

"We're a team that likes to shoot 3's to begin with. When you dig yourself a 14 point hole at halftime, you have to find a way to get back into it. Today we had an off day, but we're going to keep on working and get back into the gym."

On looking ahead-

"We feel like we're still in a good spot. We lost a hard fought one today, but we've got some home games coming up, and were going to try and prove that record and stay in the lead."

CMU Senior Guard Robbie Harman

On Mike Douglas-

"He's a quick guard. He get's into you a little more, and he plays well and hard defensively. He does a good job attacking the rim and getting good shots for David and other players on his team."

On the second half-

"At halftime, we had been in that sitation before. Jordan Bitzer and I needed to hit a couple 3's. We've been there, but a lot of new guys haven't. We felt like we could do the same thing as last year, but we couldn't pull it out in the end."

On WMU's defense-

"They did a good job taking our screens away. We're a jump shooting team, theres no way around it. Inside, they were taking away a lot. We have to do a better job and find a new way to score other than jump shooting."