Feb. 22, 2007

Recap |  Box Score

NIU MEN'S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES

Toledo (86), Northern Illinois (83)

February 22, 2007 - DeKalb, Illinois

 

Toledo Head Coach Stan Joplin

 "Obviously Yelder makes them a different type of team.  He's a capable ball-handler and has athletic ability.  This is a game we were concerned about  - on the road and every game here has been tight over the years.  They can shoot the ball from outside and Hughes played like he's ready for the next level tonight. 

 

"I don't know what we did to start the second half - I don't think we did anything and that was the problem.  We couldn't get a stop, we were a step late. We weren't in the flow and some of that was due to what Northern was doing.  Then in the last 3-4 possessions, we got stops and made plays down the stretch. 

 

"On the road we don't get as many turnovers as we'd like.  Our strength is if these guys play hard and fast, and get into a flow and we couldn't do that in the second half.  We can't wait until our backs are up against the wall.  We let Hughes get great position.

 

"We accomplished one of our goals, that was to win the West Division.  Now we want to have the best overall record in the MAC and we still have a chance to do that.

 

"We thought they were going to drive to the basket.  Payne did a nice job.  He moved his feet and forced a tough shot.  That's the type of defensive pressure we have to have from him." 

 

Northern Illinois Head Coach Rob Judson

 "Our team continues to be refined and continues to persevere.  We continue to push forward.  As I went into the locker room after the game, I felt so much that I want these guys to have the success they deserve.  As a coach, I believe is you work hard enough and long enough, good things will happen and I want so badly for that to happen for this team.

 

"The last eight ball games, we have made progress.  We won a couple of games and like tonight, we've been in position to win a couple and just couldn't make plays at the end. 

 

"Toledo is a very good basketball team.  We played well.  We've played well several times.  They're [the losses] all tough.  The resiliency of these guys is impressive to me.  To come out and play the top team in the league the way we did tonight was impressive.

 

"That's why Toledo is good.  We had a stretch where we turned the ball over, but we kept our poise, regrouped and ran good offensive sets.

 

"We wanted to open up the court and force contact.  Coming down on the last play, we wanted to open the court to give Cody, Ryan and Mike an opportunity to beat the defense one-on-one.  Cody had the shot and James had the tip which was just...right there...and we certainly didn't want to foul.

 

"Then after the free throw, we wanted Zach to go down in the corner and set a screen for James but Zach was little late, our timing was off and it wasn't there.  Cody and Ryan made aggressive plays but the ball just didn't go in.    

 

NIU Center James Hughes

"We were right there.  Everything was going our way, for it not to go our way at the end hurts.  I was going after the ball tonight.   We are playing our best basketball right now.  We're playing more together.  We've got Ben (Rand) and Cody (Yelder) back, two guys that we were missing."