Brian Thornton Quotations

We have to go back to work. We have to learn from this. We have to realize that as good of a team as we are, we're not that much better talent-wise than anybody else in this conference. If you don't go out and play as hard as you can, we could lose to anybody on any given night.

I don't feel in any way this is a career-threatening situation. I'm looking forward to attacking the rehab in the same way I prepared myself for this season. ... I'm a guy who has a lot of things going for me, whether it's on or off the basketball court. I know basketball is something I want to pursue in the near future. I don't think I'll have a problem being able to do that when my ankle is healed.

I don't feel in any way that this is a career threatening situation. I'm looking forward to attacking the rehab in the same way I prepared myself for the season. ... Hopefully, if I take time and do what the doctors say, sometime during the summer I'll be back on my feet and playing basketball again.

I don't know. This was a big game and we wanted to come out and play hard. And at times we did, but overall we just lost it.

I don't think it was lucky. We put in work every day. The beauty of our team right now is that we're not cutting corners. We come out every day in practice and work our butts off. We didn't hit free throws the way we wanted to, but we kind of scraped it out. We got it done.

Josh did a great job tonight, but it's not just tonight. He's done well the last several games and in practice. When Josh is playing well, it gives us a lot of versatility. When Josh is hitting shots and doing a great job on the boards, it gives us a lot more options.

I think it's become a sense of desperation to some extent. We know that when we play games like Charlotte - we have another game coming up against a physical team in UC who does a good job on the boards - if we don't rebound the ball well, we're not going to win.

I think we're one of the better teams in this conference. I think we have as good of a shot as any of winning a conference championship.

My opinion is that Brown probably doesn't have much to worry about because it's hard to copyright history. The same thing happened with 'Roots.' Anybody who has a best-selling novel, people tend to come out of the woodwork.

It felt good to be here with the guys tonight. They played their hearts out tonight. It felt good that they all put on the long socks for me, as a little tribute. I'm still part of this team, and I'll be doing everything I can to prepare them and support them as the season goes on.

It felt good to be here with the guys. They played their hearts out tonight. It felt good they put on the long socks for me as a tribute or whatever. Whatever it takes to win, I'm glad I could come back and support them.

We realize we beat them twice last year. But at the same time it's a different team for us and for them. GW is one of the best teams in the nation right now, and they're playing like it.

We had kind of gotten away from the basketball we had been playing in the past, and a couple 6 a.m. practices refocused us and got us ready. When you have these (school) assignments, you can't get to bed early. But it was worth it. If that's what we need to do to work and get better, that's what we have to do.

We wanted to go out and focus on rebounding. It's been our Achilles' heel so far this season. This was a trap game for us, where if we didn't go out and rebound the ball well, we could be in a world of trouble. They still rebounded the ball well, but collectively, we kept them off when it came crunch time.

We can be hopeful that we have a game on Wednesday so that we can go out and play again. We have eight more games to go. We don't want to go out like this.

Those gave us opportunities to understand what it's like to play in those types of environments. . . . A lot of games throughout the course of the conference season . . . are going to come down to the final four minutes of the game. Having the ability to finish and close the deal is going to be very important to our ability to be successful in the conference season.

To some extent, granted they weren't in the A-10, but they had earned an opportunity to be ranked that high after making the NCAA Tournament the last few years. Nobody in the A-10 had done that. They put themselves in position to be looked at that way.

We kind of have the Cincinnati game hanging over us for part of the New Year. Now we can focus on competing and trying to win a conference championship.

We didn't knock down our free throws like we'd like to. You shoot 100 free throws on game day but you can't hit the ones that count down the stretch. We still got it done down the stretch and got the win.

As a senior it hurt not being out there with my team. I would have been good for something -- maybe helping out with (J.P.) Batista.

It was a scramble situation. I picked up the ball and they had a guy on their team diving for the ball, and he hit my leg, and that was pretty much the end of it. It really didn't hurt as bad as I would have expected. ... As the situation stood, I felt it and heard it, so I pretty much immediately knew I was done for the year.

It means I guess that we're starting to open a couple eyes nationally. We're winning games.

It showed the guys still see me as a big part of the team. I just really appreciate that.

The beauty of the situation is we were able to find other ways to win, and we were able to scratch it out.

It's been hard. To have my senior year end like this is obviously pretty disappointing. At the same time, I wanted to be up here today and be here with the guys. ... It's an unlucky break. It's unfortunate, but things happen. Everything happens for a reason. I'm looking for the reason why this happened to me.

It's disappointing. We turned the ball over quite a bit. When that happens and our defense isn't as good as it was, it's going to be hard for us to beat anybody in this conference.

They did a great job of helping off on me. Sometimes the ball doesn't get into me for whatever reason. ... It was harder for the guards to get me the ball than usual.

There's three undefeated teams in the nation right now. And I doubt that any of them will finish the season undefeated. Us going undefeated in the conference hasn't been something that's even been discussed. Obviously, that would be a great accomplishment. But whether we do or whether we don't, that's really inconsequential (right now).

That's a heck of a statement. That's pretty impressive that it means that much to them to want to win at Xavier.

I'm just trying to play hard. This time last year, I was injured. It feels good to be healthy, and I'm just trying to give it my all. Coach Miller has expressed the fact that the team in general and the coaching staff has gotten us to January, and it's kind of on the seniors to get us to March. I'm trying to take a little extra on my back.

I missed out, but I think I let the team down, not being able to play. It was definitely disappointing for me not to be there night in and night out. There were times when the team needed me, especially in the conference, and I wasn't able to perform up to my capabilities.

In the first half, we had a few bad shots. I wasn't in the flow of the game offensively. Coach (Sean Miller) told us at halftime to look for me. If I could get the ball, good things could happen for us. In the second half, they did a good job of getting me the ball.

I'll take the emotions that I've spent three years with great guys. Obviously it didn't end the way I wanted it to basketball-wise, but I've made friendships that will last a lifetime.

I haven't really felt sorry for myself; I haven't really been mad or anything. I've just felt disappointed. I'm disappointed my senior year ended the way it did, and I'm disappointed I'm not here as the team closes out the season.

I don't know if it was a pride thing; it was a sense of desperation. We knew we'd play games against Charlotte and we knew we have another game coming up against a physical team in UC. If you don't rebound the ball, you're not going to get a win.

I don't know if it's a trap game, but having only two days to prepare for a team we've never faced before, it does present some dangers. I'm sure they'll be ready for us, but at the same time, we've put the Cincinnati game to bed.