Jeff Horner Quotations

We're going to have to deal with the pressure. Because we're going to be in it for the rest of the way, hopefully.

We want to show people we're the best team in the conference. We want to win the Big Ten Tournament and show that maybe we did deserve a little bit of the Big Ten title.

Last year, we were kind of just happy to be going. We were one of the last teams announced, we weren't even sure if we were going. This year, we knew we were in, and we were one of the first teams announced.

She was a caring person, very involved with her family. ? She had very good rapport with the kids. She had high expectations of them.

My dad always told me that once you go easy, that's when you get hurt. I'm going to go full-out, and hopefully the knee holds up and everything goes well.

I don't know why we would have any pressure on us. Nobody expected us to be here right now.

I couldn't imagine the stuff (Alford has) gone through. A lot of people were blaming him for stuff, and I've been right there with him.

Getting through screens. If you look at me my freshman and sophomore years, it was tough, but as you get older, it gets easier. You learn ways to get through screens new ways.

He was always a good teammate. Hopefully as a team we can move on from it and put some closure to it.

What would you rather have, a state high school championship or a Big Ten championship?

He's a kid who's only been playing the game for three or four years. Fans will have to give him time.

He knows that he made mistakes and he has to pay for them. I just hope he gets better and gets help.

Grier didn't make it easy on us, but I didn't expect him to. He's a senior and they have a veteran team like we do. This meant a lot to them, too.

I think we're a better team now than we were then. To lose a game right now would be devastating.

I think this shows how we've been able to fight through adversity. The way this team has persevered has been something else.

I think some of those goals are impossible to get. It's kind of a weird system, but most of the time when we have more blacks than reds, we're in the win column.

Just growing up, you wonder why you work so hard and put all the time in. Now I know, with the feeling we have right now.

I said on Senior Day when (Greg) Brunner said hopefully we get to play a couple more games, I came out and said our senior season has nine more games to be exact. We're down to six now.

I wish I would have won a high school championship, but a Big Ten championship would be awesome.

I wore it longer than I should have.

I still say a lot of people don't think that kids in Iowa can play basketball. People just think that we're farm boys and we like corn. It's kind of funny, but that's just the way it goes.

We were up 17. We couldn't get it done in the second half. It's tough to end your career that way.

We really wanted to get up in them.

We just didn't make plays. I don't feel wore down. I'm just mad right now.

The pressure's kind of off us. We knew we had the team to get back here.

The poise of this team was very good. We could have easily shut it down down four (points), but we didn't. That says a lot about this team.

Both teams played defensive games, ... and when you play a defensive game it's not going to be the prettiest thing out there.

This team will be remembered forever. No one has done this before, and we did it. The stuff that happened the past couple years just makes it that much greater.

We weren't worn down. We just didn't make plays.

We've pretty much seen every (style) already this year. I think we're going to be able to take from last year and apply it to this year. Anything can happen out there.

It was tough to handle. Hopefully, we can justify a lot of things with this Big Ten championship, if we win it.

It was about time we started a second half that was good. Coach really emphasized that and we got a big win.

I've always thought kids from Iowa don't get enough respect on the national scene. Everyone sees us as farm boys, but there's more to us than that. We can definitely play some basketball. If you grow up in Iowa, a lot of people think of corn and stuff like that. But a lot of kids think about basketball.

After dropping a couple of games on the road, we needed one like this. We played good defense. Holding a Big Ten team to 25 percent from the field is pretty unbelievable and we got things going on offense. We needed to come out and play well at home again and we did.

That's what makes (Illinois) so good. Dee Brown doesn't have to do it on his own.

A lot of people don't realize that when it gets taken away from you, you just love it that much more.

A lot of them had already heard by the time they got to school.

You can't hold grudges against a team. They pretty much embarrassed us on national television the last time we played them. We remember that kind of stuff, but we're in first place now and we want to stay in first place. We've got to worry more about things like that.

This is the moment that you work for all year long. We're all living a dream.

They're going to be hungry. We have to be ready for anything.

They have the best transition game in America. We didn't do a very good job taking it away, and that's how they got most of their easy buckets.

It's a tough thing to take . . . especially when you've got two wins you could've, should've had. We just didn't get them, and now we've just got to hope for some luck.

It's a little tough to take right now.

It's going to be a dogfight. We remember that they beat us on our home court last year (65-63). This is the only time we get to play them.

It sounds like they played with a lot of pride down the stretch. Anything can happen in this league, and that definitely gets our attention.

It's my senior year. I'm just going to go out, have fun and play as hard as I can.

Doesn't really matter to me. They're pretty comparable teams.

It just seemed like we weren't ready to play today. We've got to compete for a Big Ten title. I don't think some guys on this team realize they may never get a chance to ever do this again.

It was just awesome tonight. It just feels like we finally got what we deserved.

This is it. Hopefully, we can put the icing on the cake.

Once he (Grier) gets going, look out. He's definitely one of the best in the Big Ten. In the first half, I had to score to keep us in it, then a lot of guys responded in the second half, and that was huge.

I'm happy and relieved to say that the injury isn't as serious as we might have feared Tuesday night. We're encouraged with the MRI results and looking forward to the rehab process and getting back on the court.

I'm sure they'll be determined to get a win. But we are, too. This is a big game for us, too.

I'm sure Indiana's going to want him a lot more if he wins it. I know Iowa will want him a lot more, too.

I know Vince pretty well. Once he gets going, look out. He's definitely one of the best in the Big Ten.

I'm just mad right now. This isn't the way to end your career.

I'll be in my Purdue stuff. Actually, I don't have anything, but I could probably find a T-shirt some place.

Hopefully, in the (games) that are close, our experience will take over in the end. Hopefully, we'll be able to handle that and get through it.

He's very good. He'll beat you off the dribble and shoot the ball. He's a big guard who gets to the rim. He's a good defender and he'll definitely play at the next level.

Games like this happen, I guess. It's just tough to end your career this way.

I came out a little excited. I took some bad shots.