We'll see what happens. The pace of the game should be pretty quick. As far as how much he plays, I think a few minutes here, a few minutes there. It depends on how he feels.
I can't say enough about what Joe and Travis did off the bench against Northern. In a game like that, it would have been easy for them to put some pressure on themselves. But they elevated their game and responded so very, very well.
He had a great tournament last year. And he basically started this year right where he left off.
I think we really got frustrated in the first half. They were definitely on fire. We were able to keep our composure and knew our shots would eventually fall. Fortunately, the tides turned.
Our defense was just awesome. We were making them take some tough shots and we were cleaning those boards and pushing the ball up the floor to get great shots.
Like we said Saturday, come (Monday) we're going to be ready to prepare for this weekend's games. It's a game we're looking forward to because they beat us. We're looking forward to playing them in the latter part of the season.
That was really a war out there, it really was. Those were two excellent basketball teams. We just had to battle, battle, battle.
That's the way its been for us all season.
We've gotten ourselves into holes, but somehow and some way we've found a way out. That shows the character of these guys. They really never give up.
When he came in around Christmas last season, he just came to practice and did his thing. He didn't want to interrupt. He just went out and learned the things we wanted to do.
We've been doing it the last few years, so we're used to it. They're a talented team. They won a lot of ball games early, so this was a good win for us.
This will be a nice little economic impact for our community.
We've had to make that adjustment of not having him on the floor, but these last two games have helped. Any time you lose one of your players, it's going to affect the team. We have other players who have to step up.
This was a big game ... and when you win at home in your house, that makes it more special coming against a team as good as Northern. When you're playing at home and have that atmosphere, the kids love it.
What can I say? He's a tremendous young man, a special individual. The day I signed him, I was an extremely happy man.
When it flashed up there with our name and logo, that's when it sunk in. That was pretty cool for all of is.
We had several goals, and one of them was to host the conference tournament. We did that as well last year. It was a great success. We had great crowds and super support.
It would have been extremely difficult if we were on the road. These fans have just been phenomenal. The student-body section has been good size, but the community of Winona has come out and been absolutely awesome.
I've seen teams start to double him with a second guy.
I've said this before, and I know I'm repeating myself, but that doesn't mean much to us right now.
The shot clock was running down, and he knocked it down.
They play a tough zone (defense) and we struggled a little in the first half. We came out like gangbusters in the second half. We got a lot of nice open looks and did a nice job moving the ball around.
They're a talented team. They're hungry. They'll be coming after us.
It's a great upset for us from a position standpoint. We have to do our job (today) or the same thing could happen to us. We can't worry about what other people are doing right now.
That kind of thing (being ranked high) is great for the program and great for the recognition it gives us. It's nice to get things along the way, but we really are focused on Friday night and Bemidji.
Everyone kept asking me how you beat a team four times. I've told people how focused we are and how we take it one game at a time, so it really didn't matter who it was. It was our next game and we had to go out and get the job done.
It was a good effort overall from everyone. They practiced hard all week and played well right from the start. It was nice to get everybody some minutes. It was a good chance to get some more experience.
They were really guarding him tight, and he's not the kind of kid to force anything. It's pretty impressive what he's done (in his career). He'll have to do it the next game.
It was gutsy there in the second half as we came out and took it to them right away. We couldn't quite go over the top, though, staying with a 10, 12 point lead. That's pretty much how it ended up.
I congratulated the kids on the title; they loved it. Obviously we're excited, but this is just one step for us.