Jamie Dixon Tough Quotations

We knew what they want to do and how good they are off the dribble. They make tough shots and, when they do, you have to continue to play defense, to stick to your principles and rules. That's what we did.

He is a great shooter, so you have to make him take tough shots. We tried to contain him, and to do that you've got to make them tough.

He's a great player, a tough kid, a former McDonald's All-American. The key is we have tough guys who can battle down low, and we're deep, so we can keep rotating guys in to play him very physical.

Keith penetrated and got to the basket very well. Defensively, he made them earn their points, forced them to take tough shots. He's also exceptional at finishing on the wing in transition, which we also saw a lot of tonight.

I thought they were really a tough team and got after it. We knew that coming into the game and we know it now. It was two teams getting after it, playing aggressive.

Turnovers are a big thing to me. We're pretty good. Our goal is always less than 12. That's a tough number to shoot for, but it's a hard number to achieve.

They made some tough shots early, and we withstood it. So that's another good sign for us.

They're not leading the conference in 3-point percentage. They win games when they don't shoot a high percentage. They're going to make some 3s. They'll make some tough 3s. We talk about making them all tough shots. We can't give them any easy or open ones. When you give them an easy shot it just going to feed their confidence.

It's as tough as it has been, no question. There's no question the league has gotten tougher the last couple of years. When we first got into the conference seven years ago there was talk that the conference was down a little bit. The conference is on the rise the last couple of years.

It wasn't our prettiest game. It was tough and we battled through.

It's tough to lose a game when you shoot 74 percent in the second half. We have to be better defensively. For whatever reason, we were running into their screens.

It's going to be a tough one for us because rebounding is Connecticut's strength, too.

They were a physical, tough team. Those were two teams getting after it and playing aggressive. We didn't outbound them and they got more free throws. Obviously, our big guys having foul trouble had something to do with it.

They've had a tough schedule recently, but they beat a very good team. They're very good, and they'll be ready to go. I was glad I was able to get in a full rotation (against Providence) and rest some of our guys, so that everyone is fresh. It's going to be a very tough game.

Not often do you lose a game when you shot over 70 percent in a half. It is tough to lose a game when you shoot that. I thought our offense was good and we made good decisions and (had) good looks. Its amazing how one little thing can change the outcome of the game.