Steve Merfeld Quotations

Obviously, that was not the prettiest ball game, especially in the first half. We knew it was going to be that going in because Illinois State is so good defensively.

I think we're a better basketball team than we were last year but the league is better top to bottom. This may be the best year that we've ever had.

It happened so quickly that you wanted to cherish it for a while, but you had to get ready for the next game.

Jason is such a talented player. He keeps getting better, and he hates to lose. He is such a joy to coach. In the second half, fatigue caught up to him a little bit. He played a lot of minutes (37) today.

Our guys played so hard. But give credit to Coach (Jim) Les and Lawrence Wright and Bradley. They made one more play than we did.

That's their M.O.. That's why they're good. They don't adjust for anybody. You know when you're going to play Southern Illinois, it's going to be a physical war.

We played a triangle-and-two the last eight minutes of the game, and they didn't score.

We really like the versatility of the 2006 recruiting class.

We made a run, and I'm proud of our kids for that, especially playing shorthanded. They could have packed it up after we got behind by 18 points, but they didn't. They're disappointed with the outcome, but they shouldn't be disappointed with their effort.

We answered the first run, but the next one floored us. We didn't have a good enough defensive effort at that point and we didn't have any poise at the offensive end.

We cut it back to three (after Northern Iowa's first run of the second half). The next run, they just floored us.

Drake does a great job with its defensive system. But we were only 5-for-19 on three-pointers and I don't remember many of those being tough shots. Basically, they hit shots and we didn't.

It's been a long time since we won on the road.

That's Southern Illinois basketball at its finest. That's what they do. They certainly took us out of any offense in the first half.

Every one of the five incoming guys can play multiple positions. We expect all of these newcomers to challenge and compete for immediate playing time.

They came out in the second half and threw a pretty good wave at us, and we never responded. We were 5 for 19 on three pointers, and I don't remember many of those being tough shots. Drake just made shots, and we didn't.

They lost a ton of experienced players this year and certainly other guys have stepped up and taken on significant roles.

Their defense is different in that they have the athletes and the ability to get on you one-on-one. Other teams pressure through different schemes. They are very good at what they do and have been good at it for five or six years.

In the first half we probably caught them off guard with our zone defense, and out shooters matched theirs. But in the second half, UNI got more second half opportunities. They turned missed shots into offensive rebounds and then three-pointers.

In the first half, we probably caught them off-guard with our zone defense, and out shooters matched theirs. But in the second half, UNI got more second-half opportunities. They turned missed shots into offensive rebounds and then three-pointers.