It's better to be sitting here talking about playing poorly and winning than going home with a loss.

A last-second loss just crushes you. Tonight it was a 19-point game. In a game like that, you slowly start to realize it's getting away. It doesn't crush you. It's not as hard to come back from in the region.

I think what this loss does is force us to re-establish our goals. Thoughts of winning the conference are now over, in my mind. For us now, we have a real battle for second place.

We'd like to have played better in the second game (12-4 loss), but we'll take a split. Winning the first game today makes it a little easier as far as getting in the playoffs. It's one win closer to getting in the (Region XIV) tournament.

We talk a lot, and he talks about winning. He's not talking about minutes played or how many shots he got. He's a winner. That's the key with Mike. His ego doesn't get in the way.

We're talking about the loss of a very active father with his 10-year-old.