This is a long time coming. We have been working hard, both on and off the court all year. This team deserves it.

This was the toughest game I've every played in my life. Playing against their big guy, he's just so physically strong. I mean, he's just a great player. I just played my heart out, stayed in front of him the whole game. He's strong, but I played my best.

He's a great player. He's tough to play against, he's 6-9 and I'm 6-2 so I just tried to go hard to the basket and get fouled.

We just fought and fought until the game was over. I mean, we were down and we continued to fight and fight. We pulled it out. It's all about heart and desire. We just played our hearts out tonight.

Mario did a good job staying in the gym during his time off and working on his shots by himself. I'm sure he's not too far behind. Whenever he's called on, I'm sure he'll be ready.

In my first three years here, that's the first time we've actually played zone for longer than a possession. I don't think they were really prepared for that.