courtesy of Jack Alden

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"The big guys were big for us in the first half. I think they only missed two or three shots between them. But I think our defense was really good in the first half. We made them struggle. They got a couple of offensive rebounds and put-backs, but other than that I think our defense was really good in the first half. And even though Iowa State has struggled some this year, the reason I think we were ready to play is because of the respect our kids and our staff have for Iowa State's program. The last two years they've run through the league like it was nothing, and played a great game against us up in Ames. I really believe that, and I said that to Larry. I'm not B-S'ing anybody. I really think that the respect that we have for them made our guys really be ready to play, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. "We didn't do anything differently other than we played our defense better than we did up at their place. We tried to get closer to Sullivan so he wouldn't have the space to get the three-point shots. We tried to stay on the floor against Power and Sullivan both, because they have great shot fakes and then they penetrate and lean in, and all of a sudden you're fouling 'em, and they're taking a parade to the free throw line. "I was even going to make up a play for (Lewis Harrison) there at the end if I had to (to get him his first basket of the season. It wasn't necessary). Lewis has done a great job for us all year. Lewis, Brett, Chris, Todd, Bryant, Michael, those guys really do a nice job trying to get our team ready to play everybody. They tried to simulate yesterday what we thought Iowa State would do, and all season long they've really done a good job of trying to get those first five, six, or seven guys ready. It's fun to watch them, and I love it when the starters are over there cheering for those other guys like that. "We thought about (cutting down the nets) a great deal. I even talked to my staff about it this afternoon. I did not want to show any disrespect to Nebraska, Kansas State, or Missouri for the games we have left. The reason we left part of the net up there is that we only got part of the conference championship. Hopefully they'll see it that way and not feel like we are counting our chickens before they hatch. CB McGrath and Jerod Hasse had a great influence on me today. They thought we should cut it down. CB had the best line. He said, 'If this were the last game of the regular season and we won to give us a share of the conference championship, would you cut down the nets,' and I said yes. I've been big the past couple of seasons about getting our guys to enjoy the journey and not just be thinking about the outcome. I want them to enjoy college basketball. And Drew Gooden, this was the first time he's had a chance to cut down a net at any level, so I thought it was important for them to do that. "We've never had a bad group of kids, even when we've struggled and had some distractions going on, but this group is fantastic young men. You just enjoy seeing them, enjoy being around them, they come to work every day. I've only gone ballistic maybe once or twice all year, and maybe only once or twice in practice. And even when I do jump on 'em, it's only for three or four minutes because of something that they did, not because of lack of effort. They do a great job in the classroom, they do a great job of representing the university, and they play the roundball game pretty doggone well."

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