Related pages Box score Season stats Possession analysis advertisement

"You can’t coach because nobody can hear you. The only time they can hear you is in a timeout. We’re not experienced enough to even leave a timeout and go do too much different, but we’re getting better. Effort was tremendous. To think that Keith didn’t scratch in the first half; played three minutes. David didn’t scratch; played six minutes. But we’re up seven at the half, and that was terrific. Then we played terrific early in the second half. Give them (MSU) credit, they’re fast and they ran it down our throats and scored 18 points in transition. But we competed so hard, we made our free throws. It was a great college game. It wasn’t artistic because two teams were playing hard. "Wayne is terrific. ‘Dub tonight was as good as any big man in America. He made some plays that were just tremendous, and I’m really proud of him. I told the guys he’s been waiting eight months for this day. I know he’s excited, and he deserves everything that comes his way. Keith in the second half was fabulous. Aaron Miles was unbelievable, even though I played him too much. Mike Lee made some plays. I thought Jeff Graves played really well, too and was a presence. Bryant Nash made some plays. And JR Giddens off the bench. Those two plays he made (dunks) were world class, and then he got a big lay-up late. But that’s a good team over there; a team that has a chance to win it all. But we were just a little bit better tonight. We shot the ball 47%, and we shot the ball miserably. We just got a lot of bunnies. ‘Dub made some shots, but most of his were from inside. We’re 4-19 from three. We’ve got to shore up our perimeter shooting, because we’re better shooters than that. "I think we’ve got a good team. I think they’ve got a really good team, too. I think it’s two teams that are going to get a lot better as the season goes on. I told Tom (Izzo, MSU coach) that afterwards. That game tonight was played just on determination and grit and that kind of stuff. Now you play that hard and start executing and not making careless mistakes and not giving easy baskets, and both teams will get a lot better fast. We’re getting better, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. "These guys deserve a big pat on the back. They put up with a very crazy coach the last few weeks who’s been trying to push certain buttons. They told me they’d be ready to roll, and sure enough they were."