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"It was a heck of a basketball game. There was nothing I could say to Kelvin (Sampson) at the end, because he is such a great friend. I said, 'I'm sorry.' I enjoy competing against him, because I know what kind of game it's going to be. But at the end one of us has to feel bad, and I don't like that feeling. "I'm extremely proud of our team. And I know people are gonna say, 'How can you be extremely proud of our team,' and I'll tell you. About 48 hours ago was the most emotionally draining experience I've ever gone through. I told our guys it would be a great challenge for them to put all that stuff behind them. And, yes, we'd already secured the conference outright. And yes, we'd already secured the #1 seed, and all that stuff. And it was after the seniors' last home game. But we had to get ready to play a game today. "Early in the game, Oklahoma really took it to us, did everything they wanted to do early. And then all of a sudden at about the eight- or nine-minute mark of the first half we were sensational during that run. Then the second half they came out and sort of chipped away, chipped away, chipped away. And we were having trouble shooting the ball in the basket. Then we made a great run at about the four-minute mark and get up seven or eight or whatever it was, and we get a pretty good working lead. Then all of a sudden we gave up a second shot, they make a three on a second shot, and then we get the ball and turn it over after they miss one, and they score agian. We're making one free throw or zero free throws, and they're going down and getting two every time, and a couple of times getting three. What can you say? We were the team left standing, and that was about it. "They made some big plays. Brewer was tough to handle, but Jacque and Jerod, I've said all along, are the two best defensive guards I've had at Kansas, and they had their hands full tonight chasing Erdmann and Brewer. "It's a shame (Jacque) is, and I don't mean to be getting on you guys, but human nature is the media's not going to vote for him for awards because he missed the first part of the season. But he's been there in conference play, and I'm a heck of a lot better coach because he's out there on the floor, what he does for us defensively with his leadership. And if he scores, that's just a plus." OU coach Kelvin Sampson - "Nate had that bank shot (at the end of the game), and I'll take my chances on that. Then Eduardo had that shot, and I'll take my chances on that, too. We had our chances, but that's the #1 team in the nation. "I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a team, win or lose. I've seen Roy bring three teams in here, and this is the best. Kansas position-for-position is the best team in the country. Raef LaFrentz is a special player. He makes the game look easy. He looks like he's on jet skis while everybody else is in paddle boats. "Kentucky would give them some problems because of their quickness and athleticism. But it's a 40 minute game. "We're not the prettiest team. We're not polished in certain ways. In some ways we're crude, but I love these kids. We did a good job to get back into it, and that's all I can ask. "Basketball usually comes down to how hard you defend and how you rebound. Somebody said we probably only had one kid who could start for Kansas, but sometimes the best team doesn't win the game. "The NCAA has 'good' losses. I'm not sure coaches do, but the NCAA does. When the season started, it was a dream (to make the NCAA tournament), but we're definitely an NCAA team. We weren't two weeks ago."