courtesy of Jack Alden

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"Defensively we were really good those first few minutes. But we had a quick little talk with the team, and we told them you can’t think that game is over with, because it’s not gonna be over with. A few years ago we were ahead 22-0 at the start, and with four minutes to go we were behind against East Tennessee State. I think we relaxed a little bit at that point. And I think the other thing that hurt us is when Nick and Jeff got their second foul apiece. I started having to try to play a little more zone and try to manage the clock and all that kind of stuff that other coaches probably like to do, but I don’t. I’d rather just watch ‘em play. I think we lost some of our intensity at that time. And you have to give it to K-State. Even though it’s 15 to zip, they started playing better, and I think that was part of it. But we got off to a great start, then we got off to a good start in the second half. Never could really make a couple of big shots in a row after that, but it was a workmanlike game, an ugly game, a game that you sometimes need to win when you don’t play as well as you possibly can. And while saying that, I believe Kansas State deserves a lot of credit themselves. I know Jimmy (Wooldridge) would like to have Purvis in the game longer than he had him, but they’re playing so much better and with so much more confidence this year than they have at any time in the last two or three years. We got by with a “W,” and we’re happy about it. "The way they rebounded the ball and defended against Texas Tech was sensational. They’re a good shooting team, as well. We tried to do a good job on their shooters, and we lost ‘em a couple of times early, and they made a couple of threes against our point zone. But it was a workmanlike game. Kirk Hinrich just kept battling and battling; missed some easy shots, but at the same time kept battling. Jeff Graves was good on the backboards for us. Michael Lee gave us a nice little lift in there at one point. It won’t go down as the prettiest game we’ve ever played in the field house, but opponents shouldn’t let you make pretty plays. "I’m going to continue to push him. I don’t want Jeff to get too comfortable. He’s done pretty well as long as I’ve pushed him this year. He’s done a great job of getting rid of the excess weight that he had. He’s getting quicker with the ball. I need to get him to relax a little bit offensively, because he’s missing a lot of easy shots, and I think he’s just rushing it a little. Once we can get him to relax and do a little better job shooting the ball in the basket, I think it will help his confidence. If he can have one big game where he makes a bunch of those shots, I think it would really help him. "It is a tough time. Once you get into league play ­ they’re coming fairly quickly now ­ you don’t have much rest whatsoever. We’ve got probably the #1 team in the nation in Arizona coming in next weekend. We understand that. But it’s a marathon, and anybody who’s ever gonna win a marathon is gonna have to run every mile of it. You can’t lay down in the grass and rest a little while if you expect to win. So we’ve got to play every mile, play every hole of the 18, whatever it is. But they are going to come fast and furious.”

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