Jan. 25, 2007

Recap | Box Score

Loyola vs. #14 Butler
Post-Game Quotes
January 25, 2007

Butler Head Coach Lickliter

Opening Statement

"I would say the people from Chicago and the surrounding areas really missed out. If I were a spectator, this had to be a great game. It was a great crowd. It's difficult to go into an environment like this, to persevere and get a win. It really makes it something special. Both teams came down and made great plays. You have to try to not get caught up in the emotions. A.J. (Graves) obviously made a huge shot, and I thought we defended well and we were finally able to rebound. Twenty-five offensive rebounds for Loyola, that's got to be some sort of a record, I would think. They didn't miss too many shots. They were just hard to get off the glass, so I'm very proud of the team's effort. It was a great college basketball game. Loyola is a really good team."

Butler guard AJ. Graves

On shooting at the end of the game

"I put the two in that needed to go in, and from there I just had to move on and play the game. I just remember that last play, no one was there so I just shot it. (Loyola) had been playing the ball screens differently all game. I did have an open look, and the shot clock was running down so I took it. I just have to put it in there, and if they don't go in, I can't be negative about it. That'll just make it worse. We like to move it from side to side and penetrate and see what we can get."

Butler forward Drew Streicher

On the team's offensive performance

"I thought we were battling the whole time. We just weren't finishing the play, something we obviously need to get out and work on, but luckily we came through in the end, that's the one thing we wanted to get done."

On Blake Schilb

"He's great, just a really great player. He is very versatile and you have to play great defense on him and he still has 27. Luckily we got it done."

Loyola head coach Jim Whitesell

Opening Statement

"It was a heck of basketball game, I give Butler a lot of credit. We just had a hard time shooting the ball. The defense did a good job and we certainly had a lot of opportunities and we had our chances. When you're the winning coach, you feel great and when you're the losing coach, you don't feel too darn good. If you're a fan, it's a great game to see played. I think our guys played with great effort. It was anyone's game right down to the wire. Now we have got to come back and play a big game on Saturday.

On Loyola's last-second shots

"I thought it was really good play by Blake (at the end of regulation.) We knew they would have a lot of guys coming to him and we wanted him to get the shot off just whenever he had a good opportunity. He could have run the clock down to the very end. I did not care but you would like to have a chance at the offensive board. (At the end of overtime), we tried to run Blake off a staggered reverse thing for him coming back and he got the ball. Originally, he didn't have a good look but Tracy (Robinson) did. It just rimmed out. I didn't know if the shot was definitely in, but I definitely thought it was a good play."

Loyola forward Leon Young

On Loyola dominating statistically

"We have a list of game goals and there are certain things we want to reach in each game we play. Under normal circumstances, that's what leads to wins. But they played harder than we did. It was a battle out there. Sometimes, you can do everything right, but sometimes you just need a little bit more."

Loyola guard Blake Schilb

On more aggressive play in second half

"In the first half, I usually like to come out and get my teammates involved. Teams usually jump hard on me and that usually leaves my teammates open. In the second half, my teammates did a good job of getting me open. I was just getting good shots and scoring, just feeling good."