Feb. 17, 2007

Recap | Box Score

Loyola vs. Eastern Illinois
Post-Game Quotes
Saturday, February 17, 2007

Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell

Opening Statement
"This was a good win for us. I liked the way we played defensively, and we have improved defensively as a team. Offensively we had some good moments and some moments that weren't very attractive. I liked the defensive focus and energy, that's helped our basketball team. I think we got good play off of our bench and we did it in Milwaukee and also at Green Bay. It was a good win, and we need to have a good week of practice this week."

On Eastern Illinois' triangle offense
"They ran the triangle, so it's a little bit different than what we've seen. I know that when we practiced against it, it took us quite a while to really understand it. We spent quite a bit of time trying to defend it."

On the importance of defense
"That's one thing that we've preached to these guys, that defense is key. Today we had a lot of deflections. We had really good, active hands and got our hands on the ball, so that helped us. We had good energy."

On the last few wins and upcoming game against UIC
"We're playing better. Butler and UIC are already two teams we've lost to. The Butler game was a heartbreaker, and then UIC took it to us, they outplayed us. We have a big week of preparation, and we want to go into the conference tournament playing well. These wins have been really important to us. We're going to have to max out and play very well."

On the status of Leon Young
"I'm not counting on him and he hasn't been cleared. He has been doing conditioning the last couple days, but no contact. We'd like to get him back, but it's a matter of checking it every day and see how he's feeling. It's given Tom (Levin) the chance to get more minutes in, there's no doubt about that."

Loyola junior forward Tom Levin

On today's game plan
"Coach told us to stay with what we were doing defensively and just keep moving the ball on offense. When we get a good tempo and we keep moving the ball in and out, we're a hard team to beat. We got our rhythm and stayed patient. If you're not shooting the ball well the best way to get points is to crash the offensive glass, and we did a good job of that today."

On his recent production
"I came back from an injury about four weeks ago and I'm starting to get back in shape a little bit. I'm starting to get a little bit of rhythm, the guys are playing well around me and it's just fun out there."

Loyola senior guard Majak Kou

On his offensive game
"I was just going for shots and waiting for the ball to come to me."