Nov. 29, 2008
Recap | Box Score
Post-Game Quotes
Loyola vs. Holy Cross
November 29, 2008
Loyola senior guard J.R. Blount
On points from the bench in the first half
"We had a really good week of practice. It took a couple days to get prepared and everyone practiced well and it carried over into the game. Marcus (Thomas) came in and hit some shots and Geoff had a pretty good drive at the end of the half."
On losing the lead
"Holy Cross is a good team and they started hitting shots they weren't making in the first half, so it came down to us just out-executing them in the end and burning some free throws and getting stops and we were able to do that."
On his crucial defensive rebound at the end of the game
"It was a little long and I was able to see that as he let it go. I was in the right place at the right time and then just stepped up and made some free throws, which is something that we work on everyday at practice. We were able to knock them down and then Darrin came in and knocked some down too and sealed the game. We knew they were the No. 1 rebounding team in the nation, we knew we had to box them out and work on our technique and everything. We got some over the back calls and that kind of slowed them down a little bit, but they were still controlling very well. We were just able to execute and box out and we worked on that even this morning in our shoot around."
Loyola junior forward Andy Polka
On missing some late free throws
"I missed a couple and that let them get back in it, because they came back down and hit a couple shots."
On being back at home
"That was a long, long couple of weeks. It was nice to get back here, have Thanksgiving, and then a couple days of practice so we could get back in the flow of things. It's great to be back home after our first home game when we didn't play so well and we got a W today, so this is big."
Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell
On being back home
"It's nice to play at home and against a quality opponent. It was a hard-fought win. I think we're going to have a lot of those games that are close because we're just going to have to keep getting better and better. But I'm proud of our guys because they just kept on playing. I think we lost the lead with about six minutes to go, but we did a good job of coming right back."
On a mid-game scoring drought
"We couldn't make any field goals and a couple of our free throws and that starts to mentally wear on you a little bit. I thought defensively, though, we had a good stand the last minute and a half. They had gotten us in some areas that were bothering us, but I thought we had a good last two possessions defensively that helped us win the game."
On the team's rebounding
"I thought the first half we did a really good job with that and we boxed out well. They helped us a couple times when they got some fouls for over the back and then we got to the free throw line early. When we were on the road, at Purdue and in New York, we didn't do much, so it was nice to see us get back to that and get a little bit of rhythm on it. Blount gave us some big will plays. He always plays to win, so hopefully that'll continue to spread to our guys. It's been a long week against some great opponents, so it's nice to come back against another great opponent and get rewarded with a win."
On Darrin Williams
"He had some really good spurts in the first half, and then tailed off. In the second half he really finished the game strong. He got us two big rebounds on the defensive boards. We'd like to get him a little more involved offensively."
On the team's 15 turnovers
"We didn't handle their press very well, and that's my fault. We need to be prepared better for that. We've got to make good decisions on the offensive end. Defensively we're getting better, but offensively we've got to continue to make more progress and maybe relax a little bit more."
