Jan. 30, 2008

Recap |  Box Score

Northern Illinois Men's Basketball 2007-08

Northern Illinois vs. Miami

January 30, 2008 - DeKalb, Ill.

 

POST-GAME QUOTES

 

Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles

   "This was probably one of our better games.  Coming here, for me as a coach has been hard.  We don't have many victories here - the first one was probably two years ago on a last-second shot.  Northern had a lot of energy when I saw them play Bowling Green and they probably played Bowling Green better than we did.  We played two of our better games Saturday and tonight and this was better because it was on the road. 

 

   "We looked at Northern Illinois' team and they have some athletes, some real good athletes.  We caught them a little bit off guard and did a good job against them, but you never know about next time. I'm glad to get this victory and get out of here.

 

   "Tonight, our guys hit outside shots and Tim Pollitz looked good on the inside.  It was a good win. 

 

   "Defense to me is getting a team to miss a shot and secondly, rebounding that first shot.  We did both of those. This was probably our best defensive effort too. We rebounded the ball well.

 

   "They [Northern Illinois] are better shooters than that.  They are a better team than they showed in the first half."

 

Miami Guard Kenny Hayes

   "I wanted to stay aggressive but be patient at the same time.  I tried to find my seams in the offense and hit the shots. 

 

   "We practice every day the shell drill to protect the paint.  I thought we contested their threes and made them shoot a percentage they didn't want to shoot.  The games we've been losing in the beginning of the MAC schedule, we weren't playing good defense.  We're starting to get the hang of it again, playing like we were at the start of the year."    

 

Northern Illinois Head Coach Ricardo Patton

   "I guess the only thing I can say is sometimes the best team wins.  Tonight Miami was the better team.  It was a physically played ball game and that is not to our advantage.  Their bigs buried us all night on the offensive end.

 

   "To this point, they are the best team we have faced in conference.  They are not a team you can get behind because they are so patient on offense.  You have to get out front early. 

 

   "We played well enough defensively to have a chance to win, but sometimes you've got to make shots.  Anytime you play a team that's physical, they prevent you from cutting and getting to your spots.  They prevent you from doing what you want to do.  The game is not designed to be played that way.  If you allow the game to be played that way, the bigger, stronger team is going to win  

 

   "We get down [from missing shots] and guys want to do it on their own.  We wanted to force the ball inside.  We were getting it inside some, and they were collapsing, so the post men have to pass it out and the guards have to hit the shots.  We weren't able to hit shots and keep them honest on the perimeter."

 

NIU Guard Darion Anderson

   "It was very tough. In the game of basketball, strength is something you need to be effective, especially when five of their players are very strong physically as well as mentally."

 

Northern Illinois University Men's Basketball

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