Nov. 25, 2003
QUOTING HEAD COACH Rob Evans
"I was pretty pleased with our effort today. They gave a great account of themselves in their first basketball game of the season and it was the first game for a lot of guys and I felt we really held our composure well. No matter what anybody says or writes, Arkansas-Little Rock is a good basketball team and this will help us in the long run. It will help our RPI because they're going to win a lot of games.
"I was extremely proud of the way these guys came out and fought. They got better as the game went on. Stevie Moore. Played very well and Will Fameni gave us a good lift in the second half. I was pleased. This is a work in progress and we will continue to get better each game and each day. By Christmas, we will be a very good basketball team."
(ON Jason Braxton) "Jason is making real good decisions with the basketball. He's playing very well on the defensive end of the floor and creates a lot of havoc for the other team. With the basketball, he's picking his spots and I think he he's really playing well and maturing as a point guard."
QUOTING Ike Diogu "We played pretty good today for our first game. I thought the newcomers played very well. We survived some runs by Arkansas-Little Rock and went on some ourselves. But for our first game this year we kept our composure and played very well."
(ON HIS OFFENSE) "They had me locked up on offense today. Fortunately, Steve Moore came out and hit big shots. It really opened things up for me. I want to go to the free throw line a lot. That's a part of being aggressive and taking it strong to the hoop. If I take it strong to the hoop, I'm going to get fouled and have the opportunity to make shots."
(ON THE FIRST GAME) "Guys were probably nervous. I know I was nervous in my first game. Once we get the bugs worked out and start playing basketball, we can start rolling."
QUOTING ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK COACH STEVE SHIELDS "I thought our focus was tremendous from start to finish. We did an excellent job sticking to the game plan, being patient, and getting the ball inside. We did a great job of going to the glass on both ends, in the first half. Arizona State is great at getting on the offensive glass. Out-rebounding them in the first half was a big goal for us.
"Foul trouble may have had something to do with the aggressive play from our guys. We had to play Kimmo [Muurinen] up front, which is not what we had in our game plan. We wanted him to play 70% of his time on the perimeter and 30% of his minutes in the post. We went to him much quicker than we wanted to because of the fouls. The fouls were not the difference in the game at all."
"Ike Diogu is a tremendous player. With that being said, you focus so much on a guy like that, and then a guy like Steve Moore steps up and has 26 points. We knew he had scored 23 points per game in junior college, but if you have to give on something, you have to give on the perimeter rather than in the paint."
"Some nights they go and some nights they don't. I'm not worried about the shooting right now. That was the least of our worries, those guys will be big shooters for us the rest of the season. Arizona State is a tremendous team. Everybody talks about them losing four starters from last year's 20-12 team, but they've got a very good basketball team, they are going to be good this year."