March 9, 2006

QUARTERFINAL GAME 8: (4) Houston 71, (5) UCF 52

Houston Head Coach Tom Penders

"I thought we did a great job defensively. We made it difficult for UCF to get open looks. We have played better games offensively but we hit enough threes early did get the margin going. I have been coaching 33 years and I have had some great defensive teams but I have never had a better defensive team than this team.

"Again tonight I thought they did a super job. We had 16 personal fouls for the entire game tonight and that is one under our average.

"Our kids were really physical and battled tonight. It was not just Jahmar Thorpe but our guards did a great job. We did a good job sealing off, boxing out and getting after the boards. "

UCF Head Coach Kirk Speraw

"Obviously, you congratulate Houston on their game and the way they played. They got us right from the tap. They hit those three threes to get them started, and we were down fighting and clawing and struggling to get ourselves back in the game. The played a great game. They played very well offensively early and then played great defensively the entire game."

"I wasn't shocked at all at their game plan and how they defended us. I give them all the credit in the world, but I also look at us, and we didn't have the same mental sharpness that we had last night, 24 hours earlier. We just didn't come out as sharp as we needed to against Houston, and they took advantage of that."

"They had an excellent game plan. Obviously, they were preparing for us since Sunday, so they had that extra day. That's not an excuse for us. They just played better than we did."

UCF Player Josh Peppers

"We did a lot of things this year that we could have worked harder on. There were a couple of games we shouldn't have lost. Next year, I hope we come back with a little more effort on and off the court; just a better attitude about learning to work hard."

UCF Player Mike O'Donnell

"You have to take everything and build upon it. We're going to learn from this year in the film room and when we hit the weight room, and we're going to be better next year."