March 10, 2006

SEMIFINAL 2: (2) UAB 63, (3) UTEP 60

Head Coach Mike Anderson
"Wow what a game. That is what March Madness is all about. I thought Jason Williams was going to will UTEP to the win but we found a way to get it done. To struggle like we did against UTEP, and to win today was huge. I am very proud of our basketball team they hung in there and persevered and found a way to win.

UAB Player Squeaky Johnson
On looking past UTEP on to the Championship game
"Coach did a great job not letting us look past this game. Everybody had their mind focused on UTEP. Coach showed us a tape of our last game with UTEP and it help myself and the rest of my team get focused on UTEP and I don't think we looked past this game at all."

On the feeling at the end of the game knowing they were going to win.
"It felt great. When you get in a great game like that one and you come out on top it feels great."

UAB Player Paul DeLaney
On UTEP missing the free throws at the end
"I think that everyone on our team was just thinking rebound, and if we can't rebound just be quick to the ball, I think we did very good at that and luckily Squeaky (Johnson) was right there to get the ball and knock down one free throw to seal the game."

UTEP Head Coach Doc Sadler
"The whole game was summed up at the free throw line. Both teams played very hard. It came down to the last few seconds. If you're going to go 50 percent at the free throw line, you're not going to have a chance to win against a good team like they are. Our guys competed. The last play of the game couldn't have worked any better. Will (Kimble) made a terrific effort play. He got the rebound and went up twice; it just didn't go in the basket. The little things like that--free throws--it's what separates us from going to the tournament and them going to the tournament."

"I can't be any happier with the way all of our guys played. I thought they laid it on the line. This team has battled all year. To come in here and play a team like that, who in my opinion is a very good basketball team. Nobody gave us a chance, and in my opinion, that's been the case all year. You've never heard anything about UTEP, you've always heard about the other teams. This team fought to the very end. We didn't make a play, but the effort is what a coach is satisfied with."

UTEP Player Jason Williams
"It's a big disappointment. We really wanted to win this game so we could make it to the tournament. We kept fighting and fighting, and they kept making big shots at the shot clock buzzer. They kept making plays and we kept contesting with our hands down. That's what happens, like coach said, if we would have made our free throws, who knows who would have won the game. They played good and we played good. We're going to enjoy it and see what happens on Sunday."