March 9, 2004

Recap |  Box Score

UIC Head Coach Jimmy Collins

Overall thoughts on the game:

"I thought the thing that got us over the hump tonight was that we fought through adversity."

On the record crowd:

"It was definitely a college atmosphere. We brought some great fans [up] here from Chicago, Milwaukee has some great fans ... it was almost like an NCAA playoff game ... it's good that we've been in a lot of arenas with hostile environments.

On beating UWM on the same floor where it eliminated UIC from the Horizon League semifinals the year before (3/8/2003; UWM 75, UIC 73)

"It was sweet beating UWM, but it would have been just as sweet beating the Titans of Detroit, it would have been just as sweet beating Butler. It's just about getting to the dance. Of course we enjoyed beating UWM here in Milwaukee. For me to say anything else, I'd be lying out of my neck."

UWM Head Coach Bruce Pearl

On UWM's struggles offensively:

"We obviously missed a lot of shots that we would normally make and that hurt us."

"When we ran play calls and made passes, we got certain things we could execute and we made baskets. But that didn't always happen."

On dealing with the loss in the locker room:

"We were really thinking more about everybody else than ourselves - our families, our fans, our friends - and not enough about what we had to do tonight."