March 13, 2009

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Post-Game Quotes

Dayton Head Coach Brian Gregory

Opening Statement: "Obviously we knew how well Richmond has been playing. In their last nine Atlantic 10 games they were seven and two. They had the best record I think out of anybody in the league in the second half of the season. One of those losses was a hard fought loss to us at our place. I have a great amount of respect for the program that Chris [Mooney] is building over there and obviously [Kevin] Anderson is playing extremely well for them, you know, scoring and doing different things. We talked about our focus, our concentration; giving a great effort defensively, really attacking the glass and taking care of the ball. Other than the first five minutes, I thought we did a great job of that."

On a possible at-large bid: "We don't talk about it, we really don't. We just talk about what we have to do, go back and get some rest and get up in the morning and start preparing for Duquesne who's obviously very good. With 26 wins, wherever we are, and with this league you would think we've done enough. We just have to keep plugging away and see what happens." On seeing anything tonight that needs to be changed for Duquesne tomorrow night: "We have to do a good job of guarding dribble penetration against [Duquesne] as well. This league has so many quality guards. Thank goodness we have a lot too, or we would be in trouble. You have to defend dribble penetration which is big. I thought our transition defense tonight, the first ten minutes, would not be good enough if we played that way tomorrow. After that, I thought it was really good. Maybe it took us a little bit to get going. A little combination of maybe some time off and sitting around a couple days and also the excitement. These guys knew this was a big game for us. Something that was important for us to play well to advance."

On Dayton's play in the early going: "[Richmond] is just one of the best teams around. They play that kind of you pick him, match-up type zone and it's unique. We had to get accustomed to attacking again. We didn't do a good job early and they created some turnovers off that. We've been successful because one of the things this team has is a heart as big as any team I have ever seen. They play with great passion and energy."

Dayton Guard London Warren On adjustments needed for tomorrow's game "I think we just have to take care of the ball better tomorrow against Duquesne and go from there. If we do that, we'll be okay." On neutralizing David Gonzalvez and defending Kevin Anderson "We didn't change our defensive scheme. We just went out there and did what we do. Marcus (Johnson) is a great defender and Gonzalvez is a great player. We did a great job against him tonight."

On solving Richmond's defense "At the beginning of the game we were a little stagnant because we were not used to their 2-3 pick-em, choose-em defense. Once we got accustomed to the zone and started driving and picking, we started making shots."

Dayton Guard Marcus Johnson On adjustments needed for tomorrow's game "We need to shoot from the free throw line better. We were 18-for 37. We're a better free throw shooting team than that. We need to concentrate more at the free throw line."

On his back-to-back 3-pointers "Coach (Brian Gregory) has been telling us all year to get to the post and run from out there. Kurt (Huelsman) made some good passes from the post and I got some open looks."

On neutralizing David Gonzalvez and defending Kevin Anderson "We play Gonzalvez tight and make him stay on his toes so he doesn't back-cut us. We did a good job of that."

On getting the ball inside and Luke Fabrizius' 3-point shooting "The team knows that Luke is a great 3-point shooter, but we got it inside and got some kickouts and Coach ran plays to give Luke wide open looks and he knocked them down."

Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney

Opening Statement I thought it was a great game. I thought it was well played, physical and aggressive. And all in all, there was some big plays made by both teams. I congratulate Dayton on advancing. I wish we had made a couple more shots or a couple more plays, but I think we played very very hard and that we have everything to be proud of because we came up here and played well and played hard.

On the amount of free throws in both tonight's game and the first meeting this year "They are a very physical and aggressive team. I thought we did a pretty good job of trying to attack the basket. They are aggressive on offense and it seems that we have a tough time guarding them without fouling. I just think it's the aggressive nature of the games that they play."

On having trouble boxing out the aggressive Dayton team "I think that's a big part of their game (being aggressive on rebounds). They are an aggressive team and a team full of great athletes. They really look to offensive rebounding. It's becomes a big part of their game and it is a little bit difficult for us. But at the end of the day, if we had kept it a little bit closer, I think we'd be fine."

On possible postseason play "We're going to go back (to Richmond) and hopefully know a little bit more by the time we get back tomorrow. We'll just be in communication with our guys and probably won't do anything before Sunday or Sunday night. What ever plans come up, we'll be communicating with them (the student-athletes)."

Richmond Junior Guard Ryan Butler On fatigue being a factor "I don't think it was a factor. Especially this time of year. To go to the dance you gotta give everything you got and leave everything out there. It wasn't a factor."

On team's improvement "Our players are playing at a different level. I think we found a way to work together to play together and do what we want to do. It just comes with experience of playing with each other and as the season wore on we got more familiar with one another."

Sophomore Guard Kevin Anderson On the final 6-0 run for Dayton "It got them some separation but we felt we came back and still had opportunities late. We missed some shots late and even thought they had that run we had an opportunity to come back and win the game and we just didn't capitalize on it."

On the opportunity for postseason We put the effort in. We want to play postseason, it's a good opportunity for us. We wish we could have gotten one tonight and kept advancing and maybe go to the tournament or make an NIT run or something like that, but it doesn't matter if we get another chance we'll play as hard as we played tonight."