«Equally impressive, was watching Stanley Burrell manage the game. If you watched him as freshman, he would become frustrated as he wasn't getting shots and other parts of his game deteriorated. Not any more. He's seen tremendous growth. With that growth, that's one of the reasons we're playing better is that he's continued to mature.»

«For a coach, this is the ultimate fulfillment. You go through some adversity ? in our case, a lot of adversity ? and all of the doubts. It can galvanize you. It can take you to higher places, if it doesn't break you. That's what happened to us.»

«They could have made us whatever seed they wanted. In our case, we've been climbing the mountain and we were able to put it together at the right time. We're the most excited team in the country.»

«Back in September and October you're always wondering where you'll be on Selection Sunday. Everything that we've been through the last couple of weeks says a lot about our kids. We're a lot different team now coming out of the A-10 tournament than we were going into it.»

«We're very thankful and fortunate to be in it. I wanted to watch that (selection) show and double-check and make sure they were giving the tournament champion in the A-10 an automatic bid. No matter who they were going to tell us to play, we were going to be excited. We're the most excited team in the country.»

«At a place like Xavier that has such high expectations, the people that matter the most are the ones in the locker room and the people at the university. For a coach, they are the people that matter. If you really think about the insanity of wanting to fire somebody or not liking somebody or whatever people say, and in four days it swings, that in of itself says it all.»

«I didn't just come to Xavier; this is my fifth season here. I've known the deal all along. Two years ago, I wasn't the coach and the same thing happened to him. We were 10-9, and the same thing happened.»

«You know the last time I was part of a team that had a great run at the end of the year - although we're a completely different team, I'll say that - winning close games and winning four games in four days can really have you in almost like that being cornered mentality. It's almost like your life, four games in four days. Then all of a sudden you play that fifth game, which is the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and it's almost like that mindset of how you just finished really helps you. And I hope it helps this team like it did the last one.»

«I think we respect Gonzaga a great deal. I think it stops there. When you look at our program through different coaches and different players over that same span we've been right there doing a lot of things as well.»

«When you combine Morrison and [J.P.] Batista, they go to the foul line 16 times, and when they go, they make 'em. That doesn't bode well for our team. Being able to defend without fouls is a real key.»