Bowling Green State University Athletics
Quotes From Saturday's Game
February 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH DAN DAKICH:
"I thought that there were a couple keys to the game. One was our defensive effort. I think they had 11 points in the first five-plus minutes, and then they had 10 from that point on in the first half. The unique ability, apparently, that we have of throwing in shots at the shot-clock buzzer was huge, too, because that's about all we did. At halftime, I told my coaches that this was kind of a fake lead. We were up 21, and a lot of it was due to the fact that we threw in four at the shot-clock buzzer.""I felt like we didn't get a whole lot of offense in the first half, other than the three's, and I was nervous about that. In the second half, I didn't think we came out hard, or well, but we were still guarding. I thought we did a good job of playing defense for about the fourth game in a row."
(On Keith McLeod's play): "This was as good a game as he's played. (UA's Rashon) Brown has shot 42 free throws in the last three games. I think he's averaged somewhere around 25 points lately, and to hold him to one basket over the course of the game ... it's what I've been saying after every game. He (McLeod) has taken a pride in the defense and the winning. And, then you combine that with seven assists and three steals ... I think he's playing as well now as he was playing when he had 30 points a night. He's getting the ball to people, he's creative with his passing, he's not turning it over, and he's guarding like a madman. That's pretty good."
"I called the team together at the end of the game, and I said, 'I want you to look across from me (on the other side of the arena).' The students were still there, with us 30 points up, cheering and yelling. My first year here, we didn't have that kind of crowd at the start of games. That's what these seniors have built."
BGSU JUNIOR CORY RYAN:
(On BGSU making four shots at the shot-clock buzzer in the first half): "It hurts your pride. They played good defense on us for 34 seconds, and then we threw four in at the last second in the first half. That gives us confidence, and kind of killed their confidence a little bit. After that, we started hitting shots and feeling good."
BGSU SENIOR BRANDON PARDON:
"All shooters go through the good times and the bad times. I went through a stretch at the beginning (of the season) where I was making almost everything, it seemed like the rim was huge. I went through a stretch where I wasn't taking a lot of shots, so it was kind of hard to get into a rhythm. But, you just stay with it, you work before and after practice, and if you're aggressive, usually good things will happen. The guys did a great job of screening for me today. Keith (McLeod) did a great job of screening and getting me the ball.""We're a very unselfish team. You look at McLeod, he's leading the MAC in scoring, but he literally shut Brown down. He's (Brown) the key of their offense, and my hat's off to Keith for what he did. He might have only had nine points, but night-in and night-out, he'll stop whoever he guards. It's unbelievable."
AKRON HEAD COACH DAN HIPSHER:
"We dribbled ourselves into oblivion. I thought we moved the ball decently early, we missed a few easy shots and dug ourselves a hole. Bowling Green played through the clock, knocked some shots down. It was tied at 15-all, and they went on a run, (scoring) most of them late in the (shot) clock, which good teams do, and we didn't. You have to work for what you get against a good team, we got impatient."(On his team's chances with McLeod scoring nine points and Len Matela eight): "You'd figure you're in pretty good shape. But, we had told Rashon (Brown) and the kids that Brandon (Pardon) was on the upswing. He played well at Toledo, played very well at Miami, and he had some confidence shooting the ball. Brandon's the kind of kid that looks for what's available on a given night, and it was available for him tonight. There's nights that I think he could get 25 or 30 (points) and five assists, and there's nights where he could get 12 assists and 10 points. He reads what they need to be successful. I hope we can mature to that point."
(On Bowling Green) "That's a good team. The shame of it all is ... you keep seeing the RPI, and why are our (MAC teams) losses so much worse than Big Ten losses? Why is a Big Ten team, at 11-5, a lock, and you've got a heck of a team here that beat everybody they could beat (in non-conference play). You go out and lose some conference games, which teams do, and it's a big penalty in the MAC. There's something really wrong there, because there's nobody that wants to play Bowling Green in the tournament. It drives me nuts."
"Keith (McLeod) took Rashon and just did an unbelievable job. What I like about Keith is, he gets his scoring and he does his things. But, when the time comes down to it, Keith takes the (opponent's) best player, and he locks them up. That, to me, is special. I watched him on tape against Eastern Michigan, and that kid (Ricky Cottrill) couldn't even get a shot off, and that kid gets shots. To play like that at both ends is pretty good."
