Jan. 6, 2004

Assistant coach John O'Connor:

On the trip to the West Coast:
"It's nice to be back east. We ran into two pretty tough teams out west. At USC we didn't shoot the ball well early and got ourselves into a hole and it's tough to come back against that level of competition. Northridge has had a couple of junior college transfers come in who have done a great job and really played well against us. It was a tough trip out west."

On Saturday's win at Columbia:
"I thought we did a nice job coming back against Columbia. Their first-year head coach, Joe Jones, has done an outstanding job with that program. I thought we did a good job from an intensity standpoint at both ends of the floor. We did not start games well out west, so it was nice to get off to a good start. Defensively, I thought we were very intense, particularly Rob Dill. Looking at the film, it appeared that Rob blocked 10 shots, even though the stat sheet only had him for six. We certainly had to match the high level of intensity that their young team played with."

On the play of the underclassmen:
"Our young guys really picked it up. Pat Betley and Marcus Harley both had career highs with 14 points. We have the seniors who have been through a lot and we certainly need the point guard position to give us something. When you get Pat and Marcus both contributing, I think we're pretty tough to beat."

On Penn:
"They do a great job of pressuring the basketball and forcing you to execute on offense. I think a key for us is just staying within our system and being able to counter when they start to take things away. They're really going to pressure you out on the perimeter, as you can see in their stats where teams are shooting 23 percent against them from three. They play mostly man-to-man; they'll fool around with you a little bit out of a timeout and give you a little zone, trap you here and there, but it's mostly man-to-man."

Senior guard Winston Davis:

On the West Coast style of offense:
"They push the ball up the floor and are really active in transition. That put pressure on us to get back on defense, thus the high scores in both games. I think that is more of the type of offense they run out there."

On the positives from the West Coast trip:
"Any game helps you. There is always something positive you can take from a game, whether you win or lose. Sometimes you can learn more from a loss than a win, so there are definitely positives to be taken from that experience."

On playing at the Palestra:
"I played in the Sonny Hill League down there so I've picked up on the tradition of the Palestra. It's exciting to be a part of that."

Senior forward Rob Dill:

On the West Coast opponents:
"USC was tough. They just have big athletes, and there's a big difference between this level and that level. Northridge was really pressuring on defense and really pushing the ball in transition and just got too many open looks that way."

On playing at the Palestra:
"Obviously it would be nice to win down there for the first time in school history. I was just looking forward to the game against them because they've beaten us the last couple of years."