University of Massachusets Athletics
Postgame Notes: UMass 71, Saint Joseph's 67
March 03, 2007 | Men's Basketball
March 3, 2007
Travis Ford On The Game:
"Chris Lowe's steal was huge. I thought we were starting to drag a little bit. We had to fight hard and he did. That play made all the difference. We made big stops at the end of the game. We struggled defensively for 35 minutes, as they kept scoring, but in the end we came up big with defense.
"Brandon Thomas was terrific. Defensively, he did a great job on Calathes. Not to take anything away from Saint Joseph's, we are struggling on defense and from the foul line.
"This was goal No. 1 (to win the regular-season Atlantic 10 title). Now we have to move on to No. 2 (the A-10 tournament). I like our team a lot even though we made a lot of mistakes tonight.
"We have played a touch schedule all year especially on the road to help prepare us for these games down the stretch."
Ford On Played At Saint Joseph's
"That was as wild as a place we have played all season. That was as good an ole' fashioned end-of-the season basjketball game. They gave us their best shots and we had to fight to win as hard as we could. We got unusually tired as the game went on because of how hard the teams were playing. We made a few big plays like the Lowe steal-and-one."
Ford On Winning The A-10 Title:
"I am elated and releived to be the conference champion. Its great with the conference road games we have played to be co-champs. To be co-champs with Xavier says a lot. But we still have work to be done."
Coach Ford on the Chris Lowe steal:
"The steal was absolutely huge. To be honest, I thought our guys were starting to hang their heads and get a little tired. This was the most draining games we have played. That was as hard a fought win as we have had all year long. That steal (by Chris Lowe) gave us life. To get the basket, and one, made the biggest difference in the world. Not only did he get the steal, but then the basket and the foul shot. Then, we finally got some stops at the end of the game. We really struggled for about 35 minutes without getting any consistency on defense. They just kept scoring and scoring, and I was a little disappointed in that. But this was a very well-earned win."
Coach Ford on Brandon Thomas:
"I thought Brandon Thomas was absolutely terrific. Not just offensively, which he was, but more importantly defensively. He did a great job on (Pat) Calathes. Again, not to take away from Saint Joe's, but we still did not play the way we need to be playing right now. We are winning, but we did not make our free throws tonight and I thought our defense could have been a lot better. I don't think a lot of people thought we could be conference champions and that makes it even sweeter. This team has worked extremely hard, but we told them, this is goal number one, now we have to move on to goal number two."
Coach Ford on the Tournament:
"I like our chances in the tournament. I don't like to get too high. This team has done better when we are under the radar. As coaches, we need to stay tough on the team. But I like our basketball team. If we play hard and cut out the mistakes we made tonight, I like our chances. We are going to go back and watch the film and try to prepare in these next three days. I like the guts of our team. I think we have had a tough schedule this year in conference to help us prepare. But, with that said, there are four or five teams in this league that could win on any night. Teams that finished towards the bottom in our league, like Charlotte or Saint Louis, can beat anyone on any given night. We cannot rest on our laurels. As we talked about in the locker room, there is still a lot of work to be done and we have to keep fighting everyday."
Chris Lowe on being League Champions:
"It feels great to be league champions. Last year, Coach Ford came in and asked us to buy into the system and something good would come out of it. This is the gift of us working hard, getting up at 5:00AM, being mad at each other, being mad at the coaches because we don't want to wake up and do conditioning. It feels good, but it is not over yet."
Brandon Thomas on being League Champions:
"It is an absolutely amazing feeling to be league champions. Like Chris said, we work so hard. Last year, I would have said we worked harder than any other team in the country, and it is the same thing this year. To be rewarded for that feels great, but we do have to stay grounded and realize that it is not over."
Chris Lowe on his steal:
"My coaches and teammates were telling me the whole game that he was killing me and I needed to buy in and play defense. So I told myself, I want to win this game. I need to do this for my seniors, because they have worked so hard and been through a lot. I need to get this steal and turn the game around. As soon as he turned his back, that is my favorite move right there."
Brandon Thomas on playing Pat Calathes:
"Calathes is a really tall guy. He likes to drive middle and shoot over guys, so I just tried to stay in on him as much as I could. I really tried to get low and follow him off the screens and things like that. Luckily, he missed a few shots."
Brandon Thomas thoughts on the end of the game:
"I am about to go home and shoot a thousand free throws right now. I think we all need to. It was crunch time at the end, and I think we made it happen."
Chris Lowe on winning a tough one on the road:
"It shows our character and how mature our team is. Coach has been telling us, if we win on the road, it will be easier to win in the conference tournament. We have been playing well lately, and starting to gel because we all know our roles. We're not going to stop with this, though. We will be back in the gym Monday, lifting practicing, and being cussed out by the coaches."
