March 10, 2006
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Iowa Head Coach Steve Alford
Opening statement:
"At this point in the season, all wins are very difficult. Minnesota is a team that we have a tremendous amount of respect. I think (head coach) Dan (Monson) does a great job. We are dear friends and it is never easy to play against one another. I always think it's hard - we have been in the flip-flop position before and had to play on Thursday. We always thought the Friday game favored the team that played on Thursday because they were out here. That was our concern, just because they played here and were comfortable here. We were just starting. They had five seniors in the starting lineup, three of which were five-year guys. They did a tremendous job and we were pretty fortunate to grind out a win. We won the way we have won a lot of games this year and that has been with our defense."
On Iowa's defensive change in the second half:
"It was really just Jeff (Horner). Jeff wanted to try (to guard Vincent) Grier. That is what Jeff did. Grier was having one of those special nights; he is a very special talent. He kept (Minnesota) on his shoulders for awhile there. If you get 29 points in this league, you're doing something. He was a handful no matter whom it was (guarding him). I thought Jeff made him work a little bit harder. (Grier) seemed to have Adam's (Haluska) number a little bit. You have to give Vincent a lot of credit but you also have to give Jeff credit for wanting that. Jeff played all 40 minutes plus guarded their best player. There weren't a whole lot of adjustments."
On Jeff Horner:
"When good players get going, they are hard to stop, and Jeff is a good player. He got going, and it was hard for them to stop him just like it was hard for us to stop Vincent. I don't think there was any kind of secret on either side."
On Greg Brunner:
"He was probably challenged as much as he has ever been at halftime. You're a first team all-league choice; you don't come in with zero field goals and zero rebounds. He at least listened to half of it because he started scoring. He didn't rebound any better but he did start to score.
"I thought (his injury) was fine. At the offensive end, when he got some post feeds, he was able to jump off both feet and dunk the ball. He was at least jumping 10 feet or a little bit higher. He's getting back into it; the hardest thing is just convincing yourself you're okay."
Greg Brunner
On lack of rebounding:
"That's probably the first time that's happened in my career. I can promise you that it will be the last. It's just one of those situations where I got a lot of (balls) knocked away so I just tried to tip it. I credit Erik Hansen and the other guys that got to them."
On second-half defensive adjustment:
"We were playing 3-2 (zone) and we played a little bit of box-and-one. Coach (Alford) did a nice job with that box-and-one. It disrupted (Minnesota's offense) and was one of the keys to our run."
On the quick turnaround between games:
"If you think about it, it's like playing AAU basketball back in high school where we could play in five games a day. As a college basketball player, you understand that if you want to stay on the court, you have to play multiple games."
Jeff Horner
On 17-4 second-half run:
"We came out, hit some shots and tried to play within the flow of the offense. I think we kept getting (baskets) when we came off double screens. The first screen would get out, then the second guy would show and then we would get an open look at the basket. (Greg) Brunner probably got 10 points from that. That was huge for us tonight. When we needed an easy basket, we just went to that."
On Vincent Grier:
"I know Vince pretty well from this summer. He's a very good player. Once he gets going, look out because he's going right to the rim. He's a very good player and he's definitely one of the best in the Big Ten."
Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson
On the loss:
"These are tough for coaches, when you near the end with a team you've really enjoyed coaching. Hopefully this isn't the end, but it's obvious that we can see the end coming. I think they demonstrated today why you want to keep playing and keep coaching; they really fought today. I think it was going to be a tough game for either (Jeff) Horner or Vince (Grier) to lose. They both put on such great offensive performances, and unfortunately it ends up being Vince. They just outplayed us down the stretch."
On defending Iowa's perimeter game:
"I think that's why they are 23-8. We were really spread out. We did a good job the first few times. We said we had to take threes away from (Adam) Haluska and (Jeff) Horner, and do what I call `muck it up' on Brunner, getting two or three people in the lane every time. We did two of those three things the first time against Iowa. We did a great job against Horner and Haluska, but we let Brunner get way too much space and he had 25 rebounds. We did all three of them at our place, and we were able to win. Today, we did two out of three again."
On a possible NIT bid:
"These guys still want to play. I think it's important for them to go out on their own terms. I think they did that today; they really fought and never gave up. But you really get close throughout this process. When that last game comes and you've been together every day for a long time and all of the sudden you're not, that's hard. Some teams want the season to be over. Some teams want it to just end, especially when you've had some ups and downs like this team had. But this team doesn't want feel that way. I think it wants to keep playing, and hopefully we can get a bid."
"I don't think anybody starts the year saying `Hey, we just want to go to the NIT,' but right now for us that's the only thing that's left. We need to make the best of that because it would be a good opportunity for this team to continue to be together."
Vincent Grier
On the game:
"Coach (Monson) challenged me. I had to come out, get buckets early, continue to play and try to shut down the guards. The end result really doesn't count because we didn't get the win. Defense is going to be our key to winning anytime. The defense is going to come if the offense is not there."
On the dunk over Doug Thomas:
"I saw the opening and it was right down to the basket. It was either going to be a charge on me or a foul on him, so I just jumped in the air and went over him."
