Feb. 5, 2009
Recap | Box Score
Post-Game Quotes
Loyola vs. Youngstown State
Feb. 5, 2009
Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell
Thoughts on the game
"I thought we played with a lot of energy in the first half, we tried to settle down offensively because we were kind of anxious. We had a lot of good shots, especially in the first half, a lot of shots in the paint that we didn't convert. But the second half, I don't think we made a basket by the first two media timeouts, or it was maybe one basket. Some of the shots were very, very good shots, we've got to make some of those. It's as simple as that. We've got to make a few here and there and if we don't, we've got to get to the free throw line or get an offensive rebound or make a defensive play happen. A lot of our shots were very good shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but then we gave up the lead and then I think what happened offensively was we moved the ball less and less and took tougher shots and no one got going. Defensively, our last seven or eight minutes of the game, it was still a three or four point game and that's when even though you're playing ugly, you've got to make some stops."
On what went wrong
"Guys were getting good shots, but we weren't getting the second or third shot. We can't just live off one good shot when we're not shooting the ball well. Youngstown finally broke us with seven minutes to go in the game. All of a sudden it's a double-digit game."
On the number of three-point shots
"Twenty-five is ridiculous for us. We're second in the League in 3-point percentage, because we take the least amount of 3s. We're selective. I thought early in the game, we were taking too many 3s, the first available shot. In the second half I think we were getting frustrated and we put shooters in. We put Thomas in there, we wanted him to shoot and see if he could give us a lift. Van Weelden had about three wide open looks. All of our guys had good looks, but we just couldn't make a shot. We didn't get any second looks, or chase any down. We didn't find other ways to score. I think in the Horizon League, we have a chance to win every night, but we have to play well. It's as simple as that. We have to do everything well and be complete. We're disappointed, but we have to bounce back for Saturday. We have no excuses, we just have to play better basketball and make some shots."
Loyola senior guard J.R. Blount
On Youngstown State's defense
"The zone didn't really bother us, because we were still getting good shots. We weren't converting, and like coach said, we weren't getting the second shots. When it's a game where shots aren't going down, we have to find another way to win and we weren't able to do it today."
