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Dec. 31, 2003

Recap?|?Box Score |? Video Highlights

Iowa State Coach Wayne Morgan:

I thought our kids played hard. Virginia played hard, but, obviously, thedifference in the game was 23 turnovers to five. At this level of basketball youcan’t turn the ball over that many times and hope to win. I thought going downthe stretch, Virginia was very determined and got several steals thatdictated the remainder of the game.

Our players made some mistakes going down the stretch, making some turnovers.It happens. We have to learn and go forth from this game.

We knew Devin Smith was a good shooter. I thought their whole team playedwell offensively tonight. They made a lot of key three pointers.

Virginia Coach Pete Gillen:

I thought it was a terrific ball game, as both teams played hard. Iowa Stateis an excellent team with a lot of talent and a lot of toughness. We beat avery good team. The thing that I’m most proud of is that our guys played with alot of toughness and determination down the stretch. It wasn’t X’s and O’s, itwas toughness.

When Devin Smith is healthy he’s a different player. He’s still not 100percent, but he had 25 points and five steals. As a team, we hit some big shots andshot the ball like we’re capable of doing. We have good shooters–haven’tbeen shooting well, but we have good shooters.

We were aggressive tonight. We tried to play the lanes and set double ballscreens when they were in the pick-and-roll. We were more aggressive–theplayers wanted to win.

On Virginia’s five turnovers
We only had five turnovers tonight–I was stunned. That is a great effort inany game. Forcing 23 turnovers was also a surprise for me because we’re notsuper quick. It’s effort.

On coming back from a seven point deficit with 6:30 remaining in the gameWe dug down and made big plays. It’s not coaching, it’s just the character ofour team. I thought that Iowa State was more physical and more aggressive atthe beginning of the game, but I thought we responded in the second half bymatching their aggressiveness and toughness.

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