Jan. 21, 2004

Rashad McGee: On His Back Injury: "Yeah, the back is bothering me. It is sore, and it is something that I am thinking about, but it is no excuse. My poor play is not caused by my back...it is no excuse...We need to play better, play smart and it starts with the point guards. We control the tempo, and I didn't do a good job. It starts with me, it's my fault."

On 2 Straight Losses: "Is it a trend?...No. It is gut check time. Its time for guys to step up, and I have to step up. We have to learn from it and move on and improve and it starts with myself."

Jay Maynard: On the loss: "We had to overcome that deficit and to work back took a great deal out of us, and I think in overtime we just ran out of gas."

On Rashad's Comments That It Was His (PG) Fault: "No, that's not it. Its not the point guards fault. Its not his fault. We have three point guards, and I don't know that it is the fault of any of them, this is a team problem and we have to figure out what it is as a team, and we have two days off to fix it, and come back focused and ready to play a full game."

On 2 Staight Losses Being A Trend: "Its not a trend. It is the first time that we have lost two straight this season, and we have to overcome it and make sure that it doesn't become a trend. We have to blame ourselves and no one else. Only the team can fix whatever problem this lack of focus is. We have to come ready to play."

Coach Stitt: Is this two game losing skid, a trend? "Yeah, I guess any losing streak is a trend. It is one that we cannot, and will not accept. The trend is really us only deciding to play one half of basketball. Tonight we did not play in the first half. The second half we play and shut them down. They are a good basketball team and a half-game effort isn't going to get it done. The real trend is this playing for 20 minutes stuff...something that we have been doing since we got back from break, and it has cost us three losses since the start of the second semester. It is something we have to fix, and fix in a hurry."

On Virginia State: "These guys (Virginia State) are a quality team. A very good team, much like every other team in the CIAA. We play a schedule made up of very good teams. That is what the CIAA is like. And this half a game effort isn't going to get it done. We have to find ourselves and our intensity, and find it quickly".