MBI QUOTES – Loyola Chicago 85, Tulsa 66

Tulsa Coach Eric Konkol – “We knew coming in tonight we were going to play a team that plays really hard, very well together. We talked about the tougher team was going to win tonight. And Loyola, their program has certainly been built on great toughness. It was a challenge to our team but I thought our team played with a toughness and togetherness. There were a few moments where we bended a little bit but didn’t break. Give a lot of credit to Sam (Griffin) and his teammates for putting a great effort on the floor to be tenacious defensively and turn that into some great offensive play. Other than the last few minutes of the game we had an incredible amount of effort. Loyola’s really good at running unique actions and the guys prepared really well the last few days. Our hand activity was really good, battling passes, getting in certain areas, zoning up on the back side.”

Tulsa guard Sam Griffin – “Honestly I was thinking about winning it. Even in the first half when I had foul trouble I was like we’ve just got to win. It shows how together we are how we fight as a unit. I don’t have to be out there for our team to continue to fight. We all had the same goals. We play together and it showed tonight.”

Loyola Chicago Coach Drew Valentine – “We ran into a team that had an edge that we didn’t have. This team is still figuring things out. It was great to have Marquise (Kennedy) out on the floor today. We missed him and he’s still not back fully 100 percent. We’re still trying to figure out who we are and what it’s going to take to be successful. I’ve been talking a lot about being a disciplined team again today. They were way too many turnovers again. I believe in this group. Obviously we’re disappointed we won’t be playing for a championship but we’ll move on and try to play our basketball tomorrow against Boise State.”

Loyola Chicago guard Braden Norris – “It falls on everyone and I take pride in leading this team but at the same time we’re not playing to our standard right now. We’ve got to figure it out, I’ll help lead the way. Our coaching staff is the best coaching staff in the country, they’ll help us lead the way and we’ll figure it out.