Feb. 28, 2004

Recap| Box Score

Arizona Head Coach Lute Olson:

"I thought in the first half our defensive intensity was the best all year. "We weren't as enthusiastic [in the second half] as we were earlier. I thought we played 30 good minutes and ten we could forget about."

"We couldn't contain [Thomas] Kelati. He's now 15-21 from three-point range. He's 19-of-19 from the line in conference."

'We kept [Jeff] Varem off the boards and did a good job of that."

"They (our players) will get some extra time off. They have the rest of the day today and Sunday. We will do some running on Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday we will work hard on our preparation for the Arizona State game."

"First half we were intense on every defensive board. The second half we let to many get away in the low post."

"Andre had 15 boards and came out in the first attacking. Salim [Stoudamire] did a good job defending [Marcus] Moore. For Channing [Frye] and Hassan [Adams] to hold Simmons and Gill to three field goals was something else."

"Mustafa [Shakur] next to Andre [Iguodala] was our leading defensive rebounder. That is important for our guards to be up there.

Arizona Player Quotes

Forward Andre Iguodala

"We played in a better condition defensively today. We played a great first half. Towards the end of the game we had some defensive lapses. We didn't communicate well. We need to keep our concentration for the whole game."

"It feels a lot better to get a win like this. ASU is our rivalry game, we need to get back and practice hard."

"We had a great practice yesterday. Guys are getting better, and we came out ready to play today."

"We need to come out against ASU, and get hot so we can head into the Pac-10 Tournament with momentum."

"We know what we need to do. We need to go out and play hard, and just play basketball."

"We need to realize that we need to attack at all times."

On Salim Stoudamire's return to the lineup:

"It was nice to have a great shooter like Salim back. He is a great teammate."

Forward Hassan Adams

"We stepped it up defensively today. We played a great game today."

"We need to keep our intensity going defensively. We did a great job as a team going out there and playing basketball."

On Salim Stoudamire's return to the lineup:

"Salim played great defense, and did a great job for us out there. He shot the ball well and played hard. It is good to have him back."

Center Channing Frye

"We pulled a good win out today. Every game from here on is a big game."

"Salim let everyone get into their own game. Once we get our post plan set, he is able to get open."

"Everybody has a job to do. We need to take it day by day, and do what we do to win."

"We can't look at what we can do next week, we have to look at what we can do tomorrow."

"We look at the Pac-10 Tournament as three more games to get better, get mentally focused, and play together as a team."

"Our (NCAA) tournament seed doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what seed you are, it matters how hard you play. You have nothing to lose in the tournament. It is one game at a time, and if you lose, you are done."

Guard Mustafa Shakur

"This was a very important game. It is nice to get off to a fresh start to help us get ready for the Pac-10 Tournament, and get some momentum."

On his relationship with Salim Stoudamire:

"We are fine. You can see it on the court that we are fine."

"When Salim is on the floor, it adds another dimension on the court for us. He is another person we can look to for leadership."