University of Arizona Athletics

Michael Wright -
"We did not play up to our potential, not like we did up at Stanford. There were a lot of guys who went out there and played cool. We had a lack of motivation. We looked at Washington State and kind of thought that it was going to be just another game. We have to play every game like it is against a ranked team.

"It was more difficult to play against them because I was sticking to (Mike) Bush, and he is a small forward. They spread the court out and really shoot the threes. This is the only team that I have seen who plays it like that.

"Coach (Olson) laid it down as soon as he got into the lockerroom. He said that we have to go out there and play hard every game, and we can't lollygag around. Coach said that we have to do better at home. Just because we are playing at home, it does not mean that we are going to win."

Loren Woods -
"Coach (Olson) said that we were not prepared mentally, but Washington State is still a good team. They did a lot of things right, and played hard. Just because we were playing the last place team in the league, we still have to go out there and play hard.

"I don't think that you are going to blow anyone out in this league, not unless you are having a great shooting night, and they are not having a good one. We are No. 2 in the country, so that means that we have to play like we are No. 2 in the nation.

"There were some individuals who did not come out and play their best, and so as a team, we did not put the pieces together. But even though some people did not play like they can, we still did what we had to do to win.

"I am a shot blocker by nature, but they kept going in there and shooting lay-ups. I thought they would get the hint, but I guess they didn't. You have to give them credit, they did not back off. They played hard and attacked the basket a lot.

"I think they were trying to get me out of the game with foul trouble, but I got good position, and was able to block a lot of the shots. Mike Wright had good size against them, and I had a height advantage, so we were able to take advantage of that tonight."

Jason Gardner -
"We have to come out and play a lot harder, no matter who we are playing. There wasn't much pretty about that, but a win in the conference is still a win. Every one counts, and so we need to take advantage of every win."

Justin Wessel -
"We need to play like we did at Stanford every night. We can't go out there and just expect to play and win. We need to play hard, and make like every team is a ranked team."

Washington State Player Quotes
Chris Crosby:
"We were outsized and they had better athletes but it comes down to heart. It was gut check time and we fought like crazy tonight. We laid it all on the line and we truly think that every one of us on the team can look themselves in the mirror and feel good about their performance tonight."

"Playing the No. 2 team in the country as tough as we did restores some confidence in us after our performance last weekend. We gotta keep on fighting and get a split on this road trip. We can't afford to start the Pac-10, 0-4."

On Guarding Loren Woods:
"He has such long arms it's amazing. Every shot you shoot he's challenging. We did what we could against him but we definitely had to work for all of our points underneath. We couldn't let his presence intimidate us, we just had to continue to play aggressive."

Forward Eddie Miller
"This was a gut check game. We really wanted to come out here and battle after the bad weekend we had last week. It's back to the drawing boards for us now. We have to turn it around against Arizona State."

On Loren Woods:
"He's a great player. It's so difficult to face a guy that every time you turn around for a shot he's in your face. I wish him the best."

Mike Bush
"Coach told us before the game that we had to penetrate to get the guards some good looks at the basket. We put ourselves in the position to win the game. A few rebounds, defensive stops , and missed free throws and we had a win. That's basketball."

On team's performance:
"No matter how close we came to winning, a loss is a loss. We still have confidence in ourselves that we can win, we just need to put a full 40 minute game together."