Coach Slessinger's Quotes Following Wednesday's Overtime Loss At UMass

Overall thoughts on the game
"It was a great game. I'm proud of our team's effort. I was proud of our spirit. I was proud of our guys' hearts. They played as a unit and very unselfishly. We had major contributions from every single guy that came on this trip with us. I was so proud of that – from Travis Avery taking a huge charge in the first half to guys coming in, stepping up and playing very well. I'm so happy and proud of the effort they gave. I'm disappointed that we didn't come away with the win. It hurts my heart. I'm disappointed in a lot of ways that we could not find a way to make one more play in regulation to finish this thing out."
 
On getting key contributions from so many players
"We talked about it before the game and one of our keys was get off to a good start offensively, and we did. We kind of turned a corner and get off to a better start [than we have been]. The things they have been working on in training have paid off. That was fun to see. It was fun to see them execute the things that we saw. They had two guys go off for incredible nights. One had an incredible night from the free throw line with 20 free throws. Another one had a good night from the field. Overall, New Orleans played well."
 
On if he views today's game as a moral victory
"There is no moral victory for me. It's a loss and I'm not happy about it. What I am happy about is there are specific plays where I can see our team improving. I can see us getting better in areas that we're working on. What you worry about is when you're working on things and you don't see that carry over into the game. We're seeing that carry over from training and practice into the games, and that's the part that's fun to see. That's the part that I'm excited bout. That's a positive step. I'm not happy about the loss. I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated.  This was a win that our program needed and one that I felt like we earned tonight but just didn't get."
 
On the plans for the rest of the trip and the upcoming game at UL-Lafayette
"First off, I'm excited to take our team to the Naismith Hall of Fame. It's neat to be able to give these guys a little more of a life experience than just playing games. We're blessed to have an athletic director that believes in the student-athlete experience and believes in giving them a full experience. Now we have to go back and play one of our biggest rivals in program history on Monday night. Whether you call them Louisiana-Lafayette or Southwestern Louisiana, it's a big game. It's a big game for everybody who has ever played in our program. It's a big game for everybody who every attended our University. It's a UL system rival. It's a big game."

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