Jan. 28, 2009

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POSTGAME QUOTES -Northern Illinois at Miami
January 28, 2009

Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles
(opening statement) "We wanted to come out with energy tonight. Last Saturday we could never match Buffalo in energy. Tonight we turned a lot of possessions into fast-break baskets. We had a lot of good offensive play in the first half."

"With Kenny (Hayes) out, Eric (Pollitz) has allowed us a chance to win. Eric is versatile. When we were recruiting them, some people thought we were taking Eric just to get Tim. The tape I got, I liked them both a lot. Eric has more than proven that he can play and make a big difference."

Miami's Eric Pollitz
"Against Buffalo, we were not there. They ran their action very, very quick, and we weren't very aware defensively. Against Northern Illinois, we knew we had to be the aggressors tonight. Buffalo was the aggressor Saturday, but we knew tonight we had to be the aggressors and we had to get this victory."

(on Nick Winbush) "He's been through some struggles lately with his playing time. Tonight, he really stuck his head in there and grinded it out. He's a big-time player for us, and he stepped up tonight. He showed his perseverance when things weren't going well."

(on playing point guard) "I backed up Alex Moosman a couple of years ago and I played a lot of point guard in high school in crunch time. I really enjoy it because I get to lead the team in terms of bringing the ball up and making sure guys are where they need to be. My height has something to do with it, being able to see over my defender and finding the open man, whether it be in the post or for an open shot."

Miami's Nick Winbush
"In past games, I really haven't taken advantage of the time I've been given. So tonight, I said that whatever time I do get, I'm going to focus on that and just play as hard as I can and see where that takes me. I had a pretty good game and we got the 'W'."

Northern Illinois Head Coach RICARDO PATTON

"We played very poorly on Saturday at home. Tonight, it was the difference between a senior club and a freshman team. It was to our disadvantage that the game was physical. We knew that it would be tough to play Miami with them coming off a loss. When you're playing against seniors, they understand what they have to do to bounce back. We're just too young to understand what we need to do."