A loss to anybody would really set us off track of winning the Big East and being the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament.

I really put a lot of thinking into dominating this game, getting the team going and winning. I think the older guys put it on themselves to win this game. I think we're tougher than a lot of people give us credit for. They might say, ?You're talented, but you're not tough. You can't have both. You're going to be too good if you have both.' I think a lot of our guys are tough physical and mentally.

If I win a championship, I?m pleased. But If I don?t win an NCAA championship, I?m not pleased ? regardless of how well I?m doing. It is to make history out there. Two championships in four years? In this day and age, that?s unheard of.

That's coach. It's something guys come to expect. I think he expects so much from us, and he puts a lot into us energy-wise to make us better players, to make us great players. . . . You can't come to Connecticut if you're not going to have a strong mindset.

After we lost, I did a lot of thinking about dominating this game, getting the team going. Coach said this was just like any other game, but we really had bull?s-eyes on this one, circled it, had all the arrows pointed to it. We made sure we were focused.

After the Marquette game, guys got tighter as a team. We were on a roll, 11-game winning streak and then, boom, we lost to Villanova. But we got even tighter. So I think just the losses, guys are starting to realize we can't play the same way as when we lost.

They know we?re a dominant team in the Big East. They knew a win against Connecticut would do a lot for them.

They were calling themselves, ?The New Bullies of the Big East.' It shows what we did to them tonight. We played a lot stronger than we did at Villanova and it turned out good.

They can keep their heads up because they took the No. 1 team in the country down to the wire.

Everybody's got to pick it up. I can't put guys on my back like that.