Tuesday, March 4, 1997

Colorado State Head Coach Stew Morrill:
"We ran into a bus in the first half. SMU shot unbelievably well and we really had a tough time adjusting to their quickness. This is the second time we set a record for 3s in a game and lost. I guess we need to quit breaking those records. Their quickness, though, really bothered us and our turnovers were the difference in the game. We made a great comeback, but after being down by 19 at half, it was just too long of a road back."

"They shot 60 percent and were lighting us up in the first half. They were killing our zone and we decided to switch to man. It just was as if things couldn't get rolling our way. When we seemed to have a bit of momentum, the clock went down and we had to sit there and cool off. But, as well as they were shooting, we knew we had to get out of the zone."

"I think we proved worthy of an (NIT) invite. Consider a couple of years back we beat BYU in the first round and they were still invited to the NCAAs. I think we deserve to be in the NIT. When you look at our schedule and our performance, I don't think that there should be any question about us playing again. In fact, I told the guys that despite this tough loss, I don't think we are done playing this season and we should play in the postseason."

Ram forward Bryan Christiansen: "In the first half I really wasn't open. They were very physical and were really up on me tightly. I felt that in the second half I needed an offensive tip in and some free throws to get going and that is what happened and that is what got me rolling."