Daniel Horton Quotes (37 Quotes)

It's going to be tough. Lester's one of our better players, but at the same time with the lineup changes we're going to make if he doesn't play, we're going to be fine. We have a lot of talent on the perimeter to withstand a blow like that, but without Lester and his talent, drive and competitiveness, it's going to hurt.

It was tough to practice the day after we found out that we didn't make it the NCAA Tournament. But as we practiced and practiced, though, guys' spirits got up and we were just happy to be able to wear this jersey again and to be able to compete.

We just have to be ready to take care of business Thursday in the Big Ten tournament. We're not worried about the NCAA tournament.

I should've had 13 assists because of missed passes to Courtney Sims. I wanted to come out and distribute the basketball because we knew they'd be playing a lot of zone.

Today we knew we had to get this one. We had to keep ourselves in position to have something happen for us.

At first, the conversation was friendly. But after that the guy came up to me and said something to me and I could smell alcohol on his breath. I don't know. It was a crazy situation. I've never seen anything like it.

We have to take care of the ball better. We turned the ball over a lot against Indiana, then we turned the ball over in critical situations against Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament.

We have two guys as talented as they are and they make a big difference. The practices leading up (to the NIT opener) allowed us to get our chemistry back.

We've always believed. We feel we have the pieces to be a really good basketball team, and it's just a matter of us going out and doing it.

It hurt, but I've sprained my ankle like that, I've stepped on people's feet a lot of times playing. It didn't hurt as bad as it did in the past.

To be honest, I think I shot the ball well, but I don't think I was in a zone. A lot of those shots weren't really tough shots. I was wide open a lot of times. I thought I was supposed to make it.

I think you'll see them in more of a flow this game. We'll have better chemistry. As far as working those guys in, hopefully, it can do wonders for our team as far as taking care of the ball with two seniors back and then get good shots on offense and be a better defensive team as well.

It's guys in there we know who have been through it before, who have worked hard every day for four years. We have each other's backs out there. It's not that we don't know that with the other guys, but you feel it a little more when it's a guy you've been on campus with since Day One.

Lester was big - he's one of our best offensive guys. Today he was aggressive and finishing, so that gave us a big boost.

I wanted the ball in my hands down the stretch, not necessarily to score but to make plays and I was able to do that.

No matter what happens, I feel that in my heart, that this is a great program. We're going to be -- it's hard to put into words, man. It's tough, but we are going to bounce back.

It's hard to think about after having lost, but we will make the most out of it. We have to be prepared and since we are not on any committees, we will just have to wait and see.

I feel like I can create shots for myself and other people in situations like that because of my size, strength and quickness. I just try to get the ball and make a play.

I'm just glad I had a chance to influence when my last game was going to be. I knew when it was coming and I'm satisfied with that. Like I said before Senior Day, I'm not sad about it or anything like that. There comes a time in life where you turn the page and that's where we are as seniors. We want to end right.

We had to step back and re-focus. We had to accept the situation we were in, and not look for somebody else to blame, and then move on. We still had games to play, and the opportunity to compete for a championship.

I don't think anybody in the country has had to face the adversity we've faced. Coming here as freshmen, going through the sanctions and the injuries and everything. People have said things we've done good as well. But we've faced more adversity than anybody in the country and to still be standing here able to play for a championship at the end says a lot about who we are as people.

When you have a guy who can knock down shots like that, it's not hard to develop chemistry with him. You just have to find him when he's open. Ron has really stepped up and played well. He's made shots and rebounded well from the wing.

We knew we had to make a commitment to play defense and that's what we talked about at our meeting. If we play defense like we played tonight we're very tough to beat.

But to be here and able to play for a championship and have a say when our last game is going to be means a adversity that we've faced. Coming here as freshmen, going through the sanctions and the injuries, everything. ... And for us to still be standing here and able to play for a championship at the end of it says a lot about who we are as people.

I don't know why people keep asking us. We're in the tournament. If we don't make it, something's wrong.

I don't think this season is a disappointment. But of course we're disappointed that we didn't make the NCAA Tournament. But this season isn't a disappointment at all, especially from where we've had to battle through (adversity) the whole season and where we've come back from last year.

It bothers me, because it's not on him. The team didn't perform like we should have. And to read articles about him like that makes me mad. I can't say the things I think when I read those things, but it really hurts me. It's gut-wrenching sometimes.

It feels good when people recognize the efforts that we're working for, but at the same time it's not something I say, that I want to be Big Ten player of the week. I just go out there and play and try to win and whatever happens happens.

Coach asked me to be our best worker and best player a long time ago. I've done my best to try and be that. These guys have really bought into practicing hard every day. That's not something we've always done.

When you come some place like this, you have to keep it in your mind that you're here on business. There's opportunities to see the sights and do fun things, but the whole purpose of the trip, what brings us here, is to win this tournament.

We have a better team than we did then. We have a better chance of doing some of the things that we want to do. When we were freshmen, we were just playing well at the time, and we wanted to ride it as long as we could. Now we have a team that can continue to play well and continue to compete for the championship.

We have a lot of talent on the perimeter to be able to withstand a blow like that, but any time you're without Lester, with his toughness and his drive and his competitiveness, it's going to hurt.

In my opinion, we're in, but I guess it wouldn't be March Madness without the drama.

We're getting our chemistry back. We had a lot of injuries during the Big Ten season but now we're getting healthy.

Those guys make a big difference in our team, Lester with his aggressiveness and his toughness and Chris with his basketball knowledge and his savvy to make plays defensively and to make shots on offense.

It's tough to put it into words, but I know we battled, we battled as a team. The one thing I do know is that despite losing tonight, after everything we've been through as a program, no matter what people say and no matter what people do, this program is going to continue to move forward. I feel that in my heart.

We didn't do what we should have. We put our future in the hands of someone else.