Ben Howland
Ben Howland
Benjamin Clark Howlandis an American college basketball coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and former player. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Arizona University from 1994 to 1999, the University of Pittsburgh from 1999 to 2003, and the University of California, Los Angelesfrom 2003 to 2013. Howland became the first men's coach in modern college basketball history to be fired shortly after winning an outright power-conference title. He is one of the few NCAA Division I...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth28 May 1957
CityLebanon, OR
Our transition defense was so good. It had to be because Memphis is so good at pushing it.
I thought they were terrific. They did an outstanding job of dealing with our press. We were trying real hard.
I thought that in the first 10 minutes we came out a little tight. In the last 30 minutes, we were terrific.
I thought our intensity defensively for the entire 40 minutes was really, really incredible. That's the best defense we've played all year.
Last time I checked, Larry Brown started in college, for example, and he might be one of the top coaches.
I saw him at Nike camp. He played hard. He was under the radar.
I see it as a momentum thing all the way. We're going to feed on that win. We're going to feed on that emotion.
Well, I tried to guard him. That's the key. We played mostly half-court, so it was easier to hold, grab and foul as opposed to when you've got Johnny between the top of the keys. Once in a while when that happened, it was over for me.
We played terrific tonight. It was our best defense of the year.
We had lost two straight games, and we needed this one. There was not even a remote thought of looking past this team.
Our team is definitely playing its best basketball right now. If you look over the course of the last eight games, we've really been playing great defensive team basketball.
I thought Jordan did a great job late in the game. My expectation is for Jordan to be aggressive and look to go to the basket, but he made some great plays on the defensive end.
I'm so happy for our guys. I'm most glad we're Pac-10 champions. We decided it ourselves. We don't have to wait for anybody and get in backdoor. Any time you win a championship it's special.
I'm so happy for our guys. Any time you win a championship it's special.