Feb. 8, 2001

Lately we haven't been playing as well as we want to play. We have been coming up with some wins, like Pittsburgh, Providence and West Virginia, but they are not distinctive wins.

We haven't had the intensity and we are not playing at the level we should be playing right now, especially at the end of the season. It is disappointing, but is a positive that we can still win playing poorly.

Providence was our first home game after we had received the No. 1 ranking. It was great to see so many people come out and support us. We didn't shoot the ball as well as we normally do. We normally shoot the ball at least 50 percent from the field, but it was our defense that saved us against Providence.

In our Boston College game, we didn't play well defensively. We haven't started a game off like we need to. We also have not been getting enough points in transition that we used to. Teams have been able to see us play this late in the season. They have scouted us and they know our strengths and weaknesses and we need to overcome that.

Pittsburgh plays hard, aggressive basketball and they don't give up through the entire game. Even trying to finish the game off, we were playing relaxed instead of intense, and that has really hurt us lately.

We need our bench to come in and bring their competitiveness into the game. In practice, it is hard for them to be competitive when they don't see any time in the games. But when they prove themselves in practice, I think Coach is going to play them.