Oct. 30, 2011

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Kim English, Guard

On the team's return to the court...
"It felt good. It felt different, rusty. We haven't been together on the court for real since we lost to Cincinnati in the first round [of the NCAA Tournament] last year. I was optimistic of the way we looked. We were a little casual about our turnover and our defense at the end. We've got to be good enough, when we get big leads like that, to be playing for games in the future."

Marcus Denmon, Guard

On visiting Joplin...
"It was a humbling experience; in the fact that we got to see a lot of Joplin. Some of the things that happened here back in May were devastating. It touched a lot of the guys here. I felt it was good for our team to get out here and see. Hopefully we can learn from the experience."

Frank Haith, Head Coach

On MU's performance...
"I thought, at times, we looked very good. At other times, we didn't look so good. Not many Division I teams start on the road at a place where the team is ranked in the Top 10 of Division II. Our guys are to be commended for that. I thought we played well. We executed offensively. Our defense was ok; it has to get better. When we play inside-out - which I was glad to see in second half - that helps us offensively when we can squeeze the defense a little bit." On taking his team to Joplin...

"We took the guys around today, and Marcus and Kim went out yesterday with Dana O'Neil from ESPN. The one thing I told the folks at the reception last was, `In life, everybody goes through some adversity.' I would hope that our team, coming here, would be able to see the spirit of the people from Joplin. The courage that these folks had based on what they had to go through. Folks here have handled it wonderfully. Even the day I was here three or four days after the tornado hit, the folks were unbelievable in their spirit."