Dusty May and players after win vs. Saint Louis

Well, I'm extremely proud to be a part of this team and the way they played ball today against an excellent basketball team, well coached. And to see how well they play together, how well they cover each other, even through the mistakes, they just have each other's backs. So just glad that we're able to extend the season with this group because there are— I may coach another 30 years and may not ever be around a better group of people and a more connected group. So as a staff, we're cherishing that every single day.

Yeah, I would say that he does an amazing job dissecting the offense. I mean, he makes it so much easier for, you know, us all around the court that play with him, just getting us easy shots. I mean, we taking A+ shots every single time. Because his patience, also his speed and deceptibility, and he just makes the game easier for all of us. And I'm just joyful to play with him every single game.

For me, I would say the difference between his game now and last year is like he was more so pass-first, you know. Honestly, he's still pass-first now, but he's become way more of a scoring threat. And it's like, you know, you obviously, you can't guard him anyway. So it's like having to compete with him And trying to stop him when you think he's going to pass, it's like, you know, just goodnight, pretty much, honestly.

So if he's having a bad game, I feel like it's not on the defense, it's on him. So, I mean, he's done a great job just controlling the tempo and being instant offense whenever we needed it.

I think we're a better basketball team. We're more talented. Last year we were still laying the foundation, and the last couple weeks of the season we came to a realization that we had to change and we had to get tougher and we had to— play better together. And so we played well against Auburn.

We ran into a buzzsaw. We ran into the top team in the country on the home court. And that's the first time, guys, when you're coaching at tough jobs, you're never thinking about home court in the NCAA tournament ever. It's never crossed my mind.

And here, when we were up double digits and Auburn hits a big 3, Todd Pettiford makes a big 3 to cut it to 8 or 9, the place erupted. And we thought that was a very pivotal moment in us not being able to advance to the Elite Eight last year. And so we went into this offseason thinking, man, if we can do our work throughout, we need to be better earlier so we have have a chance to earn some form of home court.

And, and so we've earned the right to go to Chicago and hopefully pack that thing with, with Michigan fans and see where it goes. But we're just a better team, we're better coaches, we're better players. Like, you know, just, that's just part of the growth process.