Coach Slessinger's Quotes Following Thursday's 70-68 Loss To Sam Houston State

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Overall thoughts on the game
"It was an incredible game down the stretch. We battled back from a double-digit deficit with 10 or 11 minutes to go. I was really proud of the way came back and fought. I was really disappointed that we didn't play as well in the early half of the game. We knew it was going to be a tough battle and we knew it was going to come down the end, but we dug ourselves a couple of possessions too deep. We didn't execute on offense early or rebound at a high level like we did in the back half of the game."
 
On what he takes from this contest
"We're going to learn a lot from it. We're going to get in and do a lot of work on film tomorrow. In practice, we'll go back and reteach some of the things we didn't do right and hopefully fix several of those things. We need to come back and make sure we're prepared and ready for a really tough game next Thursday night against Houston Baptist. We just have to be sharper. I thought we were a step slow offensively and didn't play at the highest level that we could have. We also didn't communicate at a high level, which is something that we've been good at on this run. Unfortunately for us, there was a lot at stake in this game, but it was a tournament-level game. It was a very good game and a competitive game. It's one that we'll take a lot on the positive end, too, just as much as we do on the negative end."
 
On the way his team rallied to erase a 14-point, second half deficit
"It was special. It was what we expect. It's what we have come to expect from this group. They fought together and they played as a unit. We had incredible energy on the bench. They came through, but we just came up a little bit short down the stretch. We're going to take a lot from this game. We'll have opportunities to learn from it and grow from it."
 
On Sam Houston State and where his team sits after five Southland games
"They played well. We're happy to be in first still. We're glad we built ourselves a little bit of cushion, but it all starts over tomorrow. We got back to work tomorrow. We just have to trust the process and get better."
 
On what UNO will work on in the coming week in preparation for games against Houston Baptist and Central Arkansas
"We have to clean up some things that weren't good in the first half. We've got to go back and prepare. We're going to see zone next week as well, against both HBU and UCA. They're both very, very good teams. We know that we're going to have to execute at a high level. We just have to get back and keep improving as a team. We've got to have more guys contribute. We've got to shoot a little bit better from the perimeter. We have to get back to just improving. There isn't any one thing that we've got to fix. We just have to keep working on the process of getting better each day."