The story of the Hawkeye basketball season could be summed up by shots late in regulation. The Badgers shot went down and the Hawkeyes shot rimmed out. Fran McCaffery talked about those two shots, if he wanted Aaron White to miss a late free throw, and Devyn Marble's performance in the loss to the Badgers.

Q: On the free throw by White in the 2nd overtime, did you want him to miss that on purpose?

McCAFFERY: No, I told him to make it. We discussed missing it. That is a tough call. What was it 5.2 seconds left. You make it, you foul, and now he has to make both. I mean, that's a tough call. We had our two big guys in there to try and get a tip or a rebound. I told him to make it.

Q: Can you talk about your decision to go with many of your reserve guys and bench guys and the lift they gave your team in stretches.

McCAFFERY: It's interesting because this is kind of how our season has gone. Every game there are different people that seem to click. I am playing ten. I think most coaches would prefer to have a core group of guys that they go with, but with our team we have such a different mixture of skills that if we get that lineup on the floor and they are clicking, then we just stay with them. Sometimes it's a big lineup. Sometimes it's small. Sometimes it's our starters. Sometimes it's our reserves. We went with the starters and they did a pretty decent job. We went to the bench and they struggled. We put the starters back in and they got us back in the game. Then in the second half it was our subs. I think it is a good thing to have, but I think it is unique because sometimes you come down the stretch and you don't have guys in roles that they are normally in and ready to do something.

Q" You are up around 9 points with about four minutes left in regulation. Do you expect to put a game like that away?

McCAFFERY: Well, we had two breakdowns immediately. We had a breakdown on the inbounds play and Brust hits a three. Then a breakdown on a back cut and Basabe fouls Evans. You can't give him and and one there. You have to foul him before the shot because he's shooting 40% from the line. You have to see if he can make both, but probably at best he makes one. If that happens, it's a different game. That changed everything because it made it a one possession game very quickly.

Q: At the end of regulation, Jackson make a three that hits the front of the rim, goes off the glass and goes in. Then Josh Oglesby take a three that does everything but go in. Does that kind of symbolize what has been going on with your team?

McCAFFERY: Yeah. I don't think there is any question about that. It is kind of how our season has gone. It is unfortunate, but at the same time, we missed 49 shots. We almost missed 50 shots. We have to start hitting some shots. We had great looks at it. That is another reason why we go with different lineups because we have to find guys that are going to score.

Q: What are your overriding emotions right now?

McCAFFERY: I don't get that emotional one way or another. I just don't. That said, I want it for them. I am hurting for them. For me, it's a businesslike approach. Had we won in double overtime, if we had won on Sunday, if we had won at Purdue, nothing changes for me. It's on to the next game. It's locked in and getting these guys ready to play the next game. I fully recognize that for them, the emotional up's and down's are going to be a little bit different. I have been doing this long enough and I don't get involved in that. But, I am hurting for them. No question about that.

Q: What bothered you in the first half that caused the refs to give you a technical? Did you like how your team responded from that?

McCAFFERY: Most of the time over the years when I have gotten technical's, I have gotten them on purpose. That one I wasn't getting on purpose. I was complaining about something legitimate, which I think would have gone over better if I wasn't far out on the floor. I had exited the coaching box to point out where I thought he had to make that call. I understood that, but that was unfortunate. We did play better after that and that was a good thing.

Q: Talk about Marble right now. He just didn't get into a flow again. Where do you go with him?

McCAFFERY: You know what's funny, I thought he was in the flow. He was shooting the ball. He was driving the ball. He was attacking the basket. It was just that nothing would go down for him. Same thing in the second half and then obviously his line wasn't good, but at least he was aggressive early and that's what I wanted him to be.


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