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Speaker 1: Twelve thirty two.

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Speaker 2: It is the Matt Thomas Show here with Ross. I'm

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in Los Angeles for tonight's Rockets Los Angeles Lakers game.

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I was in Phoenix getting ready for the Rockets and

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Suns when I watched our next guest knockdown four to

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three pointers. He is the pride of Tampa, Florida. Manuel

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Sharp on the Matt Thomas Shold Ross.

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Speaker 1: Manuel, it's Matt.

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Speaker 2: First of all, thank you for joining me. Second of all, congratulations.

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How well did you sleep last night or are you

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still just trying to decompartmentalize the great events of yesterday

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and this past weekend Indianapolis?

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Speaker 3: Oh? No, I slept pretty good. I'm not gonna lie.

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Speaker 4: You know, I had the different rounds of the term attiring,

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so you know I got home. You know, I was excited,

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but you know, with all the flying and stuff, no

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I had time to sit down on my bed.

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Speaker 3: I really crashed.

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Speaker 4: But now the weekend, the weekend was great. The games

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were great. We played great, and you know we competed

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and that's all that really mattered.

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Speaker 2: You held Tennessee to fifteen first half points. I mean,

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good lord, I mean those those people have families, do

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they not Emmanuel.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, but you know that's what we do. We're built

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on toughness and defense. And you know when we played

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defense like that and we're all connect did you know,

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all five.

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Speaker 3: Guys on the floor like that, you know, it's hard

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to beat us. I think it is.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: I've had a pleasure calling a lot of your early

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season games on television.

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Speaker 1: Uh. But obviously what has happened to you guys?

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Speaker 2: Let me ask you this early in the year, he

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had those three losses, a couple of them in overtime,

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and a few folks from panicking.

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Speaker 1: It was silly. I guarantee it.

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Speaker 2: Kelvin didn't let you guys panic, because first of all,

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you played great competition and I think in some respects

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it kind of helped you to where you are right now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that's why this team is so

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good now at the end of the year, is because

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we went through those struggles in the beginning and we

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all the games were close and overtime.

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Speaker 3: Like you said, so we weren't panicking.

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Speaker 4: We knew that we were, you know, in the in

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every single game, and really we were up in all

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the games too. We just let you know, them come back,

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but uh, you know, we got back to the drawing

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board and you know, Sam coached us like he like

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he always does, and we got better.

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Speaker 3: And you know it's helped us now because we know

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how to close games.

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Speaker 2: Coach Sampson's a great friend of mine and called a

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lot of his games before you guys got there and

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things were turning around. Are some of his practices harder

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than the games? Tell the truth?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I say that.

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Speaker 4: I would say they are just But that's what makes

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us so good. When you when you replicate stuff in

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practice that's harder than the game, when you get to

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the game, it'll be easier. And I think that's what

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makes us so good because it's not only just him,

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it's you know, Coach Q, Coach Kellen HP, Goldie, Coach

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k C. They all do a great job of making

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the practice reps harder than the in game reps and

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that's you know, it gets us to a different level.

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Speaker 2: Manually had those four threes yesterday in the victory and

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you all were kind of teasing about being in this

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big dome. Now it's gonna be bigger next week when

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you go to San Antonio.

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Speaker 1: How much different is it for you?

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Speaker 2: To shoot in a building as cavernous as these domes,

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and does it take a while to a job or

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you just like, please let those bad boys drop because

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it's not like a typical college basketball arena.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I would just say you.

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Speaker 4: I think the you just got to get some shots

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up in there. You can't just kind of go in

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there without shooting and think it's gonna feel the same.

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Speaker 3: But I think that's why, you know, the practices helped.

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The longer warm ups that they gave us for that

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last game.

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Speaker 4: Really helped too, because we just got to get you know,

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some more reps on the on the rim and then

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that arena.

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Speaker 3: Uh, you know than we usually do, and I think

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that helps. You know, all it takes is, you know,

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get a feel.

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Speaker 4: For the perception and the depth of the gym, and

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then you know everything will fall in place.

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Speaker 2: Manual Sharp with us here on the Matt Thomas Show

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with Ross. Let me ask you about how many people

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have asked already for tickets for this weekend?

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Speaker 1: What what's your what's your ticket request was?

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Speaker 3: Right now?

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Speaker 4: You know, I got a lot of people ask you

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for tickets, but you know, we only get a certain amount,

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so you know, it's kind of reserved for you know,

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my closest family members and a couple of my friends.

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Speaker 3: So but but now I understand it's the Fine fours.

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It's big.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and uh,

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you know, we're very grateful to be in this position.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm so proud that you represent my school. I

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was an alum way back. I am in a lum

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way back in the day. But to see this team

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get to where it is. You went through the Big

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Twelve Conference with just the one loss, and you know,

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a lot of folks before the this week were like, man,

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we got treated so unfairly because we're having to go

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to Indianapolis and all the fans of Purdue are going

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to be there.

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Speaker 1: What is the mindset? What is it like for you guys?

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Speaker 2: You don't know what it's like to lose on the road,

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no matter what venue, in no matter how lot.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you went to Kansas this year, in one

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you went to Arizona and one you went to Indianapolis.

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Can you do you close off the fans or is

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it just like you know what, we're damn good.

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Speaker 2: We don't play where we play, We're gonna win some

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basketball games.

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Speaker 4: You know, with the with the culture of this team

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and how tough we are. You know, I feel like

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on the road, when we're going through that diversity, we

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have you know, times where we can come together and

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stay together.

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Speaker 3: And I think that was you know, a lot of

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the emphasis losing.

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Speaker 4: Those couple of games in the beginning of the year

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is that when we went through adversity, we kind of

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separated a little bit. So you know, the main focus

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this whole year has been staying together, staying connected as one, uh,

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you know, checking body language, getting more and how it

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was talking to each other, being you know, communicating more

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with each other.

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Speaker 3: And I think all that.

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Speaker 4: Ties into being able to plan on the road, you know,

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in front of other people's fans, having the odds you

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know against you, and you know, we've we've just progressed

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to becoming a really good road team, and I think

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that's helped us, you know, not only in the way games,

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but playing in these tournaments because you know, a lot

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of times the opposite teams have more fans in the

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area than we do.

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Speaker 2: Well, hopefully that won't be the case in San Antornial

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getting I'm I I've already made my reservation for Monday

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night National Championship game. So who are we gonna play?

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We're gonna play Auburn or Florida for the title.

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Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I'm not sure. You know, they're both

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good teams.

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Speaker 4: Uh yeah, Right now, we're really focused on our next game,

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you know, which is against Duke. So uh, you know,

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when it gets there, when Tom gets there, we'll see

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who it is.

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Speaker 1: What do you remember about Duke from last year?

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Speaker 4: They're a great program with great coaches and great players.

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Uh uh and you know they've had a great season. Uh,

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but so have we, you know, And that's just what

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we got to figure on. Uh, you know, focus on

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is you know us, you know, what do we gotta do?

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You know, we can't be too focused on anybody else,

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you know.

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Speaker 3: Florida, Auburn, you know, or do you know?

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Speaker 4: We got to get our stuff right and everything will

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work out, all right.

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Speaker 1: Last question? What is this week? Probably it's gonna be

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like what do you what do you want to do?

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Will you? It feels like to me that you guys

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don't change up who you are, even though you've been

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in this late in the year.

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Speaker 2: So what is a normal day for like for you

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and your teammates getting ready to get to the on

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the bus for San Antonio.

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Speaker 3: Letter this week.

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Speaker 4: Everybody's focused, you know, everybody's out in you know, at

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this point of the year, everybody knows what we need

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to do, Like not too much needs to be said.

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We're gonna go out you know, every day, compete in practice,

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high energy like we have the entire year, and just

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carry it over to the week.

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Speaker 3: Huh.

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Speaker 1: Manuel, thank you.

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Speaker 2: I know you've been super busy just getting back into town.

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I appreciate you coming on my show as a fellow Cougar.

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I thank you for your hard work and dedication representing

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our program the right way. Have a great time in

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San Antonio and hopefully I will see you next Monday

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night for the championship problem.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for having me for sure, you got it.

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Speaker 2: Manuel Sharp joining us here on the program.

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Speaker 1: Man, I'm such a fan of his.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much again, Manuel Sharp with us here

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on Sports Talk Saerni.

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Speaker 1: Cougar's against the Duke Blue Devils.

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Speaker 2: We are the night game, which is gonna be about

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a seven to fifty tip time Saturday night from sant

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Antoni