Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus wasn't nearly as happy. He praised UMass's effort  performance, but little else pleased him after the game and he delivered a memorable rant.

Asked about whether traveling back and forth to play Xavier on Wednesday before heading to Amherst had tired his team out, Majerus repeated a familiar complaint of his that Saint Louis doesn't geographically belong in the Atlantic 10.

If we really cared about the student athletes, and I think we try to,  we don't belong in this league," he said. "I'm more concerned academically. The thing the travel compromises the most is their ability to get a good education."

But he wasn't ready to make travel an excuse for his team's poor play in the first half.

"I don't give a (expletive) how much travel you have. All you have to do is get your nose in the chest and defend," he said. "I don't care if we didn't shoot well. You can always defend. They played terrific with energy and effort. They played like they wanted to win. We played in the afterglow of a nice victory (over Xavier Wednesday) and that was it. We beat ourselves. Forget about the missed free throws of the turnovers. All that stuff is bull (expletive). We didn't come out and play. They exceeded us in intensity level and they won."

Despite entering the game 16-4, he didn't hold back his criticism of his players. He didn't think they appreciated the opportunity they had.

"You're 18, 19, 20 years old. A buddy of mine's cousin just died over in Afghanistan. Who knows how many kids will die there today and they're the same age. This is a game. They should want to play a game," he said. "It begins with me. I have to look at myself and say what didn't I do to provide the energy and effort that they need. Then they have to look at themselves."

He was frustrated with senior captain Brian Conklin for his early defense on Raphiael Putney and didn't think playing with a leg injury was an excuse.

"I don't care what his leg is. He's got some kind of leg injury. If you've got a leg injury, don't play. I'd rather have a handicapped guy covering him," Majerus said. "I used to coach wheelchair basketball. Those son of (expletives) came to play every night. The most rewarding experience of my life was coaching my wheelchair team and the Special Olympics that I ran and coached in Utah. I can get a a Special Olympian to get excited (to play). No derogatory remark to them. I'm just upset that (his current players) would not value the moment."

Majerus wasn't sure that some of his players even liked basketball.

"I may have a guy or two that don't play for the right reasons. College basketball is rife with it. They like being basketball players. They like being on the team, but they don't like basketball," he said. "But even if that's your deal in life, you have an obligation to your teammates and yourself. And someone gave you a scholarship. I've got three walk-ons that pay $46,000 a year. If I had any balls I would have played them."