SPOKANE, Wash. — Oregon’s first day at Spokane Arena wrapped up shortly after shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

The two-seeded Ducks will return to the arena Saturday for their Sweet 16 matchup with 11th-seeded Central Michigan (3 p.m. PT on ESPN) for a chance to go to the Elite Eight for the second time in as many years.

Here are some notes from Oregon’s media availability:

Delayed trip

Oregon took its time getting to Spokane.

The Ducks, who were originally scheduled to fly into Spokane on Thursday, had to delay their trip to Friday morning because of an issue with their plane.

“[The flight crew] were like, ‘Yeah, so we’re missing this part of the plane we kinda need,’” Oti Gildon said.

Players went home and waited for updates for a several hours before hearing that the flight would be pushed to early Friday morning. They finally boarded around 7 a.m. and made it to Spokane without issue.

“We’re excited to be here. The hotel is nice. The beds were amazing,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “It’s just going to be a fun experience for us regardless of the plane issues.”

Gildon returns home

Oregon’s plane issue also delayed Gildon’s homecoming.

Gildon moved to Spokane when she was in middle school but she made a name for herself in the years that followed. She won two Washington state titles in high school with Gonzaga Prep and became a five-star prospect before joining the Ducks in 2016. Gildon said that this trip is the first time in three years that she’s returned.

Oregon Ducks forward Oti Gildon speaks to members of the media in the locker room before practice. The Oregon Ducks participate in media interviews at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. on Friday, March 23, 2018. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

“It’s awesome,” she said. “A lot of people haven’t seen me play since high school, especially live, so it’s good to come home and play, especially with the team’s success that we’re having.”

She’s already gotten “quite a few” texts from friends and family, and said that a group of her high school friends left a signed poster and t-shirt for her in the hotel. The Ducks were also supposed to have dinner at Gildon’s home on Thursday but had to postpone due to their travel issues.

“My mom made barbeque ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob and potato salad,” Gildon said. “My family was ready to see me and see everyone, my little brother, he’s 3, he loves the team and was excited to see everyone.”

But as the saying goes, better late than never: the Ducks plan on going to the Gildon’s for dinner on Friday night.

“Ain’t nothing like some leftovers,” Gildon said.

Hebard vs. Moore

Slowing down Central Michigan forward Tinara Moore will be an emphasis for Oregon on Saturday and Ruthy Hebard will more than likely be tasked with the challenge.

Moore, who took home MAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards this season, averages team-highs in points (18.9), rebounds (9.7), and blocks (2.29) per game. She even has some touch from outside and has gone 14-for-43 from three this season.

“She’s definitely a great post player,” Hebard said. “She was one of the best ones in her conference, I heard. I watched a little film. She has a really good shot outside. I’m definitely going to have to stay out the whole time, be physical, hope my size will do me well on Saturday.”

Ducks loose, having fun

Oregon Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu (left), Oregon Ducks forward Ruthy Hebard (center) and Oregon Ducks guard Maite Cazorla (right) laugh while speaking to the media during interviews at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. on Friday, March 23, 2018. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

The Ducks have said that one of the keys to their success is that they have fun and stay loose. That’s been evident this week.

While Ionescu was speaking with media before Oregon’s practice on Wednesday in Eugene, several Ducks playfully shouted at her while she was doing interviews.

“You got jokes today!” she yelled back with a laugh.

The Ducks were at it again on Friday. They appeared loose during the open locker rooms, laughing and joking among themselves, while Mallory McGwire carried a microphone and interviewed her teammates for an Oregon team video crew. Even during the formal press conference, Ionescu, Hebard, and Maite Cazorla couldn’t hold back their laughter at times. 

Watch the full press conferences below.

Head coach Kelly Graves

Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard, Maite Cazorla

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Kelly Graves has fond memories of Spokane.

Before coming to Oregon in 2014, Graves spent the previous 14 years coaching Gonzaga and turned the Bulldogs from a basement-dweller to a national contender.

In just his fourth year at Oregon, he appears to have the Ducks on a similar trajectory, and this weekend he’ll return to Spokane with Elite Eight and Final Four aspirations in mind.

To get there, though, Graves and the Ducks have to go through 11th-seeded Central Michigan first. The two-seed Ducks play the Chippewas (30-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m. with a bid to the Elite Eight on the line.

Oregon (32-4) breezed through its first rounds of the tournament and won its first two games by an average of 36 points. But the Ducks are wary of Central Michigan.

During their first two rounds, the Chippewas have taken on themes similar to those that Oregon did last season when it won upsets in three straight rounds on its way to the Elite Eight. Central Michigan dispatched six-seeded LSU 78-69 in the first round on Saturday and shocked three-seeded Ohio State 95-78 on Monday to reach the Sweet 16 in Spokane.

“It was an upset in seedline only,” Graves said. “After watching them as much as I have, I’ll tell you, they’re really good.”

On top of their underdog role, the Chippewas are riding a hot streak. They’ve won 22 of their last 23 games with their last loss coming back on Feb. 14. To boot, all five of their starters average double-figures in scoring and are led by the duo of Tinara Moore (18.9 per game) and Presley Hudson (18.4).

“They’re a really scrappy team,” senior guard Lexi Bando said. “They play really hard and they’re playing like they have nothing to lose.”

Graves said that a good team with nothing to lose is what makes a team dangerous, and, as he put it, Central Michigan is “very dangerous.”

“They can all shoot it, they can all handle it, they can all pass it, they play unselfishly, they play really hard,” Graves said. “It’s a good team.”

But so is Oregon, a team whose experience as an underdog has the Ducks preparing for Central Michigan as if the Chippewas were the two-seed.

“The advantage we have though is we were that team last year,” Graves said. “Who knows if our competition in the second and third round gave us our due. We were able to sneak a win.

“We’re going to be ready, we won’t fall into that trap, that’s for sure.”

The Emerald will have live coverage from the Sweet 16 in Spokane. Follow Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris), Adam Eberhardt (@adamdephoto) and @ODEsports  for updates throughout the weekend. 

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Oregon’s season ended on Sunday with a 101-92 loss to Marquette in the second round of the NIT. Marquette (21-13) jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led from the 7:14 mark in the first quarter.

The Ducks finish the season at 23-13, marking the fewest wins since the 2010-11 season, Dana Altman’s first year when the Ducks went 21-18.

MiKyle McIntosh led Oregon in scoring with 25 points while Paul White scored a career-high 19.

Oregon showed some life in the fourth quarter, cutting Marquette’s lead, which at one point was 25 in the quarter, to 11 with two minutes left. But Oregon’s hole was too deep to dig out of, and the Golden Eagles hung on to advance to the quarterfinals.

The 101 points was a season-high for Marquette. The Ducks held their only leads at 5-0 and 7-6 before the Eagles began their barrage from deep. Marquette made ten of its 12 threes in the first half and led by 20 at halftime. The Eagles maintained a 20-point lead for most of the second half and held their biggest lead at 89-64 with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter.

In the final game of his freshman season, Troy Brown finished with eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Pritchard also scored 16 points to go along with four rebounds and four steals, while VJ Bailey added 11 points off the bench.

The loss caps a disappointing season that saw Oregon take a step back after its Final Four run in last season. The Ducks will hope to change their fortunes next season when they welcome in a top-5 recruiting class featuring five-star recruit Bol Bol. At the same time, Oregon will say goodbye to Elijah Brown, Roman Sorkin, and McIntosh who will all graduate this year.  

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With just over a month until the 2018 NFL Draft, it’s coming down to the wire for college players to showcase their skills. On Wednesday, 19 former Ducks got their chance at Oregon’s Pro Day. Here are a few who stood out.

Benoit’s big day 

Like many Ducks who performed on Wednesday, Kani Benoit went without an invite to the combine, so Pro Day was his last and only chance to workout in front of scouts. He made the most of his opportunity. The former Oregon running back ran the 40 in 4.52 seconds, which tied for the second-fastest time of the day. It was also the fastest that Benoit said he’s ever ran.

“Even when we’ve run 40s here, I’ve never ran that in my life,” Benoit said.

Benoit spent the last three months preparing for Pro Day and the Draft.  He credited his trainers for his performance on Wednesday and said that they helped him get in shape.

“It’s about a three-month sacrifice of food and fun, and you just have to hone in on your dream,” Benoit said. “So to come out here and do as well as I did, I’m really happy about that.”

Benoit isn’t projected to be drafted but said he got a lot of “good jobs” from scouts.

“They were really excited. … We’ll see where it leads,” he said.

Freeman recaps combine

Freeman had a light Pro Day. Oregon’s all-time leader in rushing yards didn’t participate in many drills on Wednesday. He felt he proved most of what he wanted to at the NFL Combine several weeks ago. Freeman, one of three Ducks invited, posted the third-fastest times in the three-cone drill with 6.9 seconds, and in the 20-yard shuttle (4.16 seconds), while his 40-meter dash time of 4.54 seconds ranked ninth.

“I feel like I performed well,” Freeman said. “Just coming out today I just wanted to perform well and show them what I can do.”

Freeman has been training in San Diego, California, in preparation for the draft but said he will finish his training in Eugene. Freeman is projected as a third-to-fourth-round pick according to NFL.com.

Springs impresses

Before pro day, Arrion Springs heard from NFL scouts that if he wanted to be a draft pick, he’d have to run like one. On Wednesday, he did.

Last season’s Pac-12 leader in pass break-ups ran a sub 4.4 in the 40, the fastest time on Wednesday.

“Sheeeesh,” Springs said upon being told his time by reporters.

Springs was another Duck who didn’t receive an invite to the combine or make the senior bowl.  With his future on the line, he took Thursday seriously. 

 “Today was my game day so I had to come out and do the best I could and show why I am one of those guys that can play in the NFL,” Springs said.

After his day was done, scouts from several teams swarmed Springs to speak with him.

NFL scouts huddle up at the end of Pro Day with Arrion Springs, after he opened some eyes today. #GoDucks #ProDucks pic.twitter.com/9GBtWkHFeG

— Rob Moseley (@DuckFootball) March 15, 2018

Overall, it was a solid day for Springs.

“It feels really good,” he said. “I might go get me a steak or something tonight to celebrate.”

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Oregon football held its fifth practice of spring, the last one before a two-week break, on Wednesday. Oregon’s new strength and conditioning coach, Aaron Feld, who’s known for his incredible mustache, spoke to the media for the first time since arriving on campus. Here are some of the questions he was asked.

A couple years ago, Oregon had an assistant coach who grew his hair long and wore sunglasses, he said it was a way to market himself and to be memorable to recruits, is your mustache a way for you to stand out among strength coaches?

This actually just started as a joke and kind of picked up. At one point this mustache was undefeated and you don’t shave an undefeated mustache.

What’s the grooming routine there, you use wax?

Oh yeah. I got a whole laundry list of products.

When Willie Taggart inherited this roster a little over a year ago now, he said the roster was weaker than he wanted, what kind of roster in terms of strength and conditioning do you think you inherited? 

Dude, the players we have here are unbelievable.  They’re fast. We had 25 guys hit over 20 miles per hour when we did speed testing. We had 11 guys hit 20 miles an hour on Monday. We had four guys go over 21 miles per hour. That’s unbelievable. We have a fast team. In terms of size and strength, their as big and strong as they can be right now and they’re going to get bigger and stronger.

You hear the term SEC strong a lot, is that real and is that something you’re trying to bring to the Pac-12?

I can’t really speak to the difference between SEC strong and Pac-12 strong, but I can tell you that the strength and conditioning program that we’re implementing here under the direction of coach Cristobal, we’re trying to create players who are big and can move. I don’t know if that’s limited to just the SEC, I think you see that in a lot of conferences and a lot of teams.

What’s the dynamic like between you and Andrew Murray (Oregon’s director of performance and sports science) and how do you two work together?

We have a performance center here that I don’t think is rivaled anywhere in college football. It’s unbelievable. We have a full-time staff that is specifically geared towards helping us collect and interpret data. … We work rather closely looking at the GPS numbers, heart-rate data, speed, they do screenings once a week in the offseason, every Wednesday we’re doing movement screening, they interpret that data and give me usable forms of it. … To have these guys who are experts in the field of data and the science behind movement, it’s unbelievable. They can interpret the data to me in a way that helps me and my staff design workouts that most effectively train our guys.

What did it take for coach Cristobal to get you to come out to Eugene?

Honestly, he just sold me on the vision. This place is sitting ready for us to do some pretty incredible things. In terms of culture, this place is in really good shape. They’ve had a lot of turnover here in the last couple years and it’s really banded our team together. They have a strong bond with each other, the players do, and they were hungry when we got here. So, really, he just sold me on that vision and explained to me what this place can be, and I believe in him and I believe in this staff that he put together, and that’s really all it takes.

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Minutes before tip of Oregon’s first-round NIT matchup with Rider, the Ducks emerged from their locker room in their fluorescent yellow jerseys to a half-hearted cheer from a maybe quarter-full Matthew Knight Arena. It’s a sight that Oregon has seen few times at home this season, and mainly for preseason scrimmages, not postseason tournament games.  

But this was, after all, an NIT game on a Tuesday night, and one can only presume that Duck fans didn’t want to watch Oregon play in a consolation tournament after what was an entirely disappointing season.

Four minutes to tip, MKA not exactly packed pic.twitter.com/LEIYcEyW64

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) March 14, 2018

The 2,327 fans that ended up occupying the 12,000 seat arena witnessed a 99-86 Ducks win over the Broncs (22-10) that sent Oregon to the second round of the NIT to face either Marquette or Harvard. But for about two-and-a-half quarters (all NIT games will be played in quarters this year), Oregon appeared to have no interest in being on the floor. It took a strong second-half run to propel the Ducks (23-12) to victory and keep their season alive for at least one more game.

Freshman V.J. Bailey played a big role in the win. He hit a career-high seven threes en route to a career-high 23 points, 14 of which he scored in the second half. Altman gave Bailey his fair share of credit for the second-half turnaround.

“Once we started clicking we got a few shots down and the energy level went way up. VJ really likes to play when the ball is going in. He did a really nice job shooting the ball and giving us some energy there,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.

Bailey hit four of his seven threes after the 3:25 mark of the third quarter. His first cut Rider’s lead to 56-55. Payton Pritchard converted a layup on Oregon’s next possession to give the Ducks a 57-56 lead, their first lead since the score was 3-2.

Oregon outscored Rider 42-30 the rest of the way.

“He gives us a spark off the bench and we just try to give it to him every time,” said Kenny Wooten, who recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and ten rebounds. “We know he’ll get a good shot so that’s what we try and do when he gets in.”

Oregon needed a second-half spark after its lackadaisical first half performance that had them down 44-36 at halftime. The Ducks made 13 shots on 33 percent shooting and turned the ball over nine times. Rider was equally sloppy, turning the ball over seven times, but shot 52 percent from the field and scored 28 of its 44 first-half points in the paint. The Broncs dominated the paint all night and got 50 of their 86 points from down low.  

“They didn’t beat us, they killed us,” Altman said. “That’s probably as many as we’ve given up all year.”

But the second half was a different story. Oregon’s offense sprung to life and the Ducks rode the hot hands of Elijah Brown (16 second-half points, 18 for the game), Pritchard (18 second-half points, 23 for the game), and Bailey to the buzzer. For a team that struggled to hit threes in Vegas last week, the Ducks hit 14 of their 26 attempts with nine makes coming in the second half.

It wasn’t pretty, but Oregon survived to play another game. They’ll face either two seed Marquette or seven seed Harvard, who play each other Wednesday night. If the Ducks draw Marquette, they’ll have to travel over 2,000 miles to play the Golden Eagles. They’ll host Harvard if the Crimson win.

For a game that might have been the last at Matthew Knight this season, at least the home crowd went home happy.

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There are plenty reasons for Oregon to be disappointed with its NIT bid this season. The Ducks are, after all, coming off their first Final Four in almost 80 years. The NIT was not what they had in mind.

But Oregon isn’t looking at the postseason tournament with a glass half empty perspective. The Ducks say they’re fortunate for the opportunity to keep playing, even if that means being in the “second-best” postseason tournament, as MiKyle McIntosh puts it.

The Ducks host Rider (22-9) on Tuesday at Matthew Knight Arena in the first round of the NIT. It’s the first NIT bid for Oregon since 2012, when the Ducks won two games before losing to Washington in the quarterfinals. It’s not the position the Ducks wants to be in, but they’re embracing the opportunity at a few more games, with hopes that a deep run will carry some much-needed momentum into next season.

To do so, they’ll need to get through sixth seed Rider first. The Broncs finished the season 22-9 and won the MAAC conference outright with a 15-3 record, but were upset by Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. They’ll now head to Eugene for a chance to play for their own upset.

Oregon, a three seed, isn’t taking the matchup lightly. Rider had four players earn all-conference honors, including Dimencio Vaughn, a redshirt freshman who was named to the first all-conference team after averaging 16.1 points and 6.6 rebound a game this season. As a team, Rider has six players who average over seven points per game and five in double figures. They score about 82 points per game, the 30th best mark in the country.

“[They’ve] got young guys that can really score,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “Athletic, I mean I watched them on film. They are athletic.”

The Ducks don’t have much time to prepare for Rider. Oregon practiced on Monday and will face the Broncs at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

“You gotta kinda scout on the fly,” said McIntosh, who played in the NIT twice during his time with Illinois State.

He added that the experience will be valuable for Oregon’s younger players.

“It’s just something you’ve got to go through,” McIntosh said. “As young players, you still got more games to play.”

McIntosh and Altman both hope that this experience conveys into next season, one where this year’s freshmen will find themselves in bigger roles with more individual responsibility. Altman remembers the benefits firsthand from Oregon’s NIT 2012 appearance. The Ducks followed that season with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013.

“It was a big factor there,” Altman said. “It helped us.”

Like the NIT does every so often, there will be several rule changes in place for this year’s tournament. The three-point line will be pushed back, the lanes will be widened, the game will be played in quarters instead of halves, bonus free throws will start at five fouls, and the shot clock will reset to 20 seconds instead of 30 on offensive rebounds.

Altman isn’t concerned with the changes. He said he doesn’t think they’ll affect how the Ducks play, and just wants his team to focus and play hard. As does Payton Pritchard.

“We know this is our last couple games this year,” Pritchard said. “So might as well give it everything we got, play hard, make something happen and try to win the NIT.”

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Oregon’s NCAA Tournament hopes came crashing down on Friday night.

After narrowly winning their first two games of the Pac-12 Tournament, the Ducks suffered an embarrassing 74-54 loss to USC in the semifinals. Oregon needed to win the conference tourney to make the dance, so Friday’s loss ended any hopes the Ducks had of accomplishing that.

More than likely, Oregon won’t hear its name called in two days on Selection Sunday and will await its seeding in the NIT.

MiKyle McIntosh scored 21 points and Elijah Brown 16 on Friday but the two didn’t get much help elsewhere. Oregon shot 33 percent from the field, 27 percent from three, and turned the ball over 14 times. The Trojans turned it over 20 times but shot 50 percent from the field and made ten of the 23 threes they attempted.

Jonah Mathews had a game to remember, scoring a career-high 27 points on 8-10 shooting and 7-9 from three. At one point, the Trojans led 50-25 and by as much 28 in the second half.

The only time the game was close was in the first nine minutes of the game. With 11 minutes, 38 seconds left the game was tied at 17. But Oregon went cold from the field and USC rattled off a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to jump ahead 26-17. Oregon pulled it within 29-23, but the Trojans scored the last eight points of the half to take a 37-23 lead to the break.

USC continued the onslaught to start the second half. In the first five minutes of the second half the Trojans outscored Oregon 15-2 to take a 53-25 lead. Oregon whittled it down to 14 with 6:30 left in the game but couldn’t close strong.

The NIT selection show is at 5:30 p.m on Sunday on ESPNU. Oregon could be a higher seed in the tournament and could potentially host games at Matthew Knight Arena. The first round of the tournament begins on March 13.

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Oregon will head to Vegas next week on a high note.

The Ducks survived a furious late-game rally from Washington to win their Pac-12 finale against the Huskies 72-64 on Saturday in Seattle. Oregon finishes its regular conference schedule with an overall record of 20-11, the eighth straight year the program has won 20 games, and a 10-8 record in the Pac-12.

Depending on the outcome of the UCLA/USC game later Saturday night, the Ducks will either be the five or six seed in the Pac-12 Tournament next week. Had Oregon lost to Washington, the Ducks would’ve been the seventh seed.

Payton Pritchard led the Ducks in scoring with 14 points on Saturday. Paul White chipped in 13 to go with his five rebounds and four assists while Troy Brown finished with 12 points and six assists.

Oregon led Washington by as much as 16 in the second half but went cold down the stretch. The Ducks led 65-51 with 6:48 left but a 13-3 run by the Huskies over the next 2:46 made it 68-64 with just over three minutes left.

Then, both teams went cold. Neither team scored over the next two minutes until White broke the dry spell with two free throws to put Oregon up six with 26 seconds left. Washington missed a three its next possession down and Elijah Brown made two free throws to seal the win for the Ducks.

David Crisp scored 19 points and Noah Dickerson 18 to lead the Huskies who trailed 44-29 at halftime. Oregon made eight of their first ten shots of the game and hit eight of their 11 threes in the first half. The Ducks outrebounded the Huskies 37-29 and had 17 assists on their 24 made shots to Washington’s nine assists on 22 makes.

Oregon will now watch and wait for the result of the USC vs. UCLA game. Oregon would be the five seed in the Pac-12 Tournament if UCLA loses or the six seed if UCLA wins. If the Ducks are the five seed, they’ll play Cal in the first round. If they’re the six seed, they’ll play Washington State.

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Oregon head coach Dana Altman expected more out of graduate transfers Elijah Brown and MiKyle McIntosh this season. The duo came to Oregon to provide a veteran presence and leadership to a team that had lost four of its five starters during the offseason, but the two have struggled to fill that void and have each had their share of poor games this season.

But that’s changed in the past several weeks. McIntosh and Brown are both playing their best basketball of the season and are finally starting to look like the players Altman thought he was getting. The two have also had a massive hand in getting Oregon’s near-lost season back on track. But with Oregon sitting at 19-10 and 9-7 in the Pac-12 with two games remaining in conference play, Altman just hopes that their efforts haven’t come too late.

“I wish that sense of urgency would have hit them a long time ago,” Altman said. “They’re seniors and fifth-year guys but they are focused. They are playing hard.”

Over the last several weeks, McIntosh and Brown raised their level of play with Oregon facing do-or-die situations.

Over the Ducks’ last five games, a stretch where Oregon went 3-2 but played as well as it has all season, McIntosh averaged 18 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and shot 53 percent from the field. His 20 point-effort against Arizona on Saturday tied the second-most points he’s scored in a game this season and was vital in closing out the Wildcats.

Brown played an even bigger role on Saturday. He scored a season-high 30 points, upstaging his 19-point, seven-rebound showing against Arizona State on Thursday, and which brought his scoring output over the last three games to 68 points, or 22.6 points per game. He’s second on the team in scoring at 13.6 per game.

Their recent efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“They’re playing basketball the way they should. I feel like they’re playing confidently,” freshman Troy Brown said. ‘Elijah scored 30 last game and I feel like they’re being more like leaders on this team and stepping up when we need them to. I feel like they’ve done a great job.”

Always a critic, Altman did express some frustrations in their performances against Arizona. He chastised McIntosh for getting a technical foul and harped on Brown for his sometimes questionable shot selection.

“Elijah takes some bad shots and does some things that really irritate me,” Altman said. “But he hit some free throws and made some big plays. …. Sometimes, you shake your head at the things he does. MiKyle gets a technical, I was disappointed in him there and I let him know.”

Still, even Altman couldn’t deny the importance of their recent contributions as Oregon prepares to hit the road for its final weekend series of the year in Washington.

“When Elijah is on offensively, it makes such a tremendous difference for our ball club. He spreads the floor, gets everybody going,” Altman said. “Like I said, MiKyle has been pretty consistent during the conference season.

“But they’ve given us a big lift. They’ve given us maturity, MiKyle has given us some physicality. They’ve really helped us, no doubt.”

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