POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 71, BAYLOR 63
SATURDAY, DEC. 1, 2018
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
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HEAD COACH GREGG MARSHALL ON....
...Opening statement:
"I'm very pleased with the win...Coach Drew has done a marvelous job...I've said this publicly a couple of times, I think he's done the best turnaround in the last 25 years in college basketball. Taking over that program when he did, to the point where he is now...people forget how down that program was. For him to bring his team into Koch Arena and start a series with us, my hat's off to him. He's got my respect and admiration, and he's a personal friend. To be able to win this game tonight, despite the fact that we didn't play great in the second half -- obviously they played very well. I've got to figure out what he said to his team in the second half and he's got to figure out what I said to my team before the game started -- and then we'd have one heck of a team."
...Defense in the first half:
"We just guarded them. They missed some jumpers. They were able to score their first basket with a Vital offensive rebound put back, but they just weren't making jumpers. We were guarding them pretty well and forced them to take a lot of jumpers. In the second half they only go 3-for-10. They didn't shoot the ball great. If they shoot the ball better, they probably win the game. Our defense was much better. For the game we hold them to 37 percent and 18 percent from three. We've got to learn from this and from the second half of how we performed. There is a fine line between being too aggressive with a huge lead like that and playing hero ball or forcing it a little bit, taking some bad shots, making bad decisions with the basketball, missing checkouts and getting driven, versus playing the way did in the first half where you're confident and ready to go and all of those things. It is such a fine line, especially with a young team.
...Samajae Haynes-Jones:
"That kid was unbelievable, 21 points and 10 rebounds, a double-double and his first of his career. He got hit in the mouth early, had a little blood on his jersey and they dissovled that with some solution so he could stay in the game. But I guess it woke him up, because he makes five three's in the first half."
...Isaiah Poor Bear Chandler:
"He gave us some big minutes tonight and improved his stock. Morris went in and made two silly fouls to start the game, but Poor Bear got some rebounds, he kept balls alive and kept kicking it out for threes. Our bench got longer tonight, in a good way."
...Some positives:
"
Dexter Dennis with some huge offense and defense rebounds down the stretch -- because he can get up there athletically with the Baylor guys -- and
Erik Stevenson goes for 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and had a nice plus/minus of plus-nine. We had a lot of positives. We now have a win streak for the first time this year and we've protected home court again."
...The team's practice mindset:
"For the most part, they're very coachable. We're not perfect every day, and we have some bad days, but we have a lot of good days. This is a perfect situation, in my opinion. We didn't lose the game, but there is a lot that I will be able to talk to them about to try to get them better, especially in the second half. There are a lot of positives that I can show them from the first half when they were really playing well."
...Younger guys feeding off of Haynes-Jones' confidence:
"He was very confident and he was really, really solid. He played like a point guard, but he was also shooting it very well. His turnovers came in the second (half). He picked up his dribble one time and he had made a terrible decision on the sideline out-of-bounds in the deep corner. It's really gratifying for me to see that young man play that well in such a big game. Hopefully he can carry that over, because we really need him, along with Markis, to spearhead and lead this young group."
...Three-point shooting:
"When it starts going in, it's kind of contagious, just as much in the second half when it's not going in."
...Rebounding as a team:
"We knew that we were going to have to be really tough against Baylor. I love Tristian Clark, and Mark Vital is one of the toughest competitors we've played against. We knew those guys would bring it and, between the two of them, they have seven offensive rebounds. And if you add Kegler in there that's 10 of their 13 offensive rebounds. They're grown men, they play in the Big XII for a reason and they go hard. Winning the glass by seven, we were doing some offensive rebounding as well."
...Shutting out McClure in the first half:
"Great scouting report by (assistant coach) Lou Goudino. He put tons of time in and watched so much film on this group. We knew what they were going to run, and we had a great scouting report with what they were trying to do -- and you have to, to beat a team like this. They're very well-coached and, in the first half, we were on-point, because the defense was in front of us. Second half, the defense goes down in front of Baylor's bench, and it was loud tonight. I'm going to have to get something to cure my sore throat."
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SENIOR FORWARD MARKIS MCDUFFIE ON...
...What back-to-back wins means for this team:
"It means we are going in the right direction, for sure. We got back-to-back wins, that just shows how locked in we were for the first two games...most of the game. We definitely have outrstrengths and weaknesses - - things we need to work on -- but it's all about winning and it's all about getting better. I just think, if we continue to do that, we are going to go a long way this year - more than people expect."
...
His highlight reel dunk in the second half:
"I guess it was my turn to get one. I was just excited, I didn't think he was going to jump - - I just tried to go dunk it. I just saw Jaime (Echenique) kind of standing in a certain position where I knew he was going to pass it to me. I was like, I'm just going to go up with this one. I didn't check the replay."
...Winning rebounding battle against a team like Baylor:
"It's how hard we work in practice. We work so hard that when the game comes, we are so locked in. Coach is constantly preaching on the other team, 'rebound, rebound'. That's the biggest thing: defense and rebounding. Just being here (for four years) I know that. We've just got to continue to be the tougher team every night."
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SENIOR GUARD SAMAJAE HAYNES-JONES ON....
....his first career double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds):
"It felt good, just to come out with the win, that was bigger for us. "
...and-one at a pivotal time late in the second half:
"It was big to get that rebound and come down and get that and-one. That brought the momentum back for us to come out and get this win."
....feeding off his teammates:
"I feed off all my teammates - - that starts on defense. It just brings defense leading back to offense."
...playing against former Hutchinson Community College teammate Devonte Bandoo:
"It was good to see him out there. We didn't text or anything before the game, but just to see us both at this level is a blessing."
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FRESHMAN GUARD ERIK STEVENSON ON....
....defensive performance in first half:
"That goes back to our scouting report. Coach Gudino always provides a good scout - - in depth, details..all that. We knew what they were going to do, we knew what each individual was going to do. That helped us get to that 18 out of 20 stops. We knew that they had a little flaws in their game just like we have flaws in our game, and we took advantage of it in transition for sure."
....feeding of Samajae Haynes-Jones three-point shooting:
"Whenever he makes a good move and then hits a shot, it gets me going. My next shot is going in when you pass me the ball...period. I see him make it or I see Markis (McDuffie) make it, I'm like 'my next shot is going in'."
....learning a lesson after losing big lead:
"You're always told that the game is not over. You always have to step on their neck; play harder. Just keep the gas pedal going. First 20 minutes , looking at that score (44-15) it's like "okay, you should easily win the game'. I think we took that score and came out with a mindset like 'Yeah we can play good, but we don't have to play as hard as we need to to win the game.' That turned out not to be the case. That's a Division I team, a Big 12 team, a veteran team - - big, athletic, can score it. They proved that in the second half and we were just lucky to weather that storm."
