POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET
WICHITA STATE 63, SOUTHERN MISS 60
DEC. 15, 2018
WICHITA, KAN./ INTRUST BANK ARENA
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HEAD COACH GREGG MARSHALL ON...
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...Opening Statement:
 "I'm glad we survived, I thought Southern Miss showed tremendous resolve in continuing to fight and make that a game. I have to say, I was very disappointed in the way we played down the stretch in the last 11 minutes after we get the 16-point lead it was just bad basketball. We made a couple plays at the end, Erik made a three point shot and had a tip out to his credit and those were big plays."
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"Tremendous resolve by Doc and his group. Obviously, we won the game, but it just didn't feel like a win the way we played. We have to play so much better, and we're going to keep practicing and keep working hard, keep breaking down the film and hopefully we can get them better."
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...Taking the lead at the end:
 "Ricky made a great pass, and Jaime had a huge height advantage, for the most part, all day long, did not take advantage of it like he should have in the first half. An eight point lead that really should have been a 15 point lead, all we needed to do was catch the ball and make layups. Doc jokingly said to me as I was coming out in the second half, 'Why are your guys out shooting three pointers, they need to be doing two line layups.' It's kind of like you're coaching eighth graders, we got to make layups and there were a lot of points left on the board from just bad passes and weak finishes."
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...15 team turnovers:
 "It felt like 50. Some of them were just gross. Ricky's dribbling the ball up the court and for whatever reason he just fires a pass that almost takes Samajae's face off. Erik gets a defensive rebound and he just fires it over to Southern Miss' bench out of bounds and not even close to any receiver. I don't know what we're going to do and I don't know how to coach that, we'll have to figure a way to coach that out of them."
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...What was going right to build a 16-point lead in the second half:
"We were getting the ball inside and Samajae was playing pretty well and making some shots. Then in the bad stretch we stopped getting stops, stopped defensively executing what we had done pretty well for the most part. Samajae and Markis took some very questionable shots. When you're taking shots that are blocked before they even get out of your hand and it's early or midway through the shot clock, it's not a good shot."
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...The last minute:
 "I know that we're grinding. It's college basketball and it's make a stop you win the game, not get a stop and you're going to have to score on the other end. We're just trying to keep them positive as much as we can, it's an interesting paradox. These kids are going to make these mistakes, yet they are still going to be out there but then you need them to make a play. With all the errors and mismanagement of whatever, you still have to keep them going."
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...When the offense became stagnant against the zone:
 "First of all we weren't executing great, we were executing ok but we don't pass the ball crisply and we don't pass it on time and target. We've attacked zones pretty well for most of the year...but you gotta make some shots. You have to get in the gaps with the dribble or the pass and then if you can't make a pull-up or layup, you got to get in there and suck the defense in and throw it to the right guy in rhythm and we have a hard time doing that."
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...10 games in, what grade would you give this team:
"I don't know if I want to do that today, based on how I'm feeling after a win. Obviously we didn't play well in the second half against Baylor, the second half tonight, the whole game against Oklahoma but we have also won some games that could have gone either way. At 6-4, at this point, with this group and what we have out there...B- or C+. It could be a lot worse, we've got two players who have played 220 minutes or more in their life in Samajae and Markis, Asbjørn is our third most experienced player and he's probably played 100 min or less in his whole career, it's just what we got and we have to get them better."
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...Schedule this far:
 "When I watch this team sometimes I think how are we winning any games. We have not had an easy schedule, that is a gritty team and that is a top-half conference USA team which we know and respect. Lousiana Tech will be up at the top of that league, Davidson is the top of the A-10, Alabama, Baylor, Oklahoma, Providence and Rice which is probably the one that we had the easiest time with because we really played well that night. 6-4 and hopefully we can get to 7-4 on Wednesday night at 7 o'clock."
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...Erik's shooting struggles away from the home court:
 "I really don't know, I asked him are you okay. His first two shots in the first half were three of four feet off, they weren't even close. I really don't have the answer, but I've seen him shoot enough and I recruited him because I've seen him shoot in AAU and high school, the guy can really shoot the ball. For whatever reason he goes 1-of-9 and 1-of-6 for three. Thank goodness he hit the one that was a really big dagger. We were sputtering. I think we had gone 10 or 11 possessions without scoring and then he makes the big one."
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SENIOR FORWARD MARKIS MCDUFFIE ON....
....holding off the Southern Miss rally:
"We still have some issues we have to get better at right now. Every time, when we think we are getting better, we always look good. Then next thing you know, it's like we lose our minds. That's all about growth and maturity and just coming and playing. That's what we need to do right now. We are already ten games in, there is no reason why we should still be struggling like this. We grinded out a win, and all you can do is get better from it."
...The team's overall performance:
" As a team, we are just an up and down team. We are going to be really good, or we are going to be not so good -- be that team that had potential, but then exceeded. That's what it is right now, we are either really good or really bad. We have to be able to balance that and make aggressive mistakes, not dumb mistakes. If we are going to make a mistake, make it aggressive, not just throwing the ball to the other team. That just comes with the the young and inexperience -- up and downs, we are really good or really bad. We have to put it together soon, because conference is coming soon. We have to do it by the time conference comes if we want to be a good team."
....Ups and downs of the game:
"Just a lot of bad mistakes. Just a lot of things not usual for a Division I basketball team, at a high level -- to make those type of mistakes. With these guys we have, they all just learning right now. We just can't make those type of mistakes during the game. When we have the lead like that, we have to put a foot on their neck. That's all mental right there."
....What went into the play to take the lead with under a minute left:
"Stay calm; lets grind out this win. We know it got ugly, but there's not time to hold our heads down now. We still got a chance to win. Be careful. Don't force anything and find the right thing. I don't think we really planned on Jaime (Echenique) getting that pass, but that's just Ricky (Torres) making a great clutch play at the end of the game and us moving. With a tall guy like him (Jaime), being able to throw it up to him at the end of the game and for him to go get it. That's a good thing."
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JUNIOR CENTER JAIME ECHENIQUE ON...
....late dunk to take back the lead with under a minute left:
" Markis (McDuffie) was supposed to screen the guy, and I was supposed to seal him in the middle. At the moment that Markis (McDuffie) went to go set a screen, I saw the little guy was on me, I just put my body on him, Ricky (Torres) looked at me and I just got the ball."
...career-high night:
"I just think positive things, but I also have to listen to coach. He knows me as a player; he knows how good I can be. I just want to develop myself as much as possible. I just believe in him, and I am just always going to listen to him and just try to get better every day. I have bad beginning, but I just have to keep my mindset right -- keep going."
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SENIOR GUARD SAMAJAE HAYNES-JONES ON...
....growing from today's win:
"It was win, but we know we could have played a lot better. We made a lot of mistakes and at the end of the day we just have to take it and move forward. We are going to work hard this week, watch a lot of film and just get ready for the next game."
....what sparked the big run in the second half:
" When it's going good, we are moving the ball -- that's one thing we are doing. Getting each other the open looks, not forcing a lot of things. That's something we have to stay consistent with. The whole game, instead of up and down. Hopefully we keep working on that so we can keep doing that."
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USM HEAD COACH DOC SADLER ON...
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...Opening statement:
"Obviously, when you come into a tough place like this, you'd be happy as heck to have the opportunity that we had there at the end. That is what you play for, the last couple minutes to still be in the game. You can't give up the offensive rebounds on the free throw and jumpshot in the last couple of minutes and give them extra opportunities. I have to give my guys credit, they competed and they came back. We were down 17, cut it back and took the lead. I wanted to go to man-to-man on that last possession because I knew Gregh would come back with something, but I didn't and we went from man back to zone. Overall, these guys on my team and what they have been through and to get an opportunity to come up here and play these guysh with the team they have and the last 10 years they have had, and to play competitively was a good feeling."
...Craziness of the last few seconds:
"You would have liked to have Tyree to be able to have shot the free throws, but I'll take Leonard Baker. He missed them, and I thought they were good free throws, but obviously you have to try to intentionally miss it after the first two. It shouldn't of came down to that we gave an offensive rebound on a field goal and gave an offensive rebound on a free throw and we got ourselves in that position to need a three instead of a two and we didn't execute even close to what we were suppose to do but we still got a foul at the end and .07 seconds left at Wichita State, you'll take that opportunity every time."
...Getting back in the game after being down 17:
"I told Gregg, sometimes coaching is way overrated. He needs to work on uncontested layups because he got them about 10 uncontested layups and they just didn't make any of them. In all seriousness, they missed some open shots and I thought when they changed to the ball-screen defense of hedging hard and stuff, that allowed Tyree to get in to the paint and make some plays for some people. They were trying to take Tyree away...we had a couple guys step up and hit a couple shots."
