POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 84, ORAL ROBERTS 63
DEC. 19, 2018
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA
Â
HEAD COACH GREGG MARSHALL ON...
....Oral Roberts and former Shocker walk-on Kaelen Malone:
"I like the talent that Paul (Mills) is assembling. I'm very, very impressed with some of their young players, and I'm happy for
Kaelen Malone. He went to a great spot -- he's able to now be a lead guard -- and he's playing really well. Happy for him. There were no Division I schools clambering to get his name on the dotted line out of high school. He comes here for two years -- JUCO first. He's a really, really nice young man, and he deserves this experience in college basketball. He played well and I'm happy for him."
.... the Shockers' performance:
"My guys -- wow. McDuffie was tremendous shooting the basketball tonight. You could tel,l early on, he had a good touch. Jaime (Echenique), again, big inside with eight field goals and six rebounds -- 19 points. Ricky (Torres) had his best game as a Shocker. He made some shots -- loved that elbow pull-up. You have to be able to live in there as a lead guard in college basketball and also making the three. All he needs to do is make one or two of those every game. Samajae (Haynes-Jones), I thought, was tremendous. We got a lot of good contributions off the bench. (Isaiah) Poor Bear-Chandler, Rod (Brown), Jamarius (Burton), on down the list. A lot of guys contributed. I thought we played about 36-and-a-half minutes of quality basketball. Just didn't play well at the end of the first half. "
.... Erik Stevenson's hustle play in the first half that led to a Jaime Echenique basket:
"One of my favorite plays of the season, by far. Jamarious (Burton) should have gotten the ball first, and he heard about that. He should of gotten the ball. It was in his hands if he went for it. Then he gets eight rebounds, so obviously he was going after it from that point forward. Erik (Stevenson) dives on it. Somehow it goes to (Isaiah) Poor Bear-Chandler, and then he just flips it over the top to Jaime (Echenique) for the lay in or the dunk. I had a hard time seeing because there were so many bodies scattered between where I was standing and the action. Really pleased with the effort tonight. We obviously have to get better defensively, but we do out-rebound a team that is bigger than us -- believe it or not -- by 10. We score 84 points, we win on second-chance and points in transition. I'll take that. Oral Roberts is healthy and I see them being a team that is going to be tough in their league."
...Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler:
"The key with Poor Bear (Chandler) is energy and passion and toughness. He's a skill player. He's just learning about college basketball. Sometimes he's out there and he's like waking up from a nap -- he's yawning and (has) bad body language. Not that he's a disrespectful kid. He just has a hard time getting his motor revved. When his motor is revving, he's a totally different player. That's what I have to deal with -- when to go with him or not. It's hard to tell. If I could have that type of Poor Bear -- a guy that's energetic and ready to move around and deny the post and hedge ball screens and get back in there and fight for rebounds every single night -- he'd get more minutes. I think he knows that and he's trying."
..
.what Jaime Echenique brings to the table:
"He's obviously very long. He's a guy that has very good skill. He usually finishes -- other than Saturday (against Southern Miss). He usually finds a way to get fouled or finish around the goal. He's one that, if he had more 'verve, vigor, and vitality.' That's something that we are working on. (If he) played a little bit nasty -- a little tougher -- a little bit with an edge, 'Play Angry' -- that type stuff. If he had a little bit more of that, he's a guys that could play at a very, very high level. His ceiling is the Association. He's not nearly there yet because he just doesn't have that same thing we were talking with (Isaiah) Poor Bear-Chandler. When he does, wow -- he's really, really talented."
..attacking the zone:
"We didn't do much different than what we did Saturday (against Southern Miss). The fact is, we were able to get in there -- we were smarter, we allowed the offense to set up. Then, it just takes one successful ball screen with the offense we were running to now get in. It's almost like the triple option. You have the opportunity to get into the foul line and take the elbow jumper. If the guy comes over, you kick it to the weak-side guard, and then the forward has to come out and get him. If the forward comes out and gets him, the corner is wide open. That's where Markis (McDuffie) made his living. That's the play. Then you have a sit-in guy on the opposite block. You basically -- with a good ball-screen -- you outnumber the players on the weak-side."
...Markis McDuffie's team-high 25 points:
"He only had a couple of forces, I thought. He had one or two forces; one he got bailed out on a foul call. 25 points from the big fella... Great seeing him knock down all 10 of his free throws."
Â
SENIOR FORWARD MARKIS MCDUFFIE ON...
...hustle play in the first half:
"Before the game, coach was saying (we need to make) less dumb plays and more winning plays. That's the definition of a winning play. Everybody (was) diving on the floor and didn't quit."
...Ricky hitting jump shots:
"It makes us all happy, as a team. We're brothers and we've been with each other since June. We've seen the ups and downs, and we know everyone's struggles. We know that was one thing he was trying to get over. Through adversity, he was making shots and that's what he did tonight. When he does that we're gonna take this to another level. I'm so happy for him, and I knew it was coming."
...being aggressive and getting to free-throw line:
"That comes from being in the gym and working on free throws. You're by yourself late at night and just get up a lot of free throws. That's what we do as a team --Â we shoot a lot of free throws."
...improved rebounding since the Oklahoma game:
"We have played a lot of new teams that rebounding would be our way to win the game. That's something that we have to do every single game. Our biggest thing is rebounding. We have a lot of height here and -- with our size -- there is no reason why we shouldn't be getting rebounds."
...having momentum heading into Saturday's game:
"It's huge momentum. This is our first three-game win streak of the year and that boosts confidence with a young and inexperienced team. I feel like we are on right trajectory, with the practices we have been having and the coaches watching a lot of video. We have been learning from our mistakes and that's making us better. This road game on Saturday is going to be a big one, and it can't get any better than playing VCU.
Â
JUNIOR CENTER JAIME ECHENIQUE ON...
...Poor Bear-Chandler's assist during the first-half hustle play:
"I wasn't surprised by Poor Bear. I'm really proud of him and the way he played today. It was a really big-time play for us."
...team's improved rebounding:
"I think the guys are doing a really good job of not thinking about the last mistake, but to just keep moving on. We have been doing the small things that are winning plays."
Â
JUNIOR GUARD RICKY TORRES ON...
...having jump shots fall:
"It's about time. It's a good thing. This whole program -- between my teammates and the staff -- keeping confidence in me, that kept me going."
...scoring against the zone:
"I've always loved the mid-range game. When a team sits in a 2-3 zone, that's where you want to get the ball. That's what was open, and that's where we kept going."
...having better ball movement:
"That's what coaches emphasized all this week as we prepared for this team. He wants us to move without the ball and always be doing something, I feel like, as a team, we're just learning what coach wants more of, and we're getting better."
...the mood with the team:
"We realize that we have been slower in the second half, lately. That was an emphasis for us when we went into halftime. We knew that we are going to have to keep playing. When we get a lead, we're going to have to keep it. There were times we would get up on opponents and they'd fight back. Coach Marshall emphasized not giving them any life and not letting this be a game."
Â
