POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 92, NORTHEASTERN STATE 57
OCT. 29, 2019 | WICHITA, KAN. (CHARLES KOCH ARENA)
GREGG MARSHALL, JAMARIUS BURTON, TYSON ETIENNE, GRANT SHERFIELD
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Head Coach GREGG MARSHALL on...
Opening Statement:
"I thought Northeastern State really competed hard the whole game but, for 20 minutes, I thought they were really good. They were scrappy, they didn't shoot it great like they normally do but, hopefully, our defense had something to do with that. We played much better defensively in the second half. We stopped turning the ball over. We got a lot of guys minutes and we got a lot of good things out of that exhibition game."
"Erik (Erik Stevenson) didn't shoot the ball great, but I thought he had a pretty good floor game. Trey Wade was tremendous. Jamarius (Burton) had 14 and 6, no turnovers. Tyson Etienne was 4-8 from three for 12 points in his debut. I thought everyone played well, so we're really building a stable of talented young players. Our only senior didn't participate, we had two juniors out there and the rest were freshmen and sophomores."
... Grant Sherfield's performance:
"He looked like a point guard that can score, which is something we've been trying to recruit. He's a very good player, as is Noah Fernandes, who did not get a chance to participate. For the future, we've solidified the point guard spot with Jamarius Burton, Noah Fernandes, and Grant Sherfield. Grant can move over and play the 2, JB can move out and play the 3, and having Erik (Erik Stevenson) and Dex (Dexter Dennis) gives you some very talented young guards."
...rebounding the ball:
"We should rebound a little better against a team like this, but give Mark's (Northeastern State Head Coach Mark Downey) team credit. What I didn't like was more than a handful of times we had two hands on the basketball and didn't secure it. That's something that we have to get better at. College basketball is a physical game. More than likely there's going to be someone contacting you. You have to ferociously grab it, squeeze it, and put the indentation of your hand into the basketball. Otherwise, there's a chance it will be knocked out."
...the newcomers' first experience at Koch Arena:
"It wasn't quite full tonight but, obviously, an exhibition game you expect there to be some attrition. I thought they all handled it very well. I was joking with them after shoot around today and Grant Sherfield said 'Coach, I think I've played about 20,000 basketball games in my life. I've played in Koch Arena and I've played in Wichita all of my life.' He went out and lived up to that."
... getting three-pointers from the guards:
"We didn't hit that many threes all year last year from the guard position. It seemed like we could not make a three last year. So, it opens up the middle. That's the way the game is played now -- you shoot the three or you dump it inside -- but you have to space the floor."
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Freshman GRANT SHERFIELD on...
...His first game in the Shocker uniform:
"It was good to go out there and get the dub. I'm just happy that I can celebrate my birthday with my teammates and coach. I can't think of a better way to celebrate your birthday than on the court."
Sophomore JAMARIUS BURTON on...
...What the new guys showed him:
"Tonight, I feel like they came out and played extremely hard, took what the defense gave them and I'm proud of them."
Freshman TYSON ETIENNE on...
...the halftime message and making adjustments:
"Northeastern State is a very good team. Hats off to them. They came in, and they didn't back down. We know what our goals are, and that there's a certain level that we need to play at. We can't take shortcuts, we can't let 50-50 balls go to the other team, we can't let offensive rebounds go to the other team, and we have to limit teams on their second-chance points. We're trying to meet our goals and we knew we had to buckle down and I believe we did that in the second half and I think we did a great job of that."
...having fun playing basketball:
"At this level, if you're not playing basketball for the love of it and the fun, it becomes a drag. I believe we have a great group of guys that all love the game and you saw that in the second half. You saw the love we have for each other, for our coaches, for our team, and for our fans. It was a fun experience. When you're playing fun and playing loose, you get results like that.
