POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 74, UT MARTIN 52
NOV. 19, 2019 | WICHITA, KAN. /CHARLES KOCH ARENA
GREGG MARSHALL, JAMARIUS BURTON, ERIK STEVENSON, MORRIS UDEZE
 

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Head Coach GREGG MARSHALL on...

...Opening Statement:
"We moved to 4-0. I thought it was a C, maybe C+ performance tonight. There were a lot of positives. We had the one stretch late in the first half where we took bad shots and we didn't defend very well, and they were able to cut a large lead down to 16 at the half. They then scored the first basket in the second-half, and I was thinking it was either going to go below 10 or it's going to go over 20, and we obviously didn't let it go under 10. If you do, you have a game. Those guys have a lot of heart; they're well-coached and are a very impressive unit. I watched a lot of their film and they had our full and undivided attention. As a young unit, we're getting better." 

... the key to forcing turnovers:
"We had 18 deflections at half-time and I thought we were very ratty and made them in tight spaces. Their bugaboo as a unit has been turnovers. They also had guys that were going by us and creating open threes. But we got a lot of hands on balls and I think our size may have affected them some."

... Morris Udeze's big night:
"Really exciting for him. At one point he was talking about redshirting when he was rehabbing his shoulder. He goes 3-for-3 from the line and 6-for-8 from the field. In 23 minutes, he has 15 points and is +21 while he's out there."

... on Erik Stevenson's play:
"Though he only scored 10 tonight, he's (Erik Stevenson) 4-for-7 and has five assists... He's letting the game come to him. His last two games have been really, really good. He's playing the best basketball he's played since he's been here. 

... the fast starts the past two games:
"It's like you're on a muddy track and it's a horse race. If you're not the lead horse, you know what you get? You get a lot of horses' (behinds) and mud in your eye. So I like to run ahead as much I can."

... the freshman guards:
"All those freshman guards; I love them. They're getting better in practice and they're getting better in games like this. But we can't take bad shots and shoot a bunch of airballs. We have to execute on the defensive end when they're in there too. We'll mix them in as best we can and try to have them develop on the fly because we need them. We need them right now to be a good basketball team and go as deep as I want to go. I want to play 10 or 11 guys and I want to be all over people and not worry about foul trouble and press a little bit more.  
 

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Sophomore Jamarius Burton on...

... what Morris Udeze is adding to the team
"I feel like he's adding a lot of toughness to our ball club. He's going 120% every time, whether it's on the offensive or defensive end. He's crashing the boards to give us second-chance opportunities and he's finishing in the paint for us, which is big."

... what the team is doing well at currently
"I feel like we're communicating better on the defensive end, sharing the ball, and giving 120% while we're out there. We play hard and another five can come right in. We have a lot of depth."
 

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Sophomore Erik Stevenson on...

... what Morris Udeze is adding to the team
"Outside of the post presence and the ability to be able to throw down and get something out of the block, his toughness on both ends, especially the defensive end, ... is really the biggest thing. Obviously he had 15 points. That's 15 points that doesn't have to come out of my pocket or JB's (Jamarous Burton's) pocket. 

... going over a table twice to attempt to get a rebound
"If I'm going to jump over a table, I wanna get some love from my teammates... get the crowd into it and get some love from coach. 

... seeing the court better
"The big thing for me is that experience from last year. Last year, everything was just flying at me, so I was playing to fast at times. But this year it's kinda like it's in slow motion. I know what coach wants out of our motion offense. I know where our guys are gonna be at certain times so I can hit them in the right spot for a look.  

... the team's emphasis after the first few games
"We gotta play harder and we have to share the ball more. We've shown that these last two games. If we continue to do that we'll be tough to beat. We're pretty deep at every spot and every guy on the perimeter can shoot the ball. We can also throw it in the block and get a bucket." 
 

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Sophomore Morris Udeze on...

... returning from his injury
"All summer I've been working hard to get back to where I was last year and then get even better, I've been working with the coaches to try to get my hooks right and to keep on grinding every day."