POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 68, OMAHA 54
NOV. 5, 2019 | WICHITA, KAN. /CHARLES KOCH ARENA
GREGG MARSHALL, DEXTER DENNIS, GRANT SHERFIELD, TREY WADE
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Head Coach
GREGG MARSHALL on...
...Opening Statement:
"First of all, both teams were playing a little short-handed tonight and that was made even worse for us in the first seven or eight minutes when JB (Jamarius Burton) went down. This was a good test. Omaha came in here, and they played their game. They're down a couple of guys. We're down four scholarship players now due to injuries, and they stuck with us. It was a pretty close game in the first half. I thought Grant Sherfield helped us pull away, along with Dexter Dennis and Trey Wade. They obviously had the most impact in a positive way on the scoreboard for us. We had no one else in double digits. We ended up winning by 14."
...Trey Wade's performance:
"He's been really good in three games for us. A core guy for sure. The difference in him is the ability to shoot the ball. Trey had four offensive rebounds and Deantoni (Deantoni Gordon) had three, so from that position we had seven offensive rebounds. We had 15 for the game, so we gotta get other guys on the glass.
...the center position and finishing in the paint:
We needed some more production from the five spot tonight. We got the ball down inside a couple of times in point-blank range and we came up with nothing, so we gotta figure out a way to get the ball in the basket. For that matter, it wasn't just the bigs. We probably missed 10-to-12 layups tonight. Some of them weren't warmup layups, but still, at this level, you have to be able to stick the ball in the basket and when you're on the run and you're right there. It was across the board - missing too many layups. Especially when there's no shot blockers. Pile's (Omaha's Matt Pile) a heck of a player, but he's not a shot blocker. He's a wall-builder and there was not 6'-10", 6'-11", or 7-foot guy cleaning up for their mistakes."
...the number of threes attempted:
"Too many. Now we've talked about that all fall. Playing in a game like this against a team that we really didn't have much of a scouting report on because it's their first game we could see. The game was tougher than some of these guys realize. That's what I've been trying to tell them. There's so many things that go on. Who could predict JB (Jamarius Burton) spraining his ankle seven minutes into the game and now you got one guard sub for all intents and purposes? We win, we're up 20 late, we're 1-0 and it wasn't a disaster."
...the defense:
"The defense was good. The job that they did on Pile (Omaha's Matt Pile) was excellent. I thought our post players shined on their defense against Pile. The way we came out in the second half and got good looks and pushed the lead to over 10 and towards 20. They're a good team. They won 21 games last year and they'll probably win close to 20 again if they stay healthy.
...the alley-oop from Dexter Dennis to Erik Stevenson and trying to manufacture good looks on offense:
"It was my favorite offensive play of the night because we literally set a back screen, which I preached to the big guys, 'Please look to set some back screens and reverse the ball and let's try to manufacture a basket so you don't have to work so hard going one-on-one.' But our guys insist they can go one-on-one and make a basket. But then in the games, it's not quite as easy. That other team's in a stance and they want to win too. If you could do that on a consistent basis you wouldn't be playing in college, you'd be playing in the NBA. We've got to make sure that we continue to try to manufacture great looks, and that was a great look with great execution, but there weren't enough of those. Tonight we had some pretty good execution, but instead of looking for the guys that open we're looking for the other option. It was just a little bit off. We'll see that in video and hopefully, we'll continue to get better.
Freshman GRANT SHERFIELD on...
...his first real game as a Shocker
"It feels good. I mean, a little nervous today, the first game in front of about 10,000 people. Older guys like Dex (Dexter Dennis) and Trey (Trey Wade) just telling me to calm down and that I'll be fine."
...guarding Omaha's Matt Pile
"From the guard perspective, whenever they threw it into the post we knew we had to dig and get it out of his hands and make it tough for him to make a play.
...stepping up after Jamarius Burton left the game
"We had to do a lot. JB (Jamarius Burton) is a great guard and he really helps the team. When we went down we really had to buckle up and play to the best of our abilities with one less guard."
Sophomore DEXTER DENNIS on...
...his dunk in the first half
"I really don't even know. I was just in the moment so it kinda just happened. I was glad it did energize us a little bit. I didn't even know Grant (Grant Sherfield) saw me, to be honest, so when it hit me I was like 'Oh, okay. Let's do it.'"
Junior TREY WADE on...
...on guarding Omaha's Matt Pile
"Just being physical and trying to dig and make him kick it out was the main part of our defensive scheme. We wanted to make him try to pass the ball."
