POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
(rv/25) WICHITA STATE 84, ABILENE CHRISTIAN 66
SUNDAY, DEC. 29, 2019
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
GREGG MARSHALL, JAIME ECHENIQUE, TYSON ETIENNE, GRANT SHERFIELD
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Head Coach
GREGG MARSHALL on...
...Opening statement:
I knew that it would be a tougher game than than our guys probably thought it would be. Joe does a very good job and I'm very impressed with what the stuff that they run and how his kids compete. So it doesn't surprise me that we were a little sloppy with the basketball. Our mindset wasn't correct. That's my that's my fault for not getting that point across well enough. They get up in you. They deny passing lanes, they blow up handoffs, and we were sloppy with the basketball. Other than that, I thought we defended pretty well. We shot a good percentage, and we outrebounded them by 11, so we end up with an 18-point win.
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...Wrapping up the most-successful decade in Shocker history:
They've been playing basketball around here a long time... There've been tremendous players and tremendous coaches. Great program, proud program, great tradition. It's really cool... It's been fun, but what I'm also excited about is heading into the 2020 now with this young group.
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…Gordon stepping up:
Tray's in foul trouble and Poor Bear is not in uniform (illness), so he got his opportunity and I thought he really helped us. We did not have any offensive rebounds until he went in the game. And then, in five minutes, he got three.
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...Whether he had any idea what was in store for him at WSU when he first arrived:
If I didn't believe that we could be successful here, I never would have come. But I didn't envision Final Fours and 35-0 starts and 18 postseason wins. That's, that's the one that sticks out to me. It's hard to get to postseason in college basketball. And it's hard to win when you get there. But for us to have 18 wins in the postseason -- in the decade -- is is really cool, because I had only had one prior to that at Winthrop... But I'm most proud of the people -- and not just their accomplishments on the court -- but the quality young men that we've had.
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...His current team heading into the 2020's:
"This team is a lot of fun to coach, and I really think that, if we don't allow good to become the enemy of great, we can make a statement this year. We don't have to wait for next year or the year after, because we've got 10 underclassmen. We can be good this year, if we continue to work and allow ourselves to to just dream. Dream it and make it happen."
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...Grant Sherfield's second half:
"He has that 'spurtability.' If if I could just get him to 'play angry' all the time. I mean, he is a tremendous talent, as you see, and he looks so smooth. It looks like he's never in a rush or anything, but maybe that's just because he's got the ability and he looks effortless."
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Senior center
JAIME ECHENIQUE on...
... the success of his teamate Deantoni Gordon
"He just look so patient and he'll never put his head down. He's always ready for when his time comes. And so today he just was ready to play. He's been having a great practices and he's a great teammate and a great person. So he showed what he can do. I'm really happy for him that he had the opportunity. He's just an example of just trusting the process and just waiting on when your name is called."
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Freshman guard
TYSON ETIENNE on...
... his success beyond the arc:
"I never try to force threes. I'm always trying to find open spots. My teamates are great, our point guards are great. Even Erik (Stevenson), who is not a point guard, can make the passes. I listen to our coaches, and I just get to the spots and I have the confidence to shoot it."
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Freshman guard
GRANT SHERFIELD on....
... his second half play
"I play based off feel. Whatever I feel is how it goes. I mean, I just try to bring it all game, but in the second half, I just take it to another notch. In the first half I'm really just trying to look for my teamates to get them going. So the game's easier for me. And in the second half I kind of know what's going on."
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