POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET
[16/16] WICHITA STATE 54, [rv/rv] HOUSTON 65
SUNDAY, JAN. 18, 2020
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
GREGG MARSHALL, JAMARIUS BURTON, ERIK STEVENSON
Head Coach
GREGG MARSHALL on…
…Opening Statement
"I want to congratulate Houston on a tremendous performance. They were the tougher team today. They played more-physically. They were smarter and they were better-coached. They just beat us in every way. Disappointed, obviously, in where we are the last two games and you know we're going to have to try to figure it out. And, hopefully, I'm making some progress. We took a long time with the guys after the game asking them what's going on, but we obviously have not played well these last two games. We don't recognize what got us to the point that we are now. But we don't have to worry about rankings anymore and streaks and whatnot. We just need to worry about being a good basketball team."
…Executing on offense:
"It's like we've gotten away from executing and now it's 'I've got to go make a play'. And that's just not who we are. And we're not going to be that right now. Even late in the second half, when we had opportunities."
"We're not making the ones that we need to make when we're open. We're trying to do it ourselves, as opposed to trying to get someone else a shot. We've got to be better at dribbling into the paint, drawing the defense and kicking as opposed to dribbling into the paint going up against not only the guy guarding us -- who we may or may not have beaten to a degree -- and then going up with the shot-blocker ready to just spike our shot. It's just not smart. So I think, in a way, the youth and inexperience of our team is now kind of reared its ugly head and we've got to do better."
…Talking with the team after the game
"You know, we can get as gnarly as you want. As a coaching staff. I mean, we really haven't been. We've been pretty. I mean, because these guys take care of the business and they take care of the business on and off the court, and at one point were 15-1, 16th in the country. Last two games -- no. And I don't know what's crept into the ointment, like a fly in the ointment. All I can say is, what I've told them is, you guys have got to get over your feelings. If you're worried about you and you're worried about how many points you're scoring, how many shots you're getting, how many minutes you're getting, then that's not healthy. And we got a lot of guys doing that. And I feel that, and I know that and until we work that out, we're not going to be as good as we can be."
Sophomore guard
JAMARIUS BURTON on...
...The difficulty of trying to simulate Houston's style in practice
"You can't simulate their size and athleticism in practice. But at the end of the day, we had opportunities and we didn't execute. We didn't take advantage of opportunities. They beat us on rebounds and fifty-fifty balls. I give them all the credit."
... what has to change
In my opinion, it's all about the energy and effort. I feel like we didn't display that in the last two games. We just got to look ourselves in a mirror. And when we change the little things, give energy and effort, make smarter plays, winning plays, and play tougher.
Sophomore guard
ERIK STEVENSON on Houston in the post
"It was it was, obviously, pretty difficult. We knew what they were about when it came to toughness. So, hats off to them. They did a great job scouting our stuff and taking us out of our stuff. But I think it just came down to focus and toughness on our end."
