POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET
WICHITA STATE 64, OKLAHOMA STATE 67
SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 2020
WICHITA, KAN. / CHARLES KOCH ARENA (625)
ISAAC BROWN, TYSON ETIENNE, ALTERIQUE GILBERT, MORRIS UDEZE
Head Coach
ISAAC BROWN on…
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… Opening Statement:
"Oklahoma State. Tough loss. Cade Cunningham, he showed tonight why he's a Million Dollar Man. He stepped up and made a big-time shot. It's what big-time players do. I thought Dexter defended him well and that's the reason he's (Cade Cunningham) the (potential) number one pick in the (NBA) Draft. We did a good job on him all night, and right there at the end, he just stepped up and made a big shot. That's what big time players do. I thought it was a good effort in the second half. I thought the first half we turned it over a little too much. Nine turnovers that led to about 15 fast break points. I thought we didn't rebound well in the first half. I thought we had a better effort in the second half, but we came up a little short."
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… Dexter Dennis' defensive effort against Cade Cunningham:
"Dex did a great job. He's one of the best defenders in the country. He's going up against a guy that's the number one pick in the draft and to hold that guy to 10 points, I mean that means a lot. You know right there, at the end, the kid made a tough shot. He was right there, and he defended it well and closed out. The game plan was to try to put different guys on him, give him different looks. Every ball screen, we wanted to try trapping. We wanted him to see two people every time he came off a ball screen. If he didn't have the ball and he went into the post, we made our centers go back and help out and not their bigs out at the top. But the kid made a tough shot. Big-time players do that.
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… the last possession of the game:
"The play is a play we've got called 'phase three.' We're supposed to throw it to Dexter and, on the flight of the ball, when it hits Dexter hand, it's supposed to be back screens for three. We went a little bit early. We went before they threw it to Dexter. So, we've just got to clean that up. We didn't run it right; everybody knows the play. The guys were just excited, and they went a little too quick."
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… the team's offensive efforts to end the second half:
"I've just got to get them to put 40 minutes together. We haven't had two great halves in the first three games. We play well the first half; we don't play well the second half. In this game, we don't play well in the first half; we play well the second half. Well, you're not going to be good teams like that. You've got to put together 40 minutes in order to win games, especially in our conference. You know, we've got some really good teams, and to win those games, you've got to play hard for 40 minutes."
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… the signs of encouragement he saw today:
"I like the fight. I like the leadership, you know, even in a loss. First thing I heard when I went in the locker room, the guys were saying, you guys stayed together, this is on all of us. I told them, it's on all of us, myself included. We've just got to get better. We've got to be able to finish games. We've got to close them out late. They made some big shots at the end. We'll start making those big shots at the end of the game. I thought Josephat Bilau came off the bench and gave us good minutes. He had five rebounds in like nine minutes, I think. I thought
Ricky Council IV came off the bench, he got five rebounds. Those guys showed today that they can play. We got two other freshmen that I expect to play during the year. They just weren't able to get enough practices in for this game."
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… Tyson Etienne's view of the team's future:
"I agree with him. I thought last year, we got off to a really good start with the year before that, that team went to the NIT Final Four. So that team was really experienced and that's what an experienced team does, they get off to a good start. This right here is a young team. We've got eight new players and we've got a fifth-year transfer, so we basically got a new team that's really young. I think we'll get better and better. And we'll learn from this loss."
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… Morris Udeze's clutch free throws at the end of the game:
"That was real clutch. Mo (
Morris Udeze) practices that every day. He's always working on his shooting. He comes to practice before practice and after practice. He's always getting up free throws. He works on that stuff. I'm not shocked that he stepped up and made those two big free throws."
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… the short non-conference schedule and playing Tulsa next time out:
"Usually, we are playing about 12 games and we wouldn't start conference play until after Christmas. This is the earliest it's ever been, but I think the guys are excited. For us, it's almost like a new season. The non-conference is over now. We were wanting two wins. We've got to get off to a good start going down to Tulsa. They're the defending champions in the league, they've got a good basketball team, they're well coached. They are going to go play that matchup zone, so it's something that we've got to work on in practice. We just have to keep getting better. We've got to stay together and just be prepared for the next game."
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Redshirt Senior
ALTERIQUE GILBERT on…
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… the team's offense down the stretch:
"I think it was our first test down the stretch. We were going back and forth with a really good team with all our guys. It was our first opportunity, our first experience together as an entire group, and we're gonna learn from it. You've got some young guys who are going to get in the mix and start to play well for us. We will have a lot of energy coming off the bench."
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 Sophomore
TYSON ETIENNE on…
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… the final possession:
"Oklahoma State, they covered it well. They knew that I would potentially get the basketball and they did a good job on the switch on my side. Dex (
Dexter Dennis) is a great shooter so we got the look that we wanted, you know, it just didn't drop, but that's part of it."
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… the team's offense down the stretch:
"It was great to see. But like, I told you guys in the last time I was on here, we have a great team. We're all capable of making plays. It's all gonna fall in place. It's all gonna come together. You just to saw glimpses of that tonight against a great team in Oklahoma State. It was very encouraging to see."
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… Dexter Dennis' defense:
"Dex is a great defender. He guards me every day in practice when we're not on the same team. so I know what he's capable of doing. And what you saw on the floor tonight is something that happens every day around here. Cade Cunningham is a great player, but
Dexter Dennis is also a great player. I'm not surprised by the performance he had on the defensive end."
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… his thoughts on the team heading into conference play:
"Yeah, college basketball is gonna know about us. We're just putting it together. It's December. It's a long season. We were great last year in December and then we took a slide, so you know, this year, I believe is gonna go the other way. We're gonna take everything day-by-day, lock into the new team, watch film from today's game tomorrow and learn from it, and take what we need to take into Tulsa."Â
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Junior Forward
MORRIS UDEZE on…
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… making two clutch free throws late in the game:
"Countless reps at night. I feel like everything you put in is obviously gonna turn out good. So, try to calm down, take deep breaths, and knock them down."
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… the team's fight in the second half:
"I just feel like, in the first half, they kind of got us a little bit. The second half, we fought back. That's all that matters. We got better with that. Just don't give up. Don't give up ever. So, great fight by the guys."
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… Dexter Dennis' defensive effort:
"He gives it his all. I know people are talking about how his offense is down right now. But he gives it his all on defense all the time. So, if you give it all on your defense, your offense might not have as much energy. And he does a great job of shutting down others. He has the hardest task every game against the best player. So that's a task every game. So, people saying his offense is down right now; it takes a lot of effort to guard the best player."
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