Wichita State men's basketball interim head coach Isaac Brown spoke to media ahead of the Shockers' matchup with Newman set for Wednesday night. He spoke about the process of adding a game, Tyson Etienne's improvement and who is stepping up in practice. 
 
Fans can catch Wednesday's game at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Fans can learn more about ESPN+ at plus.espn.com.
 
INTERIM HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN on … 
 
Opening Statement:
"A good road win in South Florida. We got off to a slow start, but we kept battling in the first half and we cut it to seven. The gameplan was coming out of halftime to try to get some stops, try to get out in transition to get some easy baskets. We did that and were able to get it going late in the second half. We're up six to eight points with two minutes in regulation. We had some fouls at the end and sent it to overtime. We were able to come back in overtime and just play really good basketball. Craig Porter Jr. stepped up and got transition baskets. Those were huge. It was a good team win. I think that helps our team down the line, knowing that we can win close basketball games. East Carolina was not going to be able to play and we had to add a new team and that was Newman. So we're excited about that game and we ready to practice today to try to get ready for tomorrow."
 
… what the focus of practices have been:
"I think the focus is every day just to get better. I think we've gotten better in our transition defense. One thing that we're focusing on now is rebounding. We're doing a good job of guarding teams on the first possession where we can't come up, can't seem to come up with that rebound. So we're doing a lot of rebounding drills and we've been doing a lot of shooting drills. We're not shooting great from the three-point line. I think Tyson Etienne is shooting a good percentage. Nobody else is really shooting a great percentage. So that's what we want to work on rebounding and shooting. If we can get those two things, we can start to play a lot better."
 
... the evolution of Tyson Etienne:
"He's worked a lot in the summer on his ball handling. Last year for us, he was a guy that was more of a catch-and-shoot guy then made shots in transition. He did a lot of player development stuff with our guard coaches and he can put the ball down now off the bounce. He can create his own shot. He's like having a third point guard on the basketball floor. He's got 15 assists, four turnovers. You can put the ball in his hands, late clock. He can create a shot for himself, maybe a three or drive to the basket, or he can create a help situation and get somebody a wide-open shot like he did for Trey Wade in the corner."
 
… if the improvement in cutting down turnovers was expected:
"I figured we would take care of the basketball. That's something we did in the past and Alterique Gilbert is a seasoned guy. He was always a low turnover guy. We knew that Craig Porter Jr. would come in and give us a lot at the point guard spot also, and Tyson is doing a great job. Again, he's improved so much: 15 assists, four turnovers. He's like having three point guards on the floor at the same time. Anytime you can, hold your turnovers down to 12, you always got a chance to win the basketball game."
 
… the process of adding a game against Newman:
"The first thing we wanted to do was try to get a game, so I called around asking a lot of coaches about playing, but this time of year everybody's in their conference and Newman was a team that had a game available and they wanted to play. I felt it was good for our team because say for instance, Ole Miss canceled their game on Saturday for some reason. All of this stuff is unexpected. That'd be about 10 days that we hadn't played a basketball game, so we couldn't take that chance. We needed to play someone. Newman has a good basketball team. That's something that I think can help keep us sharp. We just wanted to keep that same Wednesday-Saturday schedule. I think playing Emporia State helped us to win the South Florida game. So we needed a game this week. It's good to go against each other in practice, but I want guys making shots when the lights are on. It's different making shots in practice, but making shots when the lights on helps you."
 
… how to prepare on short notice:
"It's challenging. You've got to watch a lot of film late. They're a good basketball team. They play positionless basketball. They'll have five guards out there at one time. They make nine threes a game. They shoot 40 percent from the three-point line. So we got to do a good job of just defending the three-point line and just execute our stuff. As long as we can execute our stuff and defend the three-point line, we'll be okay."
 
… if they took any lessons from the Fort Hays State upset over Kansas State:
"We go into every game telling our players to respect your opponent. You've got to respect your opponent because anybody can beat you on any given night. Newman is a good basketball team. They're Division II. I'm sure they got a lot of transfers, a lot of older guys. So anytime you're going up against the older basketball team that has played together for a while, anything can be expected. Then when you're playing against the team that shoots the ball one through five from the three-point line, anything is possible. So you've got to respect your opponent."
 
… on facing Ole Miss and Kermit Davis:
"I've known Kermit Davis since I was 17 years old. He recruited me at Texas A&M. I played for him when Billy Kennedy was there. He's done a great job in his basketball coaching career. He was at Middle Tennessee State. He won two NCAA tournament games over Minnesota and Michigan State. He did a great job at Ole Miss in his first year, getting to the NCAA tournament. He's an excellent basketball coach. They execute, they play good defense right now. They're one of the better defensive teams in the country. He's got a guard who is averaging 20 points a game. He's got a big kid inside that transferred from Arizona State that's averaging and eight rebounds. It'll be a big challenge. They're a good basketball team. They have a big game tonight playing against Alabama. So it'll be a big challenge for us to go on the road and play an SEC team."
 
… how he is approaching the Newman game in terms of play time:
"We're approaching this just like any other game. We're gonna play the starters. If it's an opportunity to get other guys in the game, I will, but the bottom line is we need to play well in order to prepare for Ole Miss. Newman is a basketball team that can shoot the ball one through five from the three-point line, we've got to do a good job of defending that. If this is an opportunity to get other guys in the game, we will, but we just need to get better and better every game. The Emporia State game, I just think that game helped us a lot giving us confidence. We'd run it, our system being able to make wide-open shots. We went down to South Florida and played well. And we've just got to do the same thing against Newman."
 
… who is stepping up in practice:
"I would say that guy has stepped up and I think his numbers will continue to rise is Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler. Every day in practice, we see Isaiah make threes. He posts up, he can drive it by guys. He's always rebounding and he did a great job against Tulsa coming into the game, getting a tip dunk. I think he made a three. He had some good minutes against South Florida. He had a big basket in the second half or 18-foot jump shot. I think he's that guy. He can help us a lot in our low post. He's a matchup problem on the perimeter because he can shoot threes and I can see him getting better and better each game."
 
… the quality of play from the bench and its depth:
"I think it's good to have eight or nine options because on one night someone may be playing a little bit better than someone else, but it's so exciting to have the bench with Porter coming off, Ricky coming off, playing well, Isaiah playing well, we've got a lot of depth on the bench and I think the last two games we've outscored our opponents off the bench, so that's huge. Anytime you get your bench scoring like that, it helps our team out tremendously."