POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 82, CINCINNATI 76
JAN. 10, 2021 | WICHITA, KAN. | CHARLES KOCH ARENA (2,025)
ISAAC BROWN, RICKY COUNCIL IV, TYSON ETIENNE, MORRIS UDEZE
Head Coach
ISSAC BROWN on...
Opening Statement:
"We started out a little slow tonight. The first couple possessions, we didn't have any movement. You know, everybody was standing. We got off to a bad start. I think both teams were a little lethargic to start the game. We kept defending at a high level, we held them to 29 points at the half. I felt like that defense was good enough, but we needed to get better offensively. We had a couple of substitutions in the game in the second half. You know, we had
Clarence Jackson, who came up big in the first half with a lot of rebounds. He got the energy going. Josephat Bilau came into the game, and he got a couple offensive rebounds, made a jump hook. Ricky Council in the second half; he just started going. He made some big plays, and we got
Tyson Etienne a couple of shots late. We made some key free throws, and I felt like our (defense) kind of slowed them down."
… Ricky Council IV's breakout:
"The kid has a lot of confidence, you know. He's been doing it all summer long. He just had to learn the system. And I'm just staying on him so much about defending, rebounding, operating our system. He did a better job of defending tonight, and he was able to stay on the floor. He is so great when he gets to the basket and is finishing layups. It's big-time the way he can get to the rim and finish. He has a lot of confidence, and he's gonna get better and better."
… What the win over Cincinnati means to the team:
"It felt really good. I told the guys that since we joined the AAC, we hadn't beat them since (2017-18), when Landry Shamet was here, in Cincinnati. We lost two games last year: heartbreakers. The year before that we lost to him three times. I told those guys; this is your opportunity to put your name in the record books to be the first (AAC era) team to beat Cincinnati in Wichita, and they finally did."
… Council's finishing ability:
"He's a big strong kid. The athleticism helps, but he's just got confidence like he feels like he as good as anybody on the court. And I have to bring him down to earth sometimes. I'm probably slowing him down a little too much. But I just want to make sure he's defending at a high-level, rebounding at a high level and executing. Once he gets to the rim, he is amazing. I'm always amazed on the sideline the way that he can make layups."
… Morris Udeze's response in the second half:
"You know what I liked about Mo. In the first half, he got off to a slow start. I called timeout and I went at him hard, telling him "Look, you're not playing the right way." And he gave me a little look, and I said "Mo, you're not playing the right way. You're not playing with a motor. You're not playing with energy." When he went in the second half, I feel like he took the game over. He made some big baskets inside and that helped open up our offense by him scoring the ball. He was able to make some free throws, and he just bounced back really well. He did a great job of fighting with the big kid in the post. I know he got some offensive rebounds, but I felt like we needed some scoring in the paint. We've been relying on our guards to, you know, dribble drive, make threes. It helps when you can start scoring from the inside out."
… The defense holding up despite poor offense in the first half:
"(Past WSU were so successful because) when they weren't scoring the basketball, they still defended at a high level, they still rebounded at a high level, and they had toughness to pull those games out. There's gonna be nights where you can't make shots, but you've got to keep defending. You can't let your offense affect your defense. And I felt like at Houston, we had a couple turnovers, and we didn't defend at a high level like we needed to."
… Having multiple guards that can handle the ball:
"Dribble-drive has been good for us. At times they're going to make some mistakes. At times is going to look like they're playing one-on-one. But what it does, it helps us get in the bonus, and I feel like we're getting into the bonus before all the teams we play because of the dribble drive, and that's because we've got four guys on the floor that can handle the ball at one time."
Freshman guard
RICKY COUNCIL IV on…
… What was going right for him on his career night:
"Just attacking, going downhill, finding the right spots and shooting at the right time. Gotta be smart. Coach Brown says that to me all the time."
… His ability to drive to the rim:
"I would say practice definitely helps. I get fouled a lot, so in a game I know I'm gonna get those calls. So, I've just gotta be strong, focus on hitting the shot after I get the contact and just finish."
… His comfort level even though he's a Freshman:
"I feel really comfortable. I'm not gonna lie, I feel like I belong. Even after the first game I felt pretty comfortable. It was a little adjustment, but I still felt comfortable but now I'm into it."
…
The team's mentality:
"We're just trying to win every game. In Houston we came up short, but we definitely felt like we could have won that game and we've got to move forward and take it game by game. Next is Tulsa, we already played them, so we know what to do."
… An older player that's helped him fit in:
"Oh, definitely Dex (
Dexter Dennis.) For one he's in my position and we're similar in a lot of ways. So, first of all, I watched him and then if I had a question, I'm not scared to ask, so I literally just asked him a question on defense the other day because I'm just trying to get better So yeah, definitely Dex, Mo (
Morris Udeze), really all of our vets."
Sophomore guard
TYSON ETIENNE on…
… What a win over Cincinnati means:
"A huge win for us. You know, being that we've never beaten them at home since we've been in the American conference. Being that we've lost in the fashion that we did both times last year, for us to pull out a win versus them was a huge thing. Especially it being the first home game during conference. You know, it was a big statement win for us."
… Council's impact
"Ricky coming up, stepping up huge off the bench is good. Going into the game Cincinnati has got a scouting report on myself and other players that usually carry a lot of our scoring load. For Ricky to come off the bench and play the way he did was amazing. I'm not surprised because I see him do it every single day in practice, but it's good for him going into the rest of the conference schedule and for our team because we're gonna need those type of games from different people and Ricky was the one that stepped up today."
… What Council has shown during practice:
"He's always had confidence. If we were on the court during certain times in the game, I just kept telling him to go -- scratch the play, go attack, because he's so strong and he's such a good finisher. We needed that. So, I'm not surprised because he does this all the time. It's been good to see all of our freshmen's growth. Jaden (Seymour) and Chauncey (Jenkins) haven't been able to see the floor that much yet but everybody's growing, even myself and the rest of the guys that are older. We're all coming along and getting better and different aspects of our game."
… What jumps out to him about Council:
"He's super-strong and a freak athlete. Probably the most-athletic player I've ever played with. So that's why, he knows how to use his body, he knows how to hang in the air, and you'll continue to see nice finishes from him. We're gonna keep it going. We can't hide him any more."
… The crowd's impact:
"I felt like the crowd was very good. I was thankful for that. Everybody showing their support, especially in a game like this. It helps to have some type of home court advantage, so for our fans to be there how they were today was big for us. And, you know, we kind of fed off that at certain points during the game."
Junior forward
MORRIS UDEZE on…
… What a win over Cincinnati means:
"Since I've been here, we haven't beat them. So I was telling the guys before the game, we;ve got to get this one at home. It's our first conference home game of the year. We haven't beaten them yet, so we might as well just go grab this one at home."
… Council fearless finishing:
"He's just fearless. And it's because his ego and confidence is at 100 all the time. He has that 'you can't tell him nothing' mentality that you can't bring him down. That goes a long way in basketball. So, every day he's always on 10, so I love it."
