POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET:
WICHITA STATE 72, TULSA 53
JAN. 13, 2021 | WICHITA, KAN. | CHARLES KOCH ARENA (2,048)
ISAAC BROWN, ALTERIQUE GILBERT, TYSON ETIENNE, MORRIS UDEZE
 

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Head Coach ISSAC BROWN on…
 
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was total team effort tonight. We talked about Tulsa before the game started that they were the hottest team in the league. They were on a six-game winning streak. They had four wins in conference. And they are a team that gets off to a hot start. When we watched them on our scouting reports, they got off to a great start against Cincinnati, a great start against South Florida. So, in the locker room, we told our team we want to get our motors running before we hit the floor. Because if you get down to Tulsa, it's hard to come back because of the pace that they play at. They're a good defensive team, really good. I thought in the first half, we did a great job of pushing the ball in transition, moving the ball. We got wide open shots. We talked about it going against the zone, you can't be stagnant. You got to move the ball, you got to cut pace, you got to flash to the middle, and you got to share. We made eight threes in the first half. I thought the second half we got off to a good start. It was a situation there where we got a steal, we're going for a layup. I think we missed it. And they turned around and scored it on the other end, that was like a five-point swing. And it seemed like, you know, we had to go to the bench. We got Clarence Jackson in; he made an energy play. We got Ricky in and he made a bit energy play, and then the starters came back in and those guys just closed it out."
 
… Morris Udeze's career night:
"Morris played well; you know we always saw signs of that in practice. He's a guy that can really score with his back to the basket and tonight versus Tulsa we talked about playing inside out versus the zone. A lot of times they'll go to the zone and they won't have a true center on the basketball court, so we wanted to make sure we got him some touches. And when they didn't have their big center in the game, we would have to go to our zone on the other end. I thought Morris did a great job of making free throws also. He did a good job at the free throw line and I'm just so excited that he's had back-to-back games where he's played well."
 
… His team playing for the full 40 minutes:
"Yes, I thought they battled for 40 minutes. I thought they had one spurt where we couldn't make shots. We didn't defend for a second, but all of a sudden, those guys stayed together, they defended at a high level, they rebounded, and they started sharing the ball. I mean, I'm so excited about Alterique Gilbert just the fact he had eight assists tonight. I think that's his high. I've been telling him you got to do that a lot more You know Tyson (Tyson Etienne) was making shots. We got good minutes out of Ricky (Ricky Council IV) off the bench Clarence Jackson made an energy play that was huge, and those guys are just getting better every game every. We got a new team, and those guys are really gelling together."
 
… Getting his bigs more involved in the post:
"Yeah, we always want to go inside. We want to start by going inside to start every game. You know, we got to be able to score in the post to be a good basketball team. With some teams we play, they doubled the low post a lot, so it's hard for your big man to score, or they dig the low post. Tonight, they're playing zone and Mo (Morris Udeze) was able to sit in and get some easy baskets. And I'm just so excited for the fact he's had back-to-back good games. I mean, Isaiah (Isaiah Poor-Bear Chandler) you know, he came in, he gave us some good minutes. We didn't get Josephat (Josephat Bilau) in, but we got depth at a big spot, so I'm just excited for those guys."
 
… What he saw from Morris Udeze when he returned in the Fall:
"Yeah, he came back and seemed like he was more skilled. He was able to make free throws you know he's been consistent from the free throw line. You know, he handles it well. We run some plays where we give the ball to Mo in the high post and we let him drive it. So, he can drive it left or right. He's gotten better using his left hand. He did a great job in conditioning in the preseason, and now he can play more minutes. I think that's the biggest thing. He took care of his body and he worked on his skill work. He can handle it with both hands."
 
… The confidence in the locker room:
"You got the have confidence in yourself. You know, they walk around with a swagger. They believe that they can win games. When you can go on the road and you know, beat Ole Miss, beat South Florida, it just gives those guys confidence and it brings them together. You know a couple of those games we were down, they kept battling back and I'm just so proud of them. The number one thing we talk about in the locker room is just energy. When you play with a lot of energy, it just makes things a lot easier for you on the basketball court. You tend to defend that high level, you tend to rebound at a high level, and you just make shots because of your energy level."
 

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Redshirt Senior guard ALTERIQUE GILBERT on…
 
… Assisting some Morris Udeze dunks:
"Yeah, no, especially I was excited for him just to you know, take the rim off. He's done that so many times this year, but we want to make that a game-to-game thing and I'm just [going to] keep it going."
 
… The energy in the locker room:
"The energy in the locker room is great. Not just today or game days, it's each and every day. For the most part all the guys top it up on and off the court from what I know and coach Brown he just does a great job of emphasizing those small details, you know rebounding and checking out, staying in the gap, you know playing together, sharing the ball. He just wants us to enjoy ourselves."
 

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Sophomore guard TYSON ETIENNE on…
 
… Working the crowd throughout the game:
"I think it was a huge win and I definitely wanted to have the crowd involved early because I knew the magnitude of the win. In order for us to have a chance to win the league, we need to win this game, so that we could have a tiebreaker if anything came down to it at the end of the conference schedule. So for us to beat Tulsa, especially, you know, the rivalry that has been between Wichita State and Tulsa over the years, I definitely thought that, you know, us having a crowd involved would give us the upper hand because they're a great team."
 
…  Having quality looks all night:
"I think our motion was probably better than it's been all year, especially, you know, finding guys, getting into the middle of the floor and looking opposite, you know, keep moving the ball, hopping the ball, as coach says. I was actually surprised that we got so many open looks today. But you know, I think that we'd locked in onto the scouting report and we did a great job of practicing that during our practice leading up to this game."
 
… What he's seen from Coach Brown and the rest of the staff:
"I think he's done a terrific job, obviously, like anything, he's gonna, you know, make mistakes, and he's gonna learn from them, which I think he's done, just like the rest of us. I think he's done a great job of, you know, staying true to us and believing in us, even when stuff is, you know, might not be going the best way during the game, he never gives up on us and he continues to give us positive reinforcement. I think that's something that's huge, especially that we got so many young guys and new guys, you know, we need to know that our coach is rocking with us. And he's done a great job at that. All of our coaches have done that I think, you know, as a unit, they've done a great job stepping up to the challenge of what this season was going to be. And I think that, as players, we got their back and everything that we do, so he's done a great job, and we're gonna continue to move forward and win games."
 
… Morris Udeze's career night:
"I'm just glad that he had that game because, you know, everybody needs those confidence building games, especially as we get deeper into the schedule. Teams have different scouting reports. They might take away me, they might take away somebody else. So, to have somebody that we know that down the stretch he can give us a few buckets down there is huge. He had 20 tonight. 20 and 8, like that's two away from a double double. So, I'm happy for him. I'm glad, but I'm not surprised though because I see him do it. I know he can do it. It's just a matter of everything clicking and I feel like it clicked for him tonight."
 
… Taking a lesson away from letting a halftime lead go against Houston:
"I think that we always thought that we were in control. I always tell my guys that basketball is a game of runs. You break the game down into 16 rounds, four minutes each. You have to understand that they're gonna make runs to, they're a good basketball team. They're gonna make shots, we're gonna have some mishaps. But it's all about are you able to stay in the moment? Are able to stay present? You know, you can't be up, up, up when it's good but then go down, down, down when it's down, you know, you have to stay steady and even I think that's something that everybody needs to apply. You know, because that's just how things go. It goes up and it goes down, but if you're able to stay present, you're able to just continue to move on. I think we did a great job of staying together in that."
 

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Junior forward MORRIS UDEZE on…
 
… What's allowed him to step his game up:
"Practice. Keep on practicing like this is gonna be perfection. I give credit to Bilau (Josephat Bilau) and Pooh-Bear (Isaiah Poor-Bear Chandler) for pushing me every day in practice. My teammates keep pushing me to do better and get better every day, so I give credit to them."
 
… The development of his offensive game:
"Something I've been working on over the offseason and just being more crafty down there; getting in-between defenders, up and under moves, hook moves and all that. Working on my whole total game. I'm just trying to showcase it at the highest level I can. I wanna give credit to coach IB (Issac Brown), coach Lou (Lou Gudino), coach Waterman (Tyson Waterman), coach Billy Kennedy, and my trainer (Brandon Burnett) for everything they've done [in my] development."
 
… Going through adversity during his collegiate career:
"Well, you can't rush and it's kinda like a marathon; gotta keep going, keep pushing every day. Keep pushing and one day it's gonna breakthrough for you. It's like in a call my dad just told me to keep pushing, fight through injuries, to stay on it every day. Give it your all."
 
… Picking up his training during the offseason:
"I kind of cranked it up to a whole new level because I mean, quarantine kind of gave me like, extra time to get way better. I kind of took it as like I'm gonna catch up to everybody that was better than me at the time or thinks they're better than me. I'm just gonna catch up during this offseason. So quarantine gave me a lot of time just to patch up my game and work on my shot and all that."