As the calendar flips to March, Isaac Brown wants his Shockers focused on playing elite-level defense. The Wichita State head coach met Tuesday with local media ahead of Wednesday night' road finale at Tulsa. Read on for the transcript:
 

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HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…
 
… Opening Statement:
"Tulsa is a good basketball team. We played well the first time. I think the score was 58-48. It was a good defensive game. We did a great job on Jeriah Horne; he was 1-for-11 (shooting). We've got to have the same type of effort on defense to defend the three-point line. We've got to do a good job of attacking the matchup zone, so if we can get some stops and get out in transition and beat the zone down the floor, that's always good. In the half court, we've got to be able to cut, we've got to be able to move the basketball, we can't be stagnant, and we've got to get on the offensive glass. They're really good at home; they make shots, so we've got to defend at a high level, and we've got to execute versus their matchup zone."
 
… What needs to click this week to give WSU a chance in next week's conference tourney:
"Our defense. We're not a great offensive team, but we've been a good defensive team for most of the year. Offense can't affect our defense, and that's what I've been talking to the team about. We've still got to defend. The game at Memphis, we weren't scoring the basketball, but we didn't defend (either). For us to have a chance, our defense has to be elite."
 
… Mental lapses on defense:
"It's very frustrating. I still remember when we were 6-1, things were going well, we were going on the road and winning basketball games, and now our defense is slipping. The game against Memphis, we didn't defend at all, we didn't get back in transition, we didn't guard them in the half court, and in order for us to have a chance in these next two games, we've got to defend at a high level, so that's the focus in practice the last couple days is defense. We've got to defend."
 
… The future of the core of the roster:
"I'm happy with everybody on the team. We don't have a senior on the team. We're not going to have a senior night. Dexter [Dennis] and Morris [Udeze] basically told me that they'll play college basketball next year, so that was great news. We've got a great core coming back. I really like our freshmen a lot. I think Kenny [Pohto] is going to be a big-time player. Isaac Abidde is going to be a good player; he's been really good in practice. Ricky [Council IV] has really grown; he's getting better defensively. Craig Porter Jr. has made a jump; he's gotten better. We've got a scholarship left, and we're going to add another guy, but we've got the bulk of those guys coming back."
 
… If Dennis and Udeze have indicated they will return to Wichita State:
"I normally sit down with guys at the end of the year, so right after the conference tournament, depends on when it ends, hopefully on Sunday, and I visit with those guys two days later, and we have those conversations then. I give them the floor. Obviously, I'll tell those guys I would love to have them back, but it's their decision in the end."
 
… The unity of the group and the culture of the locker room:
"These guys are still together. We had a good team meeting after practice yesterday, and the older guys, Dex and Mo, talked a lot about what we need to do in order to get better. Their attitudes were positive. They said we have to put that game behind us and go out and play well in these next two games."
 
… The players' reactions in the second half of the Memphis game:
"I liked the fight in the second half. I thought we did a good job. We got outscored by two points. I would have liked for us to have done that in the first half. We just got down early and just couldn't get back into it. We missed some shots; some of them were tough shots, some of them were wide-open shots, but we didn't defend at a high level. That first half, we tried to put behind us. In the locker room, it was positive, and those guys never stopped fighting. I give Memphis a lot of credit. They played great, they had a great game playing, and those guys have had us numbered the last two games."
 
… Where the focus lies with conference standings on the line:
"I haven't been focused on the standings. I've been focused on winning this next game. That's what we've got in front of us. We can't look ahead and worry about standings. In order to move up, you've got to win basketball games, and it's going to start at Tulsa. That's all we've been talking about, playing better defensively. We know we've got to attack the matchup zone, but we've got to get better defensively."
 
… Confidence going into Tulsa and the search for their first conference road win:
"We're still going in there with confidence. We know we've got a good basketball team. We've got three games that we didn't play on the road -- at ECU, at SMU and at Temple -- so we're three games short of our normal games on the road. This is our last opportunity to get a win. I definitely talked to those guys about needing to get one on the road. This will be a tough one. We played well the first time versus Tulsa. Those guys will play a lot better at home, and we've got to step our game up and play a lot better on the road. We've got to play for 40 minutes. It can't be 30 minutes. It can't be a bad first half and try to come out in the second half and catch up. We've got to be ready to go for 40 minutes."
 
… What went wrong at Memphis:
"In the locker room, we had a lot of energy. I thought we had a good walkthrough at the hotel. I thought film was good. I thought guys were asking questions. I thought the scouting report was good. We just didn't come out ready to go in the first 20 minutes, and they came right at us. We got behind and we never could catch up."
 
… What's missing in order to get everyone ready to go:
"I haven't been a guy that calls a lot of timeouts, but I called three in the first half. I tried to call a lot of timeouts to stop the bleeding, but nothing seemed to work. The first timeout, I went at those guys hard. The second timeout, I didn't want to spook anybody, so I calmed down and just said, 'Look, we've got to gather ourselves and be ready to go, win these four minutes.' Every talk you could think of I tried to give those guys, but nothing seemed to work. I give Memphis a lot of credit. They were ready to go that first 20 minutes. They're fighting for an NCAA tournament berth, and they just came out played harder than us. We've got to be ready to go against Tulsa. It's our next game on the road. We haven't won a conference game on the road in five tries, and this is a big basketball game for us, a rivalry game against a team like Tulsa, and they're going to be ready to go. We had a great defensive game, we held them to 48 points here, so we've got to do the same on the road at Tulsa."
 
… The importance of Craig Porter Jr.:
"I love him. He's gotten so much better, he's healthy, he plays the right way. I've been talking to our guys because he has the best three-point shooting percentage on the team, and I said he's a pass first guy. You can't just focus on scoring. He has great numbers because he's thinking about doing other stuff that affects the game, rebounding, defending, making the extra pass, and now he's starting to score the basketball, and I think it's the fact that he's thinking pass first."
 
… The difference in effort level between the Houston game and other games:
"We've got a lot of guys that are wired in their mind to score, and that's the most important thing, and we've got to get back to winning basketball, defending at a high level, rebounding, playing with toughness, play the Shocker way, and we've always won games here, not just with talent, but just guys having a high basketball IQ, guys playing hard, guys being the toughest team on the floor, getting on those 50/50 balls, making those plays like the kid from Houston made by diving on loose balls, and we've got to get back to that if we want to win basketball games in these last two."
 
… The importance of momentum leading into the conference tournament:
"I think it means a lot. I think if you can get on a winning streak, know that you can win basketball games, gain some confidence, play the right way going into the conference tournament, it can help you. Anytime you go into the conference tournament with losses, it will always make it tough because you don't have that confidence you need, so if you can go win a game on the road, play well at home and win a game, get off to a good start in the conference tournament, you've got a chance."
 
… March:
"March Madness is always fun. There's always a Cinderella story…  Hopefully, we can get into that conference tournament and try to win one game at a time, just continue to get better, and play hard, play the Shocker way, and get back to defending at a high level."