The monster is coming! Head coach Isaac Brown sat down with local media for a preview of Thursday night's matchup with No. 3 Houston – a team that has consistently challenged Shocker big men with its rebounding and defensive pressure. Brown talked about what his team must do to beat Houston's double teams and looked back on a six-year rivalry with the Cougars that will soon draw to a close. Read on for the transcript:
 

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HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…
 
… The thumbnail on Houston:
"Very good basketball team, ranked third in the country. Great coach in Kelvin Sampson. Veteran basketball team. The best defensive team in the country. The best backcourt in the country. They've got a really good freshman that's probably going to be a top-15 pick in the NBA draft. Those guys are really defending at a high level. We've got to do a good job of rebounding, taking care of the basketball, especially offensively. They're doing things that our team hasn't seen this year before. The way monster the low post -- I say they ambush the low post -- like nobody else in the country. You've got to be willing to pass it back out in their ball screen coverage…. It's just different. You've got to be ready to make quick passes to get it to the other side of the floor. Then you've got to make some jump shots, because they protect the paint. They make you make jump shots.
 
… Improvement on the offensive end – six straight games with 70+ points:
"We're throwing the ball in the paint and kicking (it out). Kenny (Pohto) and (James) Rojas are doing a good job of getting us in the bonus early, scoring with their back to the basket, getting it to open guys to get a wide-open, stationary jump shots. I think we're gettimg out in transition a lot more. We're getting more fast break points."
 
… Rising to the occasion against Houston the last two times they've come to Wichita:
"(Our) guys just bought into rebounding. That was the key... I've got to get this new team ready to buy in to rebounding, because the only two guys that have played against Houston are Kenny Pohto and Craig Porter. So, it's going to be the first time for most of these guys… That's going to be the biggest thing in this game: toughness. Winning 50/50 plays. If you can do those things, you have an opportunity…"
 
… How Houston's success has impacted the other American schools:
"Any time you've got a team that is top-5 in the country, that is one of the best defensive teams in the country, a team that's been the back-to-back Elite Eights. Anytime you go up against those guys -- and you've seen their culture, the way they play basketball, the way they defend and rebound at a high level -- I think it has made the other teams in the conference better."
 
… Keys for WSU's offensively against a stingy Houston defense:
"This will be a big challenge, going up against the best defensive team in the country. We've got to make sure that we handle those double teams in the post. We handle those double teams and the ball screen. We've got to value the basketball. We can't turn it over. We got to make sure we're checking out. We can't allow them second chance points."
 
… Pohto's passing and the importance of that skill against Houston's double teams:
"It will be a different challenge for him, because nobody this year's has really monstered us in the post, and Houston is the best team in the country (at it). They're there the second the ball hits your hand, so you've got to be ready to go up and score immediately or dribble out and find a player on your team that is open."
 
… The role that the other four players play in beating a double-teams:
"The weak side guys have got to get to an open area. The big guys have to be ready to score when the ball is in their hands. They've got to get some deep post touches. We haven't handled it well in the past. I remember we had a big kid here, Jaime Echenique. They doubled him a lot and he did a good job of keeping it out of his hands. We've just got to make sure we get the ball inside, deep, and we'll be able to go right in."
 
… What makes Sampson's Houston teams so great:
"Kelvin Sampson is one of the best coaches in the country. Just watching his teams from afar, just the culture…. They play hard and they defend. It's not a lot about offense. It's basically like football, the way they play. They play hard. They're always the first team on the floor for the 50/50 balls. They check out, they go to the glass like nobody I've ever seen before, and those guys find a way to win."
 
… What makes this Houston rivalry so fun on both sides:
"It's been a good series. They're a good basketball team -- one of the best in the country -- and again, they play with toughness. That's been our culture here (too). Playing with toughness, defending, rebounding and being just tough basketball players."
 
… What he remembers from the first WSU-UH matchup in 2018:
"It was a sellout crowd. You couldn't hear yourself talking. The players couldn't even hear each other, it was just so loud. The atmosphere that night was (incredible). Again, (we have) the best fans in the country, and hopefully we can generate that type of fan support for this game. We need (everyone) to be here. It's like having a sixth-man on the floor. It gives (our) guys that energy to go out and play on."
 
… Reflecting on WSU's 2021 win:
"That was (another) meaningful game, with us getting our first conference championship. At home, in front of our crowd, I thought that game we defended, we rebounded and we played with toughness. The biggest thing in that game was that every time the ball was shot our guys trusted the scouting report and they found somebody to go check out. You've got to check out against Houston -- again, one of the best rebounding teams in the country. All five guys going to check out and gang rebound. We're going to go back and show a lot of those checkouts (in our film session)."
 
… Lessons learned this season:
"Just to keep fighting. I've got a young basketball team. Those guys made some mistakes early on. I still feel like they're getting better and better. And no matter what, after losing a game, we come back here, we work. Those guys continue to make great strides."