Postgame Quotes: Wichita State at Cincinnati

No. 19/18 Wichita State at No. 5 Cincinnati
Feb. 18, 2018
BB&T Arena
Postgame Quotes

Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin
Opening statement:
"They shot 53 percent, which is indicative of our lack of defense, defensive communication and a lack of our adherence to the scouting report, combined with (the fact) they have a very good team. Sure, they made a few hard shots, but, that being said, we gave them way too many wide-open shots or easy shots and defensive breakdowns, so I am unhappy with that, (and) disappointed. Rebounding, we have five big guys that played in the game and they combined for one offensive rebound. We shoot the ball decent; we don't shoot the ball great. 

"Offensively, you can't have seven turnovers from probably your two most talented players in Jacob (Evans III) and Jarron (Cumberland). That kills you. Secondly, you must offensive rebound. Gary (Clark), Elliel (Nsoseme), Kyle (Washington), Tre (Trevon Scott) and Nysier (Brooks) had one offensive rebound in 80 minutes. If you don't get second-chance points and second-chance opportunities to get fouled or score again, combined with the fact we just missed a lot of open shots, and it's not that complicated, to be honest with you. Those are the three phases of the game where, if we don't rebound it great, we are not going to be a great offensive team if we don't get more second chance points than that. We are not going to score enough points to beat a team who shots 53 percent; you're just not going to score enough. So, that is my assessment to why we lost."

On the factor offensive rebounds played in the game:
"Well, again, part of defense is finishing the possession with a rebound. We are just not in a good place right now. I haven't slept much; we are not in a good place for a lot of reasons. You are not going to beat high-level teams… we had eight deflections in the second half; we had 23 in the first half. Our energy level and our identity, we have lost focus on how we have been winning so many games, which is defense and rebounding. We have too many guys that are concerned with the offensive end, and it's definitely not the assist because we have only had 18 in our last two games. We better get back to realizing what makes a team a good team; unselfish play, toughness, defending and rebounding."

On Kyle Washington only playing 17 minutes:
"Defensive strategy. Anybody that watched the game could see that. If it was Iowa high school girls' basketball, it would be different; you play three-on-three and don't play offense and defense. But, you also have to know a play and be able to catch the ball in the low post. You have to be on the same page with your teammates. Our senior leadership, as far as getting the job done, (I am) not happy with it. Not even close to happy with it; beyond disappointed, to be honest with you. And those kids have been great. They are great kids and they have been great, but, defensively, it's really gross. Not just rebounding; defensively."

On the final full court plays for Wichita State:
"Yeah, we called timeout and I drew up the exact play they ran. I drew up the exact play they ran and we still let it happen, which tells you right now where we are at mentally. See, this game, you have to play really hard, play together and you have to play with humility. If you have humility, you will pay attention and you will worry about things that effect winning. Humility is the most important thing. All great teams have it and all great players have it. If you don't have humility, you don't have the right attitude and you are not going to have the right mental focus. Our defensive breakdowns are mind-boggling, to be quite honest with you. But, when you don't have humility, it's not a surprise. I have been doing this too long. You have humility, you pay attention and do your job. When you don't have humility, you don't pay attention, you don't listen, you're not willing to do what it takes and you get beat, exploited and it happens in all team sports. That's a 'we' because it is my job to make sure it happens, so I am not getting that done. You have to make sure your team has it."

On moving forward from tonight:
"You have to be committed to the uncomfortable things that go into winning and, right now, I have to do a better job of making sure my team is committed to doing the uncomfortable, physical things that go into winning games. We are not a juggernaut of NBA draft picks; that is not how we win. We are just not; that's the facts. We don't shoot the ball well enough. If we don't rebound it, we are not going to score enough points to beat a team like that, combined with that you have egregious after egregious defensive breakdown."

Cincinnati Player Quotes
#1 Jacob Evans III, G
On if Wichita State's offensive rebounds were a key to the game:
"We gave up too many layups in the second half and too many threes in the first half. Our defense has to get better, but it's hard to play defense against a good team like that. You gotta give credit to where is due. They played a good game."

On Cincinnati's intensity the last couple of games:
"Our effort is there. We can get better, just being locked in all the time. Especially as the season gets later, every team is better. It's not beginning of the conference or beginning of the season. Every team, they know us well. They're watching us for the whole season. We just have to be able to go to our second options when they take away the first ones. But today we just didn't get it done."

On if there's more of a sense of urgency after back-to-back losses:
"We try and look at both of these games and learn from our mistakes. Like today we turned it over too many times. Especially against a team that scores at a high rate, we can't give them extra possessions. But, we are gonna try and look at this one the same way we looked at the Houston game and just try and learn from it and get better and get ready for the next one."

On what Coach Mick Cronin means by needing to do the uncomfortable things: 
"You gotta be physical. You know, basketball is a physical game. We gotta be willing to go hit, box out, dive on the floor for loose balls, the little things. This is Bearcat basketball. We gotta get back to playing that way the whole game. We do it for the first part of the game. We need to be able to do it the whole game. And that's everybody on our team including myself especially. We gotta get back to being hungry. Hopefully, we can do that and get back to the next game."

No. 15 Cane Broome, G
On what Coach Mick Cronin wants the identity of the team to be moving forward: 
 "Just tough. Physical, I feel like that is his main focus right now. He thinks we are losing that, which I definitely agree with him on. We just have to get that back and that starts in practice so we just have to come back tomorrow and go at each other in practice because it is not going to get easy as you get closer to the conference tournament and NCAA tournament."

On his offensive performance today: 
"I just feel like my teammates got me in good positions. I got in some good positions today. Obviously I am playing with better players so (the defense) can't just stay there, they have to roll and stuff like that with them but it felt good. But I would rather get the win."

Wichita State Head Coach Gregg Marshall
On if today's win was the biggest win of the season:
"Yeah, you come into a place like this and beat the Top-5 team in the country with their win streak, what was it 39? And their veteran and so well coached and tough. To be able to withstand all that, yeah it's a big win. We have had some nice ones, but this is probably the best."

On Landry Shamet's first half:
"He's a tremendous player and he withstood the pressure beautifully, especially in the first half. Made some big-time shots. They're running at him in so many different ways. Didn't turn the ball over that much. He did in the second half. He still made enough winning plays and winning shots to help us get over the top."

On the benefit of having a veteran core in a new league:
"It's vital. You've got six seniors out there and some of them played well but some struggled. (Rashard) Kelly was driving it really well. Shaq Morris was a beast, like he's been lately. Darral Willis struggled, but he makes a big bucket down the stretch and comes up with a big rebound. Zach Brown played tremendous defense and knocked down a huge three in the middle of the second half. Connor Frankamp makes a couple of big buckets and gives us a secondary ball handler and Rauno Nurger didn't play as much as he normally does because Shaq was playing so well and he was in foul trouble."