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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 3, 2016

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

Missouri State-69, Drake-67

THE MODERATOR: A few quick notes on the game that just finished. Missouri State, the winner, improves to 13-18 this season and 29-24 all time in the MVC Tournament. Bears finished the season with a 3-0 sweep of Drake and now leads the all-time series with Drake 42-12. Current head coach Paul Lusk is 9-2 versus Drake. The Bears will face second seeded Evansville tomorrow night, 6:00, first game of the second session tomorrow.

The victorious Bears are here. As mentioned, they're going to play the second seeded Evansville Aces tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. Dequon Miller and Chris Kendrix represent the Bears. Paul Lusk will start it off.

COACH LUSK: Very, very pleased for my guys. We've responded all year when guys have gone down, and I thought we really responded today. We ran out of gas, but we found a way to win it. We get to live to see another day, and we'll get these guys back to the hotel, get them rested up for tomorrow. We're glad to be playing tomorrow.

Q. Chris, how important was it for you to get going early and take a real active role in the offense and shooting the ball?
CHRIS KENDRIX: It was really just a pivotal point for us to get started really. That's really where we jumped on them from the get. So, honestly, it was one of the biggest points of the game until the end.

Q. Dequon, this is the first time at the tournament, how do you get ready to play tomorrow even though you played almost 40 minutes tonight?
DEQUON MILLER: I mean, I treated it like another game. I told coach before the game that it felt like I was playing my first collegiate basketball game again. I was just a little nervous, anxious at the same time, just to get going.

Q. Dequon, second half, Kendrix kind of slowed down a little bit. Drake kind of took the lead a couple times and hit some threes just to get the guys back in it.
DEQUON MILLER: When one person goes down, the next person steps up. I thought my teammates, they set good screens. Cam, Lou, and Tyler, Obe, they send good screens all game. When an opportunity comes up, you've got to take the shot.

Q. Chris, can you talk a little bit about that last sequence toward the end. It looked like Loomis tipped the ball to you for the rebound, you got fouled, went to the line, just that whole setup.
CHRIS KENDRIX: Really, I didn't know what was about to happen. As soon as it came off, it was just everybody fight for the ball, and I got that tip that Loo had, and as soon as he tipped it, I just tried to grab it.

So after that, the two free throws in my head, I'm just like, I had these, but it's like sometimes it's just -- it just doesn't go your way. So after that, I really just tried to play defense, don't let them get that shot really.

Q. Now you've got Evansville again, lost to them -- wasn't real close the first few times. What are your thoughts on that, Chris?
CHRIS KENDRIX: Hopefully, we prepare ourselves enough to get our minds right for the game, and hopefully everybody takes it serious. So hopefully, we get a chance to play this -- play the game well for 40 minutes the whole time.

THE MODERATOR: Before we get to this question, I'm going to have Dequon answer that last question too about Evansville.

DEQUON MILLER: Like Chris said, we just got to take it serious. Evansville is no joke. We've just got to get going, get everybody's minds right and get ready to roll tomorrow.

Q. Dequon, you set up Obediah for one of his slam dunks. He had three tonight. How does that charge you guys up, and does that get your motors going?
DEQUON MILLER: When your teammate makes a big play, a big dunk like that, it's game changing, you know. It got us real amped up and everybody hyped. I think we actually got a stop that next possession. So I mean, it really changed the game.

COACH LUSK: There weren't many stops, Dequon.

Q. Coach, how do you prepare for the Mockevicius, even though tonight the points in the paint were a little bit tricky for Drake?
COACH LUSK: I don't think it's him. It's their entire team. They're very good offensively. It's really going to be more about us getting rest and kind of sticking with our zone. There's going to be no secret we're going to have to zone them.

I thought we were so good tonight in the first half offensively that that kind of helped us, when you can score the ball, but it will be a different game. I think there's a whole set of things you have to be concerned about with Evansville. Number one, they're so good offensively, but then on the other end, they will guard us much differently than Drake guarded. They'll get out and pressure and try wearing us down.

But how we're going to prepare is to get our guys back tonight, get some food, get them in bed, and then we'll have a good film session tomorrow morning.

Q. Coach, the end of that game, was the game plan to try to drive to the lane, maybe try to get to the free-throw line, and it seemed like you guys were throwing threes up in the last minute of the game.
COACH LUSK: They were zoning. Kreklow made a huge three, but we got the ball in the paint against the zone, and it was in and out. So their zone bothered us a little bit, but they can do that. You don't want to settle for threes. I thought we settled for some. We were 10-of-20 from three. I thought Kreklow's three was the right three because the ball went into the paint, and then it went back out.

Q. Coach, at the end of the game, I saw you turn to the crowd and fist pump. Just this win, especially the way you guys pulled it out shorthanded, how much did emotion there take over, and just what does this win mean?
COACH LUSK: Well, just happy. Happy for our guys. Having another guy go down in that fashion, that hurt, but we weren't going to make any excuses. Just really happy for our guys because they fought, and they really wanted it, and they cared, and they were connected.

Chris Kendrix was in the locker room. He had a tear in his eye after the game. He was overwhelmed that we won, but he was mad at himself for missing two free throws. My message to him is get a smile on your face. If there's a technical tomorrow and we have to shoot free throws, you know who's going up there? It's you going up there, and then he smiles. But he played his tail off. Everybody that played contributed.

Q. At some points, it looked like Reed Timmer was a little timid out there, didn't look too comfortable. What did you guys do tonight to take him out of his game?
COACH LUSK: We've done a nice job. They were 5-of-15 from three. They're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country in our zone. We've gotten to him, and we've matched up. He's a really good player. He still had 12 points, 7 rebounds.

Graham Woodward was good. He's a kid that can really score. I thought they were most effective by getting the ball inside. The big kid is just an absolute load.

But Timmer is a really good player. I was at the banquet today. I think he's the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. I think I remember they said his major is pharmacy. So really good player and really good student, that's a heck of a combination.

Q. With the short bench, how important was it to get contributions from guys like Gerring and McCullough that maybe you haven't gotten from consistently?
COACH LUSK: When you think about having a short bench, it's in a concentrated area. We have a short bench in the guard area. We can throw those other bigs in there, and they can give us something. So whoever comes in, if they can give us a boost, that's fine. And that's going to help us. I thought it was great that those guys gave us something.

I thought Loomis was outstanding. The problem with the bench is it's in a concentrated area. Kreklow played 37 minutes. Dequon played 40. Chris Kendrix played 37. So those guys gave us something off the bench, and that was positive.

Q. If you can tell us what you think about Drake, young team, obviously tenth seed this year. What do you see out of them going forward?
COACH LUSK: I like their players, and I think, when you have a tough season like that, in particular down the stretch, and then to still find a way to beat Loyola, I thought that was an outstanding win. They came in here with confidence, and it was a great win for their guys.

C.J. Rivers got back out there tonight. Obviously, he wasn't in rhythm. They've got a bright future. I think they've got good young players, and they'll continue to get better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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