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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 4, 2016

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

Evansville-66, Missouri State-56

THE MODERATOR: Camyn Boone and Dorrian Williams are flanking head coach Paul Lusk.

COACH LUSK: I thought it was a really good game. Evansville is a really good team.

I just love the way that we fought. I thought we played hard. It wasn't always pretty, but we had our opportunities. What can you say? They just had more than us, but these two guys up here, just very, very proud of them. They've never given us one problem. Cam has been with us for two years. Dorrian's been with me for five. Dorrian texted me this morning and said, Coach, I'll give you whatever I can give you, and he certainly did that.

Q. Dorrian, what does it mean to be able to go out on your own terms and kind of finish on the court rather than in street clothes?
DORRIAN WILLIAMS: It was big time. I felt like I owed it to my brothers in that locker room. We developed a relationship beyond basketball, and it goes way beyond basketball. It feels good, man, just to finish out there on the court with them.

Q. Cam, how much of it was just you're a senior, you don't have much time left, your ability to play and then your game plan to attack the basket?
CAMYN BOONE: Really, it was just my teammates getting me involved, and shots were falling. We were trying to get Mock in foul trouble. I really think that was just about it.

Q. Dorrian, were you able to get any practice, or were you just ready to go?
DORRIAN WILLIAMS: Unfortunately, not, man. I think you can kind of tell by the layup I had. But like Coach said, I just texted him this morning. Something me and Boone have been talking about, goes back to us being roommates. Haven't had the opportunity, but I'm just thankful for the opportunity to go out and finish, and I thank Coach Lusk for allowing me to do it.

Q. For both players, I know you're done, but what do you think about the state of the program going forward?
CAMYN BOONE: I think the guys have a bright future. I think they have a really good core going forward, and I think they'll be a contender moving forward. I really think it's not just about the talent they have in the locker room, but I feel like they have the right guys, and I feel like the team really gelled this year, and I think that's only going to benefit them going forward.

DORRIAN WILLIAMS: To piggy-back off what he said, that locker room has great substance, and they have a great work ethic. Any time you can combine those two, it's a bright future.

They also have a great leader in Coach Lusk. He pushes those guys, and he pushes to get the best out of you, and those guys really have a great future because they have a great leader in him.

Q. Dorrian, if you can click on a scale of pain, what's your knee at right now?
DORRIAN WILLIAMS: I don't feel any pain, man. I don't know. I haven't sat down long enough to feel it yet. I'm not even thinking about it, honestly. I'm just kind of caught up in the moment right now.

Q. Coach, when Dorrian put his uniform on and went out in the layup line, what were your thoughts there? What was the emotion for you?
COACH LUSK: It was very emotional. He had been talking, he wanted to try it, but he hadn't felt up to it. There's the physical side, and there's just the mental side as well. He just decided to do it. I actually got really emotional at halftime, because I loved the way we played. I loved how hard he played, how he energized us, and how we finished the half really playing that hard. Very pleased that he got to go out on his own terms.

His surgery was actually scheduled for this morning. He needs microfracture surgery. He talked about substance. There's a lot of substance right there because people that have substance only do something like he did. If he didn't care about the program or didn't have any substance, if it was about him, he wouldn't have gotten out there. But he's a special kid. And we just told our guys that there will be life lessons learned through that, through his actions. I'm very pleased that he got to finish on his own terms.

Q. Coach, we talked a little bit yesterday about the quick turnaround that you guys would have, and it seemed like Dequon and Chris had a little bit of a tough time after playing so many minutes yesterday, shooting a combined 28% from the field and 20% from three. Can you talk about how that might have affected them coming into this one?
COACH LUSK: I really don't think it was just yesterday. The cumulative effect since we've been down some guys of all the minutes they've had to play, it wears on you. But I thought our energy level was great. They may not have shot the ball well, but they fought and had energy and really wanted to win.

We just -- we did some pretty good things. We rebounded. We got to the foul line. We were 4 for 10. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones. We missed some layups late.

I've always said, if there's a right way to win and there's a wrong way to win and there's a right way to lose and there's a wrong way to lose. We did things the right way out there. Our guys really fought. You can live with that effort.

Q. Dequon had another great rebounding day, seven rebounds. What does he bring to the team and how he's able to get into the paint and facilitate and score?
COACH LUSK: Well, he's had an outstanding year. He would tell you that he had too many turnovers. But he has done a nice job of getting in there and digging balls out, much better at that. He's probably grown about as much as any player we've had from where he started.

We talked about it the other day. Early in the season, he had talent, but he just -- he wasn't ready for what he was about to go through. And he'll tell you. So he's really grown. He's got a chance to be outstanding.

Q. Several times, especially in the first half, you would be in the zone, and you'd tell guys to match up with the men. Was that the plan to try and throw Evansville off?
COACH LUSK: They're so efficient offensively. Now, they only had 12 assists, which surprised me, but they assist on so many baskets. And whatever you're doing, they're going to figure it out because they've got a lot of skills. So that bothered them. We'd go zone for a couple of passes, and we went to man, and it bothered them a little bit. But they're going to figure out whatever you're doing. They're just too good offensively.

It's a senior, veteran team that's been through a lot of wars in this league.

Q. Coach, to all freshmen that you had, and you had the Newcomer of the Year, can you just kind of reflect on the future and what these guys can bring back here to St. Louis next year?
COACH LUSK: Well, you talk about the two All-Freshmen, and I look at a guy like Ryan Kreklow, who just absolutely got thrown to the wolves in the first Valley tournament. He had 13 points yesterday. What did Krek have today? He had 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, no turnovers. All three of those freshmen have great potential. And what I love about it is they love being here, and it means something to them, and they're going to continue to work.

Obviously, Chris Kendrix just said some things in the locker room. I'm so proud of him for the way he's grown. And he'll sit there and tell you, hey, there's some ups and downs. But he's coming, he's maturing, he works on his game. Those guys are going to be very good players for us.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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