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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2017Marty SimmonsDuane GibsonJaylon BrownSt. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness Evansville - 83 Indiana State - 72 MARTY SIMMONS: Number one, we're just thrilled to have the opportunity to advance and play a great team in Illinois State. We're really proud of our guys, played a lot of really good basketball tonight. Give Indiana State credit, Coach Lansing credit. We knew it. We were telling our guys time-out after time-out that we had to tighten things up because they would never quit. They made a lot of big shots, made a run. But I like the way our guys hung in there, and we were able to finish it off. Q. J.B., I noticed you and Boo both were kind of making sure the ball was in your hands there at the end of the game. As upperclassmen, and you especially being experienced in the tournament, did you feel like you kind of needed to show him the way there to close it out? JAYLON BROWN: Yeah. Me and Boo, we've been here for three or four years, four years. So I have confidence in him whenever he gets the ball that he'll make the right play, and me as well. Coach was telling me and him to go get the ball, and I had confidence, if we got it, that things would be under control. Q. Can both of you guys speak to the start you had? I know you went on a 13-0 run early and seemed to be getting to the loose balls and kind of just more energy at the start. THE MODERATOR: Duane then Jaylon. DUANE GIBSON: We had a pretty good practice two days ago prior to this game. I think it was carryover from our practice. We were getting after it from the start of our practice, so it carried over to the game. JAYLON BROWN: I think the practices that we had before this game really helped us out in the beginning, got us off to a good start. I think the practices we had gave us confidence to come in and start off well. Q. Jaylon, can you just talk about what it's like with the quick turnaround, prepping for a guard like Paris Lee tomorrow? JAYLON BROWN: Yeah, he's a good guard. He's a great guard. Obviously, the team is really good. We've just got to be prepared. This is my fourth time coming to this conference tournament, so it's nothing that I'm not used to. So we've just got to be ready, rest our bodies, get fluids in us, and get mentally prepared for tomorrow. Q. Duane, could you just talk about the challenges you face against Illinois State. You guys played them two pretty tight games this season. DUANE GIBSON: Well, they're a pretty good team all the way around, 1 through 5. We've just got to come out with a good start like we did today and see where it goes from there. Q. What was the key for you guys on the defensive end? Until they made that late run there, their shooting percentages were pretty low. JAYLON BROWN: Just knowing that Clemons and Scott, they're going to have the ball in their hands a lot, and we have to make Scott shoot tough shots. And Clemons, you know he's going to try to draw and make plays. We had to stop the ball in transition was a big key as well. So those two guys make their team go. I thought we did a good job in the beginning just slowing those two down and making them take tough shots. THE MODERATOR: Duane, regarding the defense in the first half? DUANE GIBSON: I was just focused. I was locked in on Scott. I knew he was going to come out and be aggressive, so I had to be mentally prepared and match his intensity. So that's all I was focused on. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. We'll dismiss you and stay with the head coach a little longer. Q. Marty, among other things, as far as setting the tone is concerned, it was 10-0, I think, in rebounding to start the game. That was one thing you did, but just where do you feel like your own team kind of set the tone for this game? MARTY SIMMONS: I thought we got some stops early, got our hands on some balls. We were able to get out in transition and get some easy baskets. I think that really helped us, gave us a lot of confidence right out of the gate. I think that, as much as anything -- the rebounding stat, I did not know that. I just felt like our guys, they were ready to play. They were excited in the locker room, and it carried over to the start of the game. Q. Did you sense the confidence from J.B. on this stage? I know he seemed to be one of the guys to lead that initial surge you guys had. MARTY SIMMONS: Yeah, he was good. I mean, he's had a terrific year. He's had a terrific career at Evansville. He's kind of been the man all year for us. He came out really aggressive. I thought he did it in a lot of different ways. He made some perimeter shots, and he got the ball to the basket. He got to the free-throw line. I just thought he had a real good makeup to the way he approached the game. Q. Obviously, not a lot of time to sit back and reflect on this one. You've got to look ahead for tomorrow. Your opponent tomorrow has a lot of hardware as well as the No. 1 overall seed. What do you tell your guys as they go to bed tonight to get them prepared for their biggest challenge so far of the tournament? MARTY SIMMONS: We've played them twice. So you really don't have to tell our guys a whole lot. I mean, they're an outstanding team. They're well coached. They play extremely hard. That might be -- they're really, really competitive. They get after you. Lee, obviously, is probably their leader, although they've got a lot of guys. Wills plays extremely hard. Evans has done a great job. They're very athletic. They're very talented on the inside, but they're unselfish. It's the full package. They're really tough to score against, and they're not easy to guard, and they rebound extremely well. I think our guys are just excited, you know, when you win in a tournament, to have another shot. We'll quickly prepare. At this time of year, you're not going to do a lot of things differently, try to keep things as similar from game plan to game plan as you can and get them off their feet and be ready to go tomorrow. Q. Coach, what's one thing you'd like to see your team tighten up for tomorrow? MARTY SIMMONS: Well, I'd say just taking care of the basketball. That's always a challenge against Illinois State. They're really, really active. They've got great hands. Lee dictates that. Wills dictates that. So just being strong and taking care of the basketball. Q. Boo did a fantastic job on Brenton Scott tonight. How big will he be tomorrow guarding Lee? MARTY SIMMONS: It will be big. We're not going to stop anybody one on one. We're going to have to be solid as a team, and we're going to have to execute our coverages and help each other. But Boo, you know, he's the guy that leads us on the defensive end. He's our stopper. That will be a good challenge. Q. I wanted to ask you about two guys. Boo offensively -- I know you commented a little on his defense, but what did he give you on the offensive end? And that's the most minutes Sergej has played since he got back from Serbia. So just to be able to extend the lead with him in there with Dave in foul trouble, how big was that? MARTY SIMMONS: Huge, huge. Not only did he finish the two baskets around the basket, but defensively, his size. He's 7 foot. He's long. When he keeps the ball -- when they have to score over him, it's not easy to do. I thought he got a rebound or two in there. I thought he did a really nice job. And Boo, Boo was just really aggressive. We got stagnant in the second half. He slipped the screen right in the middle and rose up and stuck it. I thought that was a big basket, but he changed his speeds and his gears and just thought he was really aggressive on the offensive end. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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