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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 10, 2017Eric MusselmanCameron OliverMarcus MarshallLas Vegas, Nevada Nevada - 83 Fresno State - 72 COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: Well, obviously it was a tale of two halves. And we played our worst first half since we've been together. And we probably played our best second half since we've been together. I thought the guys did a great job at halftime of keeping their composure, because we were struggling. We were searching. But these guys wanted to play Fresno. And we got on the bus last night from this game and they were happy that they were getting another chance to play Fresno. So I give them a lot of credit for their approach when we couldn't make a basket and we weren't playing some of our best defense. Q. You guys have been in some tough situations and come back and won, obviously the New Mexico game. How much did those experiences help when you guys were in such a sticky situation at halftime? MARCUS MARSHALL: I think it helped a lot. Obviously like Coach said we kind of -- well, we did have a bad first half. But at halftime, like you said, we've been in situations before, and Coach told us to buckle down on defense and improve our shot selection. And obviously we know what was at stake and obviously our ultimate goal at the beginning of the year was to be in this situation, so we didn't want to lose an opportunity like this. We buckled down on defense and took better shots and came out with the win. CAMERON OLIVER: I told them at halftime to have pride. We've been in this situation before, so we had our heads down for this one. But we just kind of -- just remind ourselves we've been in this before. It was another 20 minutes; 20 minutes is a very long time. We kept our heads up and eventually got the win. Q. It was a tale of two halves, no more important for a guy like you. Can you talk about your approach in the second half as far as taking the bull by the horns offensively? MARCUS MARSHALL: I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and take the shots. Credit the coaches for giving me confidence and teammates for finding me in the right spots at the right time. The ball was dropping for me, and from there, I mean, wasn't much to do. That's my role on the team is to be aggressive and make the shots. I had to come through. Obviously we were down by 11 and in this type of game and this type of environment I have to come through for the team. Q. Basketball can be a funny game. How do you shoot 23 percent in the first half and 80 in the second half? CAMERON OLIVER: I think you just said it, it's funny. We just played hard. We just played hard. We just knew 20 minutes is a long time. It is incredible we shot 79 percent, that's crazy. But at the same time it's something I know we are still capable of. We can make shots. I know people can make shots, I know Marcus can make shots, all of us can make shots on this team. It's just a matter of them falling in the basket. Q. Coach mentioned the Fresno State factor. Coming against Fresno State based on the regular season matchups, how good does that feel to avenge the only team that beat you twice? MARCUS MARSHALL: It feels great. I think everything is going according to how we want it. Just having Utah State, a team that beat us earlier, and Fresno who swept us during the regular season. These are the games that we wanted. And obviously we came out in the first half and didn't play too well. But Fresno is a team that we really wanted to beat. So I'm just glad we came on the second half and picked it up and got the W. Q. Was there a rah-rah speech at halftime or something? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: Please don't, Marcus. MARCUS MARSHALL: Coach, he always reads off the stats. He looked at the paper and reads off the stats. He yells. He says what he says. I'm not going to say it now. And Cam, you know, being the leader he is, he kind of got fired up and told guys just take pride. Just take pride. This is what we really want. And I think everybody took heed from the message. Q. When you were in the moment -- you've had some really big spurts of scoring this year. What was it like to be in the middle of that and the shots just kept falling and you put together that comeback? CAMERON OLIVER: It was fun. It was really fun. When we hit our shots and seeing Coach Muss waving his arms. It's a fun thing. At the end of the day, basketball, you've got to have fun. It happens. With a 25 run, like I said, the balls go in the basket for us. We're capable of doing a lot of great things on the team, and when we do that, it's fun. MARCUS MARSHALL: It was great, piggybacking on what Cam said. We have so many guys putting the ball in the hole. Going into games it's not our worry who's going to score. Coach always put a lot of emphasis on let's make sure we focus on the defensive end. It helps us get easier buckets. And our offense mostly every game is going to be there. But we've got to focus on not letting other people score buckets. We'd rather get stops at the other end. That's how we make our runs and get the big leads. Q. Coach, Fresno might find itself in the position you guys were in last year in a CBI or CIT, how important is it for the guys who were around last year to have gone through that and drawing upon that now and winning that thing last year? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: Yeah, I think the postseason experience was vital. When we made the decision to do it it was because we had a lot of young players. And I thought for Cameron and for Lindsey Drew, especially, it was really important. And then even for juniors like D.J. Fenner, I thought it was important. I thought the game against Colorado State, Coach Eustachy does such a good job, and they're a tough team to play, and to have it come down to the last day of the regular season, it's just the way the season played out. I thought that situation helped us for a situation like we were in tonight at halftime. Q. You said that you came to Nevada for a chance to play for an NCAA tournament, you are on the verge of that. One win away. How badly does this locker room want a chance to go to the big dance? MARCUS MARSHALL: We wanted it very bad. The game against Colorado State, we wanted it bad, too. We can't let that get in the way or lose focus. Sometimes you can want something really bad and go out there and lose it a little bit. So going into tomorrow we're going to approach it like any other game. We're just going to try to play hard for 40 minutes and play as a team and play hard on defense and just live with the results. Q. What does it feel like to be on the verge right now and know you're one game away, and how badly does this team desire to get this? CAMERON OLIVER: I think in the beginning of the season we set our goals for ourselves as a team, as a whole program. So like Marcus said, we're approaching it like any other game. It's a big game, but at the same time we've got to make sure we're mature and take care of business. Q. Feeding off what was just asked of the players, how important is tomorrow for this program to take that next step? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: Well, I think that we've had two great years. And Cam said it best; we want our guys to really enjoy the experience. As a competitor to -- for it to come down to a championship game in the regular season, which we've already experienced to now in a conference tournament, it will be a great atmosphere, regardless of who we play. But we feel like we've fast-tracked where we were going to go in year two. And so I want the guys to watch this game right now and get off their legs and we'll have a couple of meetings tomorrow and then I want them to go out and have fun and play loose and play free. Q. They're playing 9:30 start, you played 7:00. Does that in any way give you an advantage going into tomorrow? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: Did it help last year in this tournament? Q. I wasn't here last year. COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think Fresno played the first game; is that correct? I don't know. I don't think it matters. It's two hours. Our guys are all going to watch it. They're all going to go to bed about the same time. Q. Josh Hall has put back-to-back games and he seems to be getting better every day. COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: I thought Josh was phenomenal. He hung around the basket, because Fresno focused so much on Marcus. And his baskets were critical at critical times. And to see the way that he's matured as a player has been unbelievable and the trust that we've had in him, he's done a great job of rebounding the ball from a small forward spot. We put him on the opposing team's best offensive player when he goes in a game. And he allows Lindsey Drew to get a blow or a rest, or Lindsey guards someone else for short stretches. And I thought Josh did a great job helping us out on the press, as well. Q. You have had a number of games where you were down at halftime, and made comebacks. How does that help in the guys keeping composure, and knowing they didn't have to press in the second half? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think it's a confident locker room. We don't want to get down. But, man, we were really struggling to get in a rhythm. We weren't moving the ball. It was one or two passes. And so when we talked about at halftime was multiple touches, bodies moving, getting the ball to ricochet around the floor a little bit more. And Marcus, I thought he was really unselfish. He obviously had a great offensive night scoring the ball, but I thought his 5 assists were crucial, as well. Q. That run when you haven't been able to score in spurts like this, maybe not quite like this, put that 25-2 run in your perspective? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think with us offensively, everything starts defensively. So we got stops. And so our defense kind of ignited our offense. And obviously we shot the heck out of the ball from three in the second half and it opened things up for the dribble drive. And because they focus so much attention on Marcus that one of the biggest thing was Marcus getting the ball out of his hands at times, and once we got in the bonus, we wanted to keep the ball in his hands. And when they trapped or hard showed, we wanted Marcus to really attack their bigs. And I thought he did a great job of that and that helped him get FTAs, free throws attempts. Q. After what San Diego State went through last season, is that a talking point with your team? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: We just take it one game at a time. San Diego State, what they did last year, 16 and 2, what an incredible season. How they didn't make the tournament, I have no idea. I think it's not fair. I've said it before, our local guys have heard me say it, when I was at Arizona State and LSU when we made the tournament, I thought we had pretty good years. Not like San Diego State had last year, at least in conference, and certainly not the way I feel about our team right now. But that's the world we live in. And if you're a Power 5 school and you finish in 5th or 8th I guess they think that's better than seasons like San Diego State had and a season like we've had. And that's how it is. Again, I don't think it's fair because I've been on the other side and I think that once March Madness hits and the NCAA tournament's first game on Thursday, everybody wants to see the underdog, and everybody is talking about when there's an upset. They're not talking about an 8th place team in the Big 10. I don't agree with the way they rule. When I was in the NBA all the years before I got to college, and you'd be traveling the NBA, you turn a game on, you want to see an underdog play a Power 5 school. You don't want to see the 8th place team in the Big 10 and an 6th place team in the ACC. Q. Along those lines, do you feel that there's anything the Mountain West can do at a league level to foster more tournament caliber teams or make the league more viable for multiple bids? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think the league office and the coaches and the athletic directors, we're all searching to try to figure out -- I'm the wrong guy to ask, because I've only been in the league two years and only in college basketball four years. I'm a rookie. We've got a lot more experienced people. I can only say what I see playing Division II teams. As a coach I don't get up for a Division II game. I think that would help, not playing those Division II. But, again, some people say that Division II games don't hurt you. We have, I don't know, how many wins have we got, 27. We have 27 wins all against Division I teams. So to me that's an incredibly great year so far. Q. The way you guys ended that first half, 20 percent, down 11, and then to shoot almost 80 percent in the second half, what does that say about your team's resolve to not give in and go away and hang in there? COACH ERIC MUSSELMAN: We came into the game thinking we were going to win. And even though we struggled, you know, to us it was about defending and rebounding, and we felt like if we got some spots and defensive rebounds, and normally we play defensive pick-and-roll coverages one way. We actually had three different coverages, we did not shoot around today. We had a walk-through in the ballroom. We walked through three different coverages, because Hopkins has hurt us. We played the same exact way in the first half, in our pick-and-roll coverages, then we went to two others, that we called plan B and plan C, and I thought that really helped us in the second half. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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