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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 1, 2018

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

Missouri State - 83, Valparaiso - 79

THE MODERATOR: Alize Johnson, Jarrid Rhodes represent the student-athletes of the Bears. Head Coach Paul Lusk is in the middle. We'll have him open up with a statement.

PAUL LUSK: Very good game. We knew it would be extremely hard to beat someone three times, but we were able to do it. Give Valpo a lot of credit, but give my guys a lot of credit. I felt we played with a great deal of energy, and we played really hard.

Q. Alize, double-double and just missed getting 20 rebounds. It would have been only the second time in Valley tournament history that's happened. Just tell me about coming out, how loose were you and just getting that double-double.
ALIZE JOHNSON: We were ready to go from the beginning. I knew the team was ready to go from the beginning of the game. I give credit to my teammates getting me ready for the game. I think we all did a great job pitching in so we could get started.

Q. Rhodes, you first, then Alize. How would you compare the energy level, especially the second half of this game compared to the regular season finale?
JARRID RHODES: I was talking to Alize the second half. He just kept talking and talking because, you know, it was just -- we just had a lot more energy coming out in the second half. Alize kept saying, just don't lose focus, and we were in the locker room, we didn't lose focus. We just had high energy -- the bench did, the staff, some of the players that weren't playing, and it just helped overall.

ALIZE JOHNSON: I just think that everybody, like I said, came together finally. We're playing for something right now. Everybody's determined to go out there and win the tournament. Like I said, it's anybody's tournament out there. Anybody can go out there and win.

Q. You got to win four in four days. You guys had a double-digit lead, got dwindled down to a couple points. What's it going to take to win this tournament?
ALIZE JOHNSON: One day at a time. We're just going to keep coming. We're going to get back to the hotel and recover and wake up and get back to it.

JARRID RHODES: Like he said, just one day at a time. Like he said, we're just going to get back to our hotel, get rested, just come in with the same mindset that we had today.

Q. At the end, Jarrid, they got close. They had a shot for a three to tie that didn't go in, but you went to the free-throw line and hit four straight. Just talk about hitting from the free-throw line at the end with all that pressure.
JARRID RHODES: I guess reps, practice, just determination. Really just, when I go up to the line, I'm just always locked in, not really worried about what's going on, just focusing on the rim and just having high confidence when I get up there.

Q. Yeah, can you guys talk about Ryan Kreklow's performance today.
ALIZE JOHNSON: Ryan Kreklow is a great player. When he does what he's supposed to, he's on fire. I thought he played a great game today. We could see he was going to do that in practice. The last couple practices, he's been playing really good basketball. I knew he was ready to go from the beginning of the game. So I'm really proud of him, and I'm going to stay on him so he can come do it tomorrow.

JARRID RHODES: He had a great effort today. It's been kind of a rough stretch for him here and there, but you know, like Alize said, he had a great couple practices, and I just felt like that led over to the game.

Q. You guys both played Southern Illinois really close to the end, had a chance to end both games at the end. Just what has to be different tomorrow?
THE MODERATOR: Jarrid, you're first.

JARRID RHODES: Like I said, just basically come out with the same mindset and everybody just playing together. There's been some close games here and there, but I just think come in with the same mindset and play together as a team, listen to everybody, and just -- yeah.

ALIZE JOHNSON: I just think we just got to stay focused. We had some close games at SIU this season. I give credit to them. They're a really good team. We're just going to have to come out with that energy that we did today, and everything else will take care of itself.

Q. How much gas you got left in the tank?
ALIZE JOHNSON: I'm ready to go still.

Q. Alize, just what was the week leading up to this like? We saw you yesterday taking shots before practice. Just how dialed in have you been this week and the confidence you've shown social media-wise too?
ALIZE JOHNSON: My time is running down for me and Jarrid here. When you're a senior, I think you're just so determined to go out with a bang. We had some bumps this year, and we have the opportunity right now, and we want to take it to our full advantage.

Q. How much was that talk to the seniors for both of you, trying not to make this your last game?
ALIZE JOHNSON: We talked to the guys before the game started, and we just said like, you know, we don't want this to be our last one, and they all looked at us, and they listened, and they were ready to go like it was their last game too.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the defensive strategy, kind of switching up with a little bit of full court, man-to-man, and two-three zone?
PAUL LUSK: They're just hard to guard. Obviously, they run a lot of ball screens. Their guards are terrific. We felt like we really struggled with them in the man-to-man, in particular with our hedges. So we decided to mix it up, and I thought it was a good call. I thought they were really out of rhythm at first. We played a lot of zone, and each game is different, but I thought it was fairly effective for us. They hit ten threes, I see. They drove us a little bit in the zone. You know, you can also get driven in the zone. We didn't do a very good job with that.

But I thought that was the best thing for us for this game, and we gave it a couple days, and it worked. It also works when a guy gets 22 and 19. And as I told you guys, he's our all-league guy. He's got to be great, and he was great. And then obviously, Jarrid Rhodes was very good, and others contributed.

Q. Did you see, did you think Alize was going to have a game like that going into tonight?
PAUL LUSK: No. I mean, I'm not a mind reader. I can't predict that.

Q. Coach, at the end they made a little run and got close but able to put the free-throws down at the end. You talked on the other day at practice about having to finish. Just talk about finishing tonight.
PAUL LUSK: Well, I think there was a question asked earlier about the different levels of energy from this game to our last game. We were not very good against Northern. Give them credit. The three games prior to that, we were pretty good. We lost some heartbreakers. We didn't have Krek against Drake. He could have made some free throws for us. We had six guys that had to leave.

But it was -- we did some good things, and making free throws is very important. You feel a lot better when Krek is out there, and Krek's had some good days of practice. You always feel good when Jarrid is out there.

They made their free throws. They made a lot of free throws. They did an excellent job of getting to the foul line. But we did some good things with the glass. Obviously, Alize was a big part of that. Only having eight turnovers in a game like that was important, and everybody contributed. We're going to need everybody to contribute.

Q. Coach, you wanted to see your seniors step up. That's something you said earlier this week. Also your juniors who act like they're seniors. 13:30 to go in the game, J.T. Miller drives, contested, puts up the shot. Alize gets the rebound. Puts it up. Another rebound, puts it back up, tenacious. Late in the game, Jarred Dixon pushes the ball, dives for it with Jarrid Rhodes. Just the fire, the tenacity you saw in this team tonight.
PAUL LUSK: They really played hard. You should be playing hard. Valpo came in playing very good basketball -- sweeping Drake, beating Bradley late, who we couldn't beat, beat Illinois State. They're playing very good basketball. We knew it was going to be a high-level game. I said it before, we're going to have to have those guys who have been in those games. We need Ryan Kreklow. We need him. He came through. We need JD and Obie. Those guys have been in it, those two seniors. And Jarrid Rhodes and Alize, they did good things, and J.T. Miller contributed. And I thought Tanveer was good when Obie got in foul trouble. Mustafa did good things for a freshman in that setting.

I thought we got a lot of loose balls and 50-50s. The thing with Alize is, when he -- and I told him his last couple games, he's got to get back to getting on that glass, and he can't worry if he's not making shots. Now, we force-fed him at the end, guys. We force-fed him at the end, just like we did some other games, and we came up empty, just like we did some other games. You know what we do tomorrow if the game's on the line, we'll keep force-feeding him here, and he'll eventually come through. When he rebounds with that tenacity, that's who he is, that's what he has to do, and I thought he was at a high level today.

Q. Just talk about Southern Illinois. Two close games and playing them tomorrow.
PAUL LUSK: Very good. I mean, very good team. Barry's done a great job with those guys. Fletcher has made himself into an all-conference player. Pippen, an all-newcomer as well as all-conference. Sean Lloyd, I think, was on the all-defensive team. They've got a lot of different pieces. Smithpeters, Sixth Man of the Year. Bartley is a very good player. They've got a lot of pieces. Cooke is really good. I'm sure they'll be ready to go getting ready for this game.

But we played them close twice. We had our opportunities, and they beat us. Tomorrow's a new day. We've got to get our guys back, get them rested, and then we'll lock in on Southern Illinois tomorrow with them. Obviously, the coaches will be working on it tonight, but the guys will take a look at that tomorrow.

Q. Paul, you scored 77 points last time you played Southern, and they shot 64 percent. Where do you think your defense is right now?
PAUL LUSK: We're not very good defensively. I mean, we're not nearly what we were. But we've got to move -- we've got to do some things to put our guys in the best position. Bartley hurt us first half over there. They got whatever they wanted.

We scored on them. We scored on them both games. So someone's going to have to try playing some defense. They got a lot of different weapons. They got a lot of different weapons. Pippen can hurt you down low. Their guards can all go off the bounce. They can make threes. They've got a lot of different weapons.

Q. The games that come down to one or two possessions, you guys have lost more of those than you've won this year. So aside from hitting free throws, what do these guys need to do to keep that feeling of "here we go again" to block that out?
PAUL LUSK: Well, I mean, it's -- you know, we have the ball in position against Southern at our place. Alize got called for a hook. Okay? It's a bounce here or there. At their place, we had Jarrid Rhodes, who was just up here, had a wide open three at the buzzer; we missed it. We got Alize the ball in the post late, and they stripped him.

It's a bounce here or there, but we've been telling our guys it's a new season. We had to have some good practices. We practiced really hard yesterday. And we needed it to build some confidence, to get some guys going.

All these games are going to be close, and you've got to get some breaks, got to get some loose balls. You've got to have guys make some plays. Got to make your free throws. Got to get some stops. You know, down there, we hit a floater with ten seconds left, and then we fouled. You can't do those things. So you just got to play the right way. You got to get some breaks. Can't beat yourself.

And I don't think that we necessarily beat ourself there because we had some good opportunities, we just didn't finish.

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