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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2018Dan MullerMilik YarbroughPhil FayneSt. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness Illinois State - 77, Indiana State - 70 THE MODERATOR: Illinois State Redbirds are with us. They have a date tomorrow's second game of the semifinals. They will play Southern Illinois. The all-Illinois semifinals will feature Loyola and Bradley in Game 1, Redbirds and Salukis Game 2. Phil Fayne and Milik Yarbrough represent the students. Dan, please. DAN MULLER: First thing, credit to Indiana State and the great careers of their seniors, specifically Scott Murphy. Obviously, Scott didn't have his best game, and I'm sure he's disappointed, but he's had a heck of a career. Proud of the guys. It was a battle. We didn't play great, but we found a way. Played really, really hard. As always this time of year, just find a way to win and move on. It was a good win for us. Q. Milik, could you maybe talk about your frustration level of the first half, only playing six minutes, and what was your mindset coming into the second half? MILIK YARBROUGH: In the first half, I just picked up two fouls quick. I got frustrated in the beginning, but I come to the bench, and Coach Muller told me, "Your body language speaks loud, it screams." So I just tried to be positive during the time I was out and just try to cheer my teammates on, be on the bench, up. Let them know I'm still here for them and I'm still fighting on the bench wherever I'm at. Q. Were you determined coming out in the second half to be on the attack offensively? MILIK YARBROUGH: No, I just came out and played my game. I didn't try to force anything. I just let it come to me, find gaps in the defense and make easy plays for myself instead of just trying to force it and turn over the ball. Q. Phil, could you talk about the team's, obviously, defensive effort tonight, holding these guys to 33.9 percent, especially after what they did to you guys in Terre Haute. PHIL FAYNE: That was one of our main goals is come out and play defense really well. Last time we played them defensively, we let up, so we knew we had to be sharp and on point on defense. Going to man-to-man, being able to switch back and forth and still be able to be sharp. Q. Milik, you guys are coming back, two-point lead with just over a minute left, rather than settling each drive and take a four-point lead, can you go over what was going through your mind on that play? MILIK YARBROUGH: Just staying relaxed. Just staying relaxed through what's going on. Don't let anything rattle you because they're coming back. I mean, it's a game of runs. So I just tried to be relaxed and make the right plays for my teammates. Q. Milik, you had a couple fouls early. How do you expect to change that maybe moving forward in this tournament and trying to be able to play your game more fully throughout the game? MILIK YARBROUGH: I just got to just do the same thing, just keep my hands up, try to move my feet. I was late on closing out some things, and that's what caused me to foul. But that's what it is. It's just me being more on point, moving faster. I think I was relaxing in the beginning of the game, and that's what caused me to get those two fouls. Q. Phil, double-double tonight. I know you're dealing with big Brandon Murphy down there. Can you just kind of talk about some things that were working well for you tonight. PHIL FAYNE: Oh, yeah, big Brandon Murphy is a monster down there for sure. It was just being able to move my feet and everything and try to have a nose for the ball, where the ball's going to come off and everything, and just being able to battle down there with him. He's a strong man down there, but just being able, my teammates trust me, keep throwing me the ball inside, and knowing that I can kick it back out to him or do some work down there. So just credit to my teammates for even a couple shots I missed, still giving me the ball down there and everything. Q. Phil, you guys have had some, obviously, not good defensive games. It seems like you guys are starting to string a couple of those together. Is it just finally kind of sinking in, maybe this time of year, that you guys have to play defense to advance? PHIL FAYNE: Best time of the year to get it together, but yeah. I think it really is sinking in. We had two great practices before we came down here. They were amazing. We were defensively locked in to everything, and that's a big assist to us to be able to rebound and defend. And then be able to string out wins. Defense wins games. Q. Milik, you got sloppy there offensively, whether it was a turnover or bad shot selection. How do you shore that up the rest of the tournament? Obviously, one bad night can see you guys out of here. MILIK YARBROUGH: Was that during the first? Are you talking about during the first? Q. Yeah. MILIK YARBROUGH: I think we just got out of control for a second. We got away from what we were doing, and that's why we called the time-out, to relax ourselves, get back into the game. We just got back in the game and just did what we do best, not force anything, not take long threes, not try to go one-on-one, try to be together, and that's how we came out with the win. Q. Milik, what can you say about your team winning by -- or leading by as many as 12 points in the second half? They cut it to 2. What can you say about how you guys hung in there and won the game? MILIK YARBROUGH: Just being poised. Just not getting rattled by them going on a run. Like I said before, it's a game of runs. So they're going to make a run and make a lot of threes. So it's easy for them to jump back in games. But we just stayed poised, kept playing defense hard, kept battling, and we just came out with the win. Q. Milik, looking ahead to tomorrow, you guys have played two close games with Southern this year. What are you expecting tomorrow from the Salukis? MILIK YARBROUGH: Expecting the same thing, great defense. They play defense well. They really go with their hands. We're going to focus on just being strong with the ball, rebounding, and doing the same thing we did today -- cutting down on like silly plays we were doing today and just attack and be smart. Q. Same question I just asked Milik: You guys are leading by 12 midway through the second half, and they cut it to 2. It's getting loud, young team, big stage. What can you say about how you guys closed out? DAN MULLER: We've had a lot of close games. I think that helped. And in that situation, you really just got to get one or two stops in the bucket and make yourselves feel better. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I think Milik made a big bucket when they cut it to two. We got a stop, Milik had a lay-up, they switched a ball screen, and he drove. Obviously, Milik was pretty special in 22 minutes to do what he did tonight. We've been in a lot of close games, and I think we feel very comfortable in that situation. Q. Dan, could you talk about, obviously, the defensive effort to hold this team to 33.9 percent. DAN MULLER: The last seven games we've played before tonight when Phil has played, we're holding teams to 37 percent. The two games he was out, both teams shot over 45 percent. So it's been building. We've had rebound issues up and down. They had ten offensive rebounds, but I thought we really rebounded the ball well. So I don't think it just started. But I think our guys started that buy-in a few weeks ago. They understand your offense may not be there some nights. We're guarding very well right now. And everybody's pretty locked in. Q. Dan, as far as your offense is concerned, there were a lot of instances where you were able to create favorable defensive matchups for Milik. He was able to isolate a couple times against Murphy. In addition to that, when they did double down, he did a good job of distributing. What were you seeing out there to be able to create some favorable defensive matchups for Milik? DAN MULLER: We always try to figure out where he's going to be best, whether it's off ball screens or in the post. Tonight it was more ball screen actions. He's just so hard to guard. If you hedge or stay with the ball screen, he's going to find guys usually. If you switch, he's going to drive bigs. I did try to keep three shooters out there in the second half, and I think that helped. We had Taylor and Ike and Boogie and Keyshawn in there a lot. Now, part of it was foul trouble with Matt and Madison, not that they aren't shooters; they are. But I do think those shooters did spread the court open a little bit, to get us some easy baskets. Q. Coach, when Keyshawn went down in the second half, fans had to take a deep breath. What was your reaction to that? Were you worried about him? Do you have an update how he's doing? DAN MULLER: Keyshawn is just dramatic. He was tired. I think he came down on the kid's foot. I knew it wasn't his knee, his low ankle. Legit, he's fine. Maybe it's a little tweak, but he's okay. He likes the attention. Q. In a tournament like this, survive and advance, it kind of seemed like tonight was the definition of that. It seemed like at one point either team could have taken control, and right there at the end, you finally did. DAN MULLER: Sounds like all day it was. We knew this tournament would be very close. In the end, the top four seeds won. It held chalk, I guess you would say, but all close games. My guess is there's going to be two close games tomorrow. We've got to get some rest. I'll say it right now, I would appreciate short questions in there if you go in the locker room. We'd like to get out of here as quickly as possible. But we're comfortable in close games. We know we've got to guard. Now, Boogie had a bad shooting night. He had some great looks. Ike had a couple great looks. So we can play much better, but we've just got to keep guarding. We've just got to keep guarding. Q. Dan, like I asked Milik, obviously, you guys played two really tight games with Southern Illinois. What are your expectations for tomorrow? What do you guys really, like I say, need to do? You cut down the turnovers tonight. DAN MULLER: We had seven in the first half and only three in the second half. Most likely another close game. Wiley wasn't playing when we played them, obviously. I haven't scouted them a ton, but he clearly makes a difference with his play and also the depth of their team. They've got -- they give us some problems. Pippen is so good inside. They've got a whole bunch of guys, and obviously turn the ball over. Last time we played, Keyshawn did not play. Next time we played them, Madison didn't play. Elijah had two good games. We'll see. We know it's going to be close. I say that. We know it's going to be a tough, close game against another really good team. Q. You certainly wouldn't give it back, but as a former player yourself, can you empathize with somebody who goes through a shooting night like Brenton Scott had tonight? DAN MULLER: 100 percent I can. He's had a stellar career, stellar, and he just had a really, really bad night. To lose a close game like that is going to be hard for him, but he's been so good. The best thing Brenton Scott does -- I don't coach him -- he's an elite competitor. I've always admired the way he plays. Obviously, he's wired to score. He's got no conscience. He plays hard. He rebounds. He fights. He plays with emotion. He's been a thorn in everybody's side for four years. Obviously, a really tough night. But it's been a pleasure to compete against him. Q. If you answered this before I came in, you can skip it: All four teams in the semifinals from the state of Illinois, guaranteeing someone will be in the Tournament, and there's been years where that hasn't happened. DAN MULLER: Too many. Q. Does that say something about either the teams in this conference or the state? DAN MULLER: Yeah, I mean, obviously, it's pretty cool. I don't know if it's the first time. Well, Loyola just joined the league, so not many chances. Any of the eight teams could have won today. So it's not like it was so dominant. And yet to have four teams left, it's really cool. It really is. This happens to be the first year that we -- you're going to have to excuse me, but I forget what it's called. What's it called, Illinois something? Battle of Illinois? Whatever it is. So it coincides with that. We didn't win that, by the way. But to have -- now, if Loyola doesn't win -- and I've said this many times -- we deserve at least two teams in the Tournament. So I will say that right now. But to have four teams is pretty cool. Hopefully, hopefully what that means is we'll have a full arena tomorrow. And I look forward to our fans coming down and everybody else's. Q. Coach, Jordan Barnes obviously had a big night for the Sycamores, and with Scott leaving, he's going to basically take over that backcourt from here on out. What do you think the ceiling could be for a player like Jordan Barnes moving forward? DAN MULLER: It's hard to imagine he could make any tougher shots. I don't know what he's going to work on. Obviously, he'll improve, but he is the best shot maker in our league without a doubt. From three, maybe not from two. He's so good. Man, he's so good. He played 38 minutes, four assists, no turnovers. He is deadly. So we'll have to figure out how to guard him better in the future, and I thought we guarded him well tonight. He's a heck of a player. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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